23 Student-Athletes Participate in Signing Ceremony at Greenwich High School

Student-Athlete signing ceremonies at Greenwich High School are always exciting but Wednesday’s event with 23 young people agreeing play sports at a variety of colleges and universities was standing room-only in the teacher’s cafeteria.

With so many student-athletes, the group was broken into smaller groups as they took pen to paper.

GHS Athletic Director Peter Georgiou said the group was one of the biggest classes for a signing day to date, and gave a brief history of the agreements being signed.

Mr. Georgiou noted that name of the agreements had evolved, having until last year been called the NLA or NLI (National Letter of Intent). Those now-eliminated binding agreements between a student-athlete and a college had committed the athlete to attend for one year in exchange for athletic financial aid.

Those gave way to what Mr. Georgiou said would be either the Athletic Grant in Aid or the Written Offer of Athletic Aid.

According to the NCAA the NLA’s were replaced with new written agreements for athletic aid or financial aid that still signify a commitment, but are not as legally binding as the previous NLI’s.

“Regardless of what it’s called, it’s a great accomplishment for the student-athletes,” Georgiou said. “I want to be the first to congratulate these athletes on their accomplishments. Hopefully we’ll be reading much more about them.”

Mr. Georgiou thanked parents for supporting their children as athletes and described the coaches as unsung heroes. He gave a special shout-out to the seniors who were the last of the students he had previously taught when he was a PE teacher at Central Middle School.

After the student-athletes signed their letters, Thomas Pereira as Dean of Student Life at GHS, said, “Congratulations on the culmination of a fantastic athletic career at the high school.”

“Today is about you and your families. The 6:00am practices, the extra reps in the weight room, the running on holidays – all this is now what it looks like,” Pereira said, adding that the next phase of their athletic careers will be both challenging and rewarding.

Nov 12, 2024 GHS Student-Athletes

Colin Bucaria:  Swimming at Fordham University
Clem Cartwright:  Soccer at William and Mary
Hanna Flakstad: Water Polo at University Cal Santa Barbara
Sophia Granitto: Rowing at Northeastern University
Julia Gustafsson: Water Polo at University of Cal Berkeley
Averi Israel: Rowing at Syracuse University
Makayla Jaffe: Rowing at University Virginia
Ryan Johnson: Baseball at Villanova University
Charles Koven:  Water at Polo Bucknell University
Julia Lattuada: Field Hockey at Brown University
Valentina Marchese: Crew at Stanford University
Olivia Mingione: Rowing at University of Central Florida
Lila Mootabar: Rowing at Brown University
Shea Morris: Water Polo at Santa Clara University
Kaleigh Murphy: Water Polo at University California San Diego
Tessa Murphy: Rowing at Stanford University
Alexandria Nestoros: Rowing at University Of Wisconsin
Lily Norton: Water Polo at University of the Pacific
Clara Ojea Quintana: Field Hockey at Northeastern
Addison Shaw: Water Polo at Santa Clara University
Elizabeth Stout: Equestrian at Oklahoma State University
Richard Sykes: Sailing at Stanford University
Samuel Wells: Crew at University of Pennsylvania