RFH boys basketball team prepares for season
RUMSON, N.J. — Rumson-Fair Haven Boys’ Basketball began practicing again in December after coming off a sectional championship win and a 26-4 record last season. This year, Coach Chris “Shempy” Champeau anticipates that the team will need some time to find its rhythm after losing their five starting seniors, including Scott Gyimesi, who averaged 19 points per game. But Champeau is looking forward to seeing the athletes that played in the tough games last year make huge strides and establish the tone for the team.
“We have some great younger players… Mason Yablonski, Nick Rigby, Luke MIkolaczyk, Sean Trinder, Luke Schorr, and Davey Carr. They’re some of our guys that set the tone. It’s tough to repeat last season, but we’re ready to try,” Coach Champeau said.
Despite the team’s goal of winning sectional and state championships, Champeau says that he measures the success of the season by how much the players grow into young men, sons, brothers, friends, and teammates. “We’ll carry 20 or 25 guys, and the guy that plays the least is as important as the guy that plays the most. They know that, which is what makes them well-rounded players and young men,” Champeau explained.
After 13 years, Champeau has honed his approach to maintaining a strong high school team and instilled the importance of playing for those who came before you into his players. He reminds his players that they play for the guys that graduated before them, and his mantra of “tradition never graduates” reminds the players that it’s bigger than basketball.
Champeau’s best memory from last season is winning the state championship against Bound Brook on the RFH home court in front of a sold-out crowd. “The parade that followed and getting to hang up a banner in your hometown isn’t an experience a lot of guys get to have,” Champeau shared.
The RFH team’s dynamic will also be shifting this year with the addition of two new members to the coaching staff. “This year, my staff includes Jack Velcamp, an RFH legend and Brookdale graduate, who started on his senior night in 2018 and is now officially an assistant coach on the staff. This season we also have Matty “Cools” Newman, who started on his senior night last year and came back this year to volunteer,” Champeau explained.
“Coaching allows me to bring back great guys like them, and have them help our team learn what it means to be a family.” Armed with a fantastic coaching staff and coming off the win last season, RFH Boys’ Basketball looks ahead to repeat what they did this past season. Good luck, Bulldogs!
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