Blue is back and ready to help the Flyers soar
When the Framingham High football team opens its season Friday night at Bowditch Stadium against visiting Milton, it will mark the return of tricaptain David Blue to the Flyers' lineup after nearly a year away from the game.
Blue, a senior tight end and linebacker and a talented kicker, suffered a mild stroke last September, a couple of days after taking a hit to the neck during a game. It turns out the blow resulted in a tear that affected the back of his brain.
He spent more than a week at Children's Hospital Boston, where he underwent a series of tests, including a cerebral angiogram, that determined surgery was not necessary. While he was cleared to return to school, Blue had to take injections of a blood thinner twice daily for several weeks.
``I couldn't return to sports for six months," recalled Blue, who also had to skip his junior season on the varsity basketball team; instead, he served as the squad's manager while he recuperated.
Blue said he woke up the day after the football team's second game last fall with a high fever. By that Monday, he was ready to go to school. But his mother, Lisa, decided that something was wrong with his speech pattern, and she drove him to MetroWest Medical Center. An MRI found a broken blood vessel, and Blue was transferred to Children's Hospital.
``Thankfully, a few days later, we realized most of David's faculties were back to normal," his mother said, ``but he had to take a lot of tests. The doctors had to rule out everything. They said it would take two weeks for him to heal."
Blue's doctors later gave him the good news that if he continued his progress toward full health, he would be given medical approval to return to sports. Final clearance came in March. In June, Blue was named a football team captain.
Flyers head coach Gary Doherty said he will never forget the day Blue was taken to Children's Hospital.
``It was one of the worst days you can imagine as a coach," he said. ``It was like a parent getting bad news about his son. I went to the hospital, and I couldn't believe what I heard, but the way he and his mom handled it was impressive. They stuck together, and they were tough. And now he's a captain because he's a great kid and a superlative player."
Blue, a National Honor Society member since his sophomore year, said he was ``bummed" about having to give up sports last year. But he made up for lost time by attending the Ray Guy kicking camp at Worcester's College of the Holy Cross, and played summer league basketball before starting his preseason workouts for football.
``I was very fortunate the problem was treatable and nothing worse," Blue said. ``I just had a checkup, and I'll get them every six months. I want to play even harder now, and my goal is to get my team together as one and play in a Super Bowl this year.
``It seems like a long time since I've been on a football field, and I appreciate it even more, especially after having something taken away from you that you love."
Coach still has all-star skills
Former Wheaton College women's soccer star Tracy Prihoda, who is returning to her alma mater in Norton as an assistant coach this fall, still has her scoring touch on the pitch.
A graduate of Needham High School, where she was the junior varsity girls' soccer coach last fall, she was recently named an Eastern Massachusetts Women's Soccer League All-Star. Most of the league's players are graduates of college programs, so the competition is strong. Prihoda's team, Azzurri, based in Sherborn, placed first in its division before dropping a 2-1 decision in the 10-team league's title game.
Prihoda, who graduated from Wheaton in 2004 as a two-time National Soccer Coaches Association of America All-America selection, remains the school's career scoring leader with 256 points. Her 102 goals and 52 assists are also records, and she holds Wheaton's single-season assist mark (23).
This spring, she served as an assistant coach for the F.C. Greater Boston Bolts under-16 girls' team, and she also has been a counselor at soccer camps.
``I'm really excited to be a part of the Wheaton program again and to learn from Coach about the finer points of coaching," she said of Luis Reis, head of Wheaton's soccer program. ``He knows the game of soccer inside and out, and I learned pretty much everything I know about soccer from him."
Prihoda, who will work in the Newton school system as a special education teaching aide and has plans to gain a master's degree, said her playing days are far from over.
``Being a coach helps you as a player on the field, because it offers a different perspective, and being a player helps you become a better coach, because you know what players go through," she said.
``Coaching is something I'd like to do for a long time, but at what level I'll wind up at I'm not sure yet."
Prihoda began playing soccer while in kindergarten. She played on Needham High's South sectional championship team as a sophomore. As a Wheaton junior and senior, her teams advanced to the Elite 8 of the NCAA Division 3 tournament.
``It was a great time at Wheaton," she said. ``Really amazing."
Girls' lacrosse club tryouts
Tryouts for a new Central Massachusetts girls' lacrosse club will be held next Sunday at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester. A session for high school players entering their freshman or sophomore years will be held from 10 to 11:30 a.m., and for juniors from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Teams will be selected from both age groups. There is a $35 fee.
Some players have been invited by the coaching staff, but others interested in sharpening their skills should contact assistant coach Joe Kacevich at 508-460-9134 or at joek@klbinc.com, or head coach Stephanie Pavlick (the women's team coach at Holy Cross) at 508-887-3455 or spavlick@holycross.edu.
``There are other club teams, but none in Central Massachusetts, so girls wanting to take their game to the next level but who want to stay local should consider our team," said Kacevich, a Southborough resident and a founder of a popular youth lacrosse program for girls in Northborough and Southborough.
``Our emphasis is to make sure the girls are fundamentally sound, so that they will be prepared for the college game," Kacevich said.
``The growth of girls' lacrosse in Central Massachusetts has led to the formation of this new team. We're planning to start practicing in early October and play at a tournament at the University of New Hampshire in November."
Marvin Pave can be reached at 508-820-4223 or MPave@Globe.com. 
