Captains and Best Friends

Being a captain is a special honor. What makes it even more special is when you can be a captain with your best friend.

That is the case for seniors seniors Caroline Brickell and Samantha Kittay, who play for the volleyball squad and Mike Taurone and Ben Keller, who are seniors on the boys soccer team.

Brickell said the best thing about being captains with her best friend is she knows that Kittay will always stand behind her in anything that she does.

“It is knowing that there is always someone that is going to be there to have your back, pick up your mistakes and understand you completely," Brickell said.

Kittay likes being captains with Brickell because she is someone that she can rely on.

“I like playing with her because I know that I can trust her so much on the court,” Kittay said. “I know that when she gets the ball that she will know what to do with it. That is a good feeling.”

Being able to be captains with your best friend is a good feeling for Keller as well.

“It’s very nice to be captains with your best friend especially because it makes it easier in helping organize things for the team,” Keller said.

That organization actually began back in the summer, according to Taurone.

“We talk a lot during practice and during the game on what we have to do in order to win,” Taurone said. “Even during the summer, we talked together about what the expectations for this team were going to be.”

Those expectations were to rebound from a one-win season of a year ago and the Panthers did just that. They won five games, including a 5-0 triumph in the out-bracket round of the Section 1 Class B tournament against visiting Dover.

“That was very important,” Taurone said. “I felt very bad about what happened last year, winning just one game, not making the sectionals but this was a new year with a new team and we wanted to turn things around.”

Briarcliff’s volleyball squad also enjoyed postseason success, earning a 3-2 triumph at Blind Brook in the opening round of the sectionals. Having two of their three captains (the other is Déja Sutherland) know each other like the back of their hand has helped the Bears this fall.

“I just look at her and she knows exactly what I am thinking,” Brickell said. “If we are in a situation where we need to pass the ball, she will just get the ball and she will just set it to me because we both know that’s the play that will work the best. We can communicate without even saying anything. We speak the same language.”

One reason why it is easy for the duo to speak the same language is they have known each other since third grade, though at first, the sport they played together was on the pitch.

“Actually, we didn’t play volleyball when we first met, we played soccer together,” Kittay said. “We always knew that we were going to stay friends. We were so close it was inevitable. Our moms are great friends, are families are close. Being captains together was just an added bonus.”

When Kittay said the families are close, she isn’t kidding according to Brickell.

“We actually used to talk about having a house together and living together with our different families but being captains is icing on the cake,” Brickell said. “Being able to work with your best friend and play with her every day is such a good feeling because there is someone that you always count on.”

Keller and Taurone have been able to count on each other as well.

“You know what you are going to get from Mike every time,” Keller said. “He will always give you a quality effort whether it’s in a game or during practice.”

The two Pleasantville co-captains have known each other since they were kids but became best friends in the last three years.

“We have been playing soccer together since we were younger and then when I was brought up to the team my sophomore year we become even closer,” Taurone said. “We started practicing together on our own, passing the ball to each other and I think that’s why we know where each other is on the field without even looking.”

___

Thanks for reading—you can also like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.