This year, senior advisor and history teacher Blayne Gelbman will also be serving as Athletic Director while former Athletic Director Lauren Caiaccia is on sabbatical leave. Mr. Gelbman and Townsend Harris athletes spoke on his transition in taking on the new role.
Mr. Gelbman said that the process has been smooth so far, and he feels confident in his ability to aid the school’s teams to success as “logistics and organization are in [his] wheelhouse.”
He credited the coaches with making the transition work. “The professionalism and expertise of [the] fall coaches made the job of getting fall sports started much easier,” he said.
Mr. Gelbman also discussed his own past experience with sports. He said, “Sports have always been an important part of my life. High school sports were essential to my development as a person,” which is what makes him most excited to take on this role.
Some student-athletes shared their takes on the new AD. With fall sports already in full swing, junior Anai Herrera, captain of the Girls Varsity Swim Team, said that she thinks Mr. Gelbman has been doing a great job. She shared that initially “student-athletes were concerned about how this year was going to be like without Ms. Caiaccia,” but she said she’s realizing now that the transition has been seamless. Junior Jose Bracho, a Boys Basketball team player, said that he “did not notice any changes.”
Junior Sophia Lee, captain of the Girls Varsity Soccer team, said that she did notice one change: “For many years the Townsend Soccer teams have been trying to have a game at Queens College,” she said, but their attempts had not been successful. She said that Mr. Gelbman was able to make this happen for them, as the girls held their Senior Pink Out game on the Queens College field against Metropolitan Campus.
As the winter season quickly approaches, Mr. Gelbman said he plans to continue supporting teams and their athletes. He said, “I know how important the [Athletic Director] position is. Especially here, we have such great kids and coaches that I felt like I could help our programs teams achieve even higher levels of success.”
