THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, December 13, 2019 Page 13 Lancer alumnus to play at the Triple AAA level, which was just this past year, with the Mets organization. I was fortunate to have been able to coach all of the players named above as well as two other Malden High grads from the 1990s (Rich Barker, Nick Murphy) and Steve Richard (2003), Nick Serino (2007), Peter Copa (2007) and Paul Covelle (2012) from Malden Catholic, who all played professionally. Campbell, like all of them, earned everything he got. Do not be surprised if you see Campbell on ESPN someday; he defi nitely appears to be on the fast track to the highest level. Malden and Everett players help #19 Central Connecticut football fi nish Top 20 ranking nationally The FCS Division 1 Central Connecticut State University (CCSU) Blue Devil football team fi nished the season with an undefeated conference record (7-0 Northeast Conference [NEC], 11-2 overall) and ranked #17 nationally in the STATS FCS Top25,their highest-ever ranking in the poll, which came during the 2006 season. Local residents are playing key roles in CCSU’s fantastic season, including former Malden High standouts, and brothers, D.J. and NEC Champs Danley Exilhomme, a pair of junior standouts and 2016 MHS graduates, and three former Everett High standouts, including 6-6, 240 sophomore tight end Theo Zidor. D.J. Exilhomme, a 5-11, 180 defensive safety, was named to NEC’s Second Team All-Conference, the second consecutive year he has been so honored, after fi nishing second on the team in total tackles (41) and defensive points (72). He also led the team in tackles for loss (14 1/2) and had one interception. His brother Danley, a junior running back, had a solid season with 631 yards rushing on 119 carries and eight touchdowns. He was the top running back in all statistical categories for the CCSU team, second only overall to senior quarterback Aaron Winchester, who led the team in rushing and scoring (9 TDs) as a mobile quarterback. Danley was NEC “Player of the Week” in November after a career-high, single-game 185 yards rushing in a CCSU win over Robert Morris. Three former Everett High standouts are also on the Blue Devils roster and contributed to the strong season: sophomore 6-6, 240 lb. tight end Theo Zidor, who had seven catches for 158 yards and three touchdowns, freshman linebacker Duane Binns and junior off ensive lineman JJ Colimon. Middle School athletics are thriving in the Malden Public Schools One of the highlights of this fall sports season has been the introduction of three new Malden Middle School (Grades 6-78) sports programs: Middle School baseball and softball and boys and girls cross-country. Malden Public Schools Director of Athletics, Health and Physical Education Charlie Conefrey says he could not be happier with how well the seasons went for the teams. “We wanted to launch these programs this fall to gauge interest in [the] sports among our middle school student-athletes and give these kids more options to participate and represent their schools and city,” Conefrey said. “It was a big success, the players performed well and competed with other cities, and the coaches did a tremendous job,” Conefrey added. Malden’s middle school baseball – with head coach Phil Cook and assistants Shawn Nice and Deano Summers – won its last several games, topped Revere in the Greater Boston League (GBL) playoff opening round and got nipped by a much more experienced Somerville squad in the final, 3-1. Coach Rufo’s softball girls also made it to the GBL before being knocked out. The Cross-Country program also drew good numbers from the middle schools and had a solid season under Coach Mike Nichols. Malden Public Schools Athletics has added middle school boys and girls basketball in the winter, boys and girls outdoor track in the spring and other sports, with plans in the works to continue adding teams and programs in the future, such as Middle School football in fall of 2020. Legislature passes landmark legislation to ban sales of flavored tobacco, protect young people from nicotine addiction BOSTON – The Massachusetts Senate recently passed landmark legislation to reduce youth access to tobacco and nicotine products. In the wake of widespread increases in youth vaping, this bill off ers a comprehensive approach to protecting young people from nicotine use and addiction. The bill, An Act Modernizing Tobacco Control, bans the sale of all fl avored tobacco products, including menthol; institutes a 75 percent excise tax on e-cigarettes and e-liquids; and expands health coverage for tobacco use cessation products and counseling. Governor Charlie Baker signed the bill into law on November 27, 2019, and the law will take effect on June 1, 2020. “Across the communities in our Commonwealth and especially in our high schools, youth vaping has reached epidemic levels, and it’s vital for the protection of our youth and of our public health that we ban the sale of fl avored cigarettes and vaping products,” said State Senator Jason Lewis, Senate Chair of the Education Committee and past Chair of the Public Health Committee. “The predatory tobacco industry uses ‘fun’ fl avors like mango and cotton candy, cheap prices and hip social media marketing to target our youth and hook them with a lifelong addiction to their harmful products.” While the Commonwealth has made signifi cant progress in preventing youth smoking rates in the last two decades, youth use of e-cigarettes and vaping products has increased dramatically. The 2017 Massachusetts Youth Health Survey reported over 20 percent of high school students were currently vaping–a rate six times that of adult use. More recent reports put estimates on youth e-cigarette use closer to 27 percent. An Act Modernizing Tobacco Control specifi cally targets the sale of fl avored tobacco products because they have historically been used to attract young people. Flavored cigarettes were banned by the federal government in 2009 as part of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. However, that law did not apply to other tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, which come in over 8,000 fl avors with youth appeal such as ‘gummy bear,’ cotton candy, fruit punch, mint and menthol. The law bans the sale of all fl avors, including menthol, for all tobacco products including cigarettes, e-cigarettes, chewing tobacco, cigars, pipe tobacco, and snuff . Youth smokers remain the age group most likely to smoke mentholated cigarettes, and menthol smoking prevalence now exceeds non-menthol smoking prevalence among both young and young adult smokers. “We applaud the Massachusetts Senate for taking an important step in protecting future generations of Massachusetts residents from a lifetime of tobacco addiction,” said Allyson Perron Drag, Government Relations Director for the American Heart Association in Massachusetts. “The easy availability of menthol cigarettes, fl avored cigars, fl avored hookah and kid-friendly, e-cigarette fl avors is causing an increase in youth tobacco use of epic proportion. The removal of all fl avors from all tobacco products is essential for reducing their appeal to our children. We thank Senate President Spilka, Senator Keenan, Senator Chandler, Senator Cyr, Senator Lewis, and Senator Comerford for their leadership in protecting all kids in the Commonwealth.” “While Massachusetts has long been at the forefront in this area, thanks to the Senate’s action today, we are poised to lead the nation by passing legislation that would prohibit the sale of all fl avored tobacco products, keeping these deadly products out of the hands of our kids,” said Marc Hymovitz, Director Government Relations Director for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network in Massachusetts. “ACS CAN commends Senate President Karen Spilka, Senator John Keenan, Senator Harriette Chandler, Senator Julian Cyr, Senator Jason Lewis and their colleagues for taking this historic vote that will truly save lives.” The new law also institutes a 75 percent excise tax on both e-cigarettes and e-liquids. Taxing tobacco products is a proven method of decreasing youth use and this bill will bring the sales price of e-cigarettes to near parity with cigarette prices. The law will expand health insurance coverage for tobacco cessation so that people have access to the products and counseling necessary to quit nicotine. The bill requires coverage of at least one cessation product without prior authorization for MassHealth, Group Insurance Commission, and private insurance members. Further provisions regarding e-cigarettes and vape products were included in the bill to regulate this growing market, including: expanding oversight of the Department of Revenue to include e-cigarette retailers; limiting the sale of e-cigarette products with nicotine content higher than 20 milligrams per milliliter to adult-only stores; and establishing penalties for the illegal distribution of e-cigarettes. Tobacco use and nicotine addiction remain the leading causes of preventable illness and premature death in Massachusetts. Each year, more than 9,300 people die from tobacco use across the state and smoking-related illnesses are responsible for more than $4 billion in annual healthcare costs to the Commonwealth.
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