Friday, February 25, 2022
www.towntimes.com
Volume 28, Number 8
A GOOD INFLUENCE
After 31 seasons, Salva hangs up the whistle By Nicole Zappone Town Times
Coginchaug boys basketball coach Todd Salva recently announced that he would be stepping aside at the end of the season. He helmed the program for 31 years. “I just decided after going back and forth for some time, that it was time for me to step down,” said Salva, who replaced the only other coach the program has had, Wally Camp. “It really has been a fun ride and I’ve had so many great kids over the years.” Middlefield native and social media influencer Alanna Rondinone, pictured on the right, visited her former elementary school, John Paul II in Middletown, recently and enlisted the help of students to make Valentine’s Day cards for Compassus Hospice patients throughout Connecticut. A singer-songwriter, Rondinone started making cards for hospice patients at the outset of the pandemic. “The kids were amazing, and had some TikTok questions ready for me to answer too,” said Rondinone, who has amassed more than 728,000 followers on the platform. “I love being a role model and told the class that small acts of kindness can change one person’s life and make them happy, brighten someone’s day.”
Salva, 61, debated about going for another year or two but decided that this was the time to retire. He told his players on Feb. 7, and recalls the gym being very quiet afterwards. “I am lucky that I had a really great group of kids this year,” said Salva. A graduate of Southern Connecticut State University, for the past 38 years, Salva has been a physical education teacher at Frank Ward Strong Middle School.
Coginchaug boys basketball coach Todd Salva is pictured with his grandson George.
Before taking the helm of the Coginchaug boys basketball program, Salva coached four seasons at Vinal Tech in Middletown. At CRHS, Salva’s teams won Shoreline Conference championships in 1995 and 2007 and played for a state title in 2016. The Blue Devils also advanced to three state semifinals during his tenure. The 2021-22 Coginchaug
squad was scheduled to wrap up its season on Wednesday. The Blue Devils headed into the matchup with just three wins, so, win or lose, there will be no state tournament for them this year. Salva indicated that coaching has become a yearround endeavor, and he hopes his successor is willing to put in the time necessary to keep the program moving forward.
Athletes shedding masks as tournaments begin Town Times report
Coming into alignment with the lifting of the state mask mandate, the CIAC, in consultation with its medical experts, will no longer require athletes to wear masks in competition starting Monday, Feb. 28. Gov. Ned Lamont, in lifting the state mandate, has left it up to individual
school districts to determine their own mask policies. In districts that continue to require masks, the CIAC “requests that consideration be given for allowing athletes to compete indoors without masks while wearing masks in all non-competitive activities” such as sitting on the bench on in the locker room. Athletes are permitted to continue
wearing masks while playing if they prefer. Just before Christmas, the CIAC updated its mask policy for the winter, requiring all basketball players, hockey players and indoor track athletes to wear them at all times. (Previously, vaccinated athletes were not going to be required to wear them while playing.)
Exceptions were made for winter activities in which wearing a mask during competition is deemed a safety issue — namely, wrestling, gymnastics, swimming and diving, and throwing and jumping events in track. In those instances, athletes were allowed to remove masks during actual competition, but had to wear them at all other times.