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Cortlandt Student To Help Marist Football From Sidelines

CORTLANDT, N.Y. – Amanda Bell played three sports at Hendrick Hudson High School, but she'll play a different role in September when she begins working the sidelines for the Marist College football team.

The incoming freshman learned the intricacies of the game during years spent at her father John's side at Croton High School, where he is an assistant football coach. That knowledge has led to her new job when she heads off to Poughkeepsie later this month. 

“I am not really sure what to expect from this new college position,” Bell said this week. “I've worked with Croton for so long, and have gotten to know how that particular team works. It’s going to be somewhat of a challenge to assimilate into a new coaching staff and mentality.”

Bell’s sideline work with Croton included keeping stats, in-game communications and equipment checks. She watched her dad and his fellow coaches analyze game tapes, took part in Friday night pasta dinners, listened to pregame locker room speeches and pump-up music and sat on the quiet and intense pregame bus rides.

“When you’re working for a team, the focus is not on yourself ... the goal is to help the team as much as you can so that their hard work pays off,” Bell said. “I have been lucky enough to experience both and understand the difference. The biggest difference is that on the field I was a [Hen Hud] Sailor, but on Saturdays I supported the Tigers.”

Bell played field hockey, basketball and softball at Hen Hud and was captain of her field hockey and softball teams in her senior year. She chose Marist because of the attractive campus and size of the school. The math program was also a major reason for her decision to stay near home. The fact that there was a football team sealed the deal.

The Red Foxes went 5-7 last season and will begin the 2012 season Sept. 1 at Bryant College in Rhode Island. Bell’s first home game is Sept. 8, when the Foxes host Bucknell.

Although sports has been and will be an integral part of Bell’s life, she is looking forward to pursuing other career options.

“Although right now I do not expect to enter a career in sports, I know athletics will always be a part of my life,” she said. “I will miss spending my Saturday's cheering on the Tigers, but I am very excited to become a Red Fox.”

 

 

 

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