Right at home in New London
Former NFA star Andrea Chappelle making a difference with Whalers
Andrea Chappelle was a freshman at Norwich Free Academy, the lone remaining competitor for the Wildcats at the 1998 State Open girls' track and field championship at New Britain's Willow Brook Park. She was still going in the triple jump.
"It was right around exam time and all the kids competed and as soon as they were done, they went home with their parents," former NFA coach Gary Makowicki said in do-I-havea-story-to-tell-you fashion upon hearing Chappelle's
name.
"The finals of the triple jump were still going on and we ended up winning the State Open. (Chappelle, who finished third to put NFA in the lead) was the only one there. She was a very quiet, unassuming kid, but boy was she a competitor. For her it was, like, no big deal, but we just won a State Open which is a huge deal. It was so funny afterward, they were presenting the plaque and we had one kid."
Chappelle is now in her first season as the New London High School girls' track and field coach, or what would have been her first season. She coached the New London boys' and girls' indoor track teams over the winter, at which time her athletes took some convincing. NFA? Really? You went to NFA? It wasn't an easy sell. Chappelle, 36, had a few things in her favor though, including an illustrious resume.
Not only did NFA win four straight Class LL state championships and a State Open with Chappelle as a member of the outdoor track
team, Chappelle won four state championships during the winter season, too. She was on the NFA gymnastics team which won Class L titles in 1998-2000, then joined the indoor track team for a Class L state championship run in 2001.
As a senior in outdoor track, in addition to winning her eighth title in eight seasons, she set the Class LL and NFA record in the triple jump with a first-place leap of 37 feet, 4.5 inches. She also won the State Open at 36-7.
In case New London's athletes still needed convincing, which they might have since it's doubtful Chappelle broadcast her own accomplishments, she was more than happy to talk about what it means to be a Whaler.
"I said, 'I'm, you know, a Wildcat. But my family is Whalers at heart. I have a younger sister who went to New London. My cousins and my mom are from New London. I'm familiar with Whaler pride and Whaler passion,'" Chappelle said in a recent telephone interview. "'I bought a house in New London.'
"I told them that yes, I was a Wildcat, but in my blood there is green and gold. I've got a 30-year mortgage (in New London) . ... I had to feel them out and they had to feel me out. I had to find out what they were kind of used to, what fired them up, what pushed them to their limits.
"In coaching there are a lot of highs and lows. As a group, we worked through that."
She convinced one athlete, senior Langston Paige, that he was a hurdler after seeing him fooling around with the hurdles off to the side. He finished third in the 55-meter hurdles in the Eastern Connecticut Conference Division I indoor meet and 15th in the Class L state championship.
"I was doing what a coach does and eying him on the side," Chappelle said. "I said, 'Now, let's go over these hurdles safely and learn form and technique.' Next thing you know, the first meet he ran in he qualified for states. That's what makes me enjoy coaching."
Yoga has been a hit
Chappelle also engaged the New London athletes in yoga. She is a personal trainer/fitness coach and yoga instructor with her own business, A+ Mindful Fitness in New London, and taught what wound up being an online yoga class this semester at Mitchell College.
"I incorporated yoga into some of (the practices)," Chappelle said. "Some of them were like 'WHAT?' I'm a track coach and I'm putting them in Downward Dog and Warrior 1. I was pleasantly surprised; one day they came in and said, 'Coach, can we please do yoga today?'"
"Coach Chappelle is very knowledgeable about the sport and knows what she is talking about," said New London senior Rashawn Wright, who was sixth in both the 1,000 and the 1,600 at the ECC indoor meet. "She would put us through a lot but in the end the results paid off with all of our times getting better over the season and our bonds as a team getting closer with every practice and yoga session."
Wright said he found the inclusion of yoga helpful.
"When I competed in meets and practices, I would realize that certain parts of my body that would ache and feel tight during a race didn't feel as bad as before we started holding yoga practices," Wright said.
Chappelle was always interested in coaching — she volunteered on a few occasions at NFA — but never had the time to commit to it fully.
Following her graduation from NFA she competed in track and majored in criminal justice at Seton Hall. After that, Chappelle chose not to pursue a career in her major but worked in the hospitality industry for a few years, living on Long Island and managing hotels and yacht clubs.
That was also a strange juxtaposition, however, for Chappelle, a person who during her career as an athlete had such a seriousness and focus that she gave Makowicki and her mom, Judi Cox, explicit instructions not to clap or even yell "Go, Andrea!" to her while she was competing.
"Hospitality takes a lot out of you," she said. "It went against everything I believed in for taking care of yourself, for health and wellness. You're constantly meeting people. You're learning. I love that. But I found myself constantly tired, exhausted, missing family events and gatherings, going against what I believed."
Chappelle, who certainly had her share of them, believes it is not the accolades that you remember in life. It's the coaches, the teammates, the times on the bus, the preparation.
Now that she is coaching, she hopes to help her track and field athletes have some of those same experiences that she had.
"There's more people who would love to coach but are not available," Chappelle said. "If I'm available and can (coach), I will. I have a support system behind me. I want to give back to the community, give back coaching experiences. I know how much it changed me.
"I want the students to know I'm not going anywhere. This is a sport, you're not going to win every event. You're not going to feel the best. I told them the one goal I have is for you guys to all be better athletes. When it's time to play, that's what makes the sport fun. When it's time for the game, it's time to put our game faces on.
"I only want the best for them." v.fulkerson@theday.com