Hamden Hall Alums Leads Yale Women’s Basketball Team to NIT Tourney
by Dawn Miceli ◊ Apr 01, 2011
While every adventure in life has its ending, few athletes can look back on their athletic careers with the sense of accomplishment that Mady Gobrecht (2007) must have felt at she looked up at the score board in Yale University’s Lee Amphitheater on March 5. Scoring a game-high 15 points against Cornell, Gobrecht had just led her Yale team to its highest Ivy League ranking since 1989 (placing second to champion Pennsylvania) and its first NIT tournament invitation ever. It was a night to remember for the four-year starter, who also earned All-Ivy League Honors for her senior season.
Gobrecht played every one of the 111 games that took place during her four-year career, starting in 108 of them. She ended her career with 944 points, 706 rebounds, and 334 assists, finishing fifth all-time among Yale’s career leaders in assists.
During her two years at Hamden Hall, Gobrecht helped lead the Hornets to the New England Prep School Championship game in basketball, as well as two CISAC titles in volleyball and basketball. She was a member of the Peer Leadership Program and active in numerous class and campus activities. She was named “Athlete of the Year” at Hamden Hall in 2007, in addition to being named “Scholar Athlete of the Year” for the state of Connecticut that same year. Then basketball coach Bruce Rich summed up Gobrecht’s contributions this way: “Mady was the first D1 player in our program and came to us with the reputation of being a ‘prime time’ player who excelled at both ends of the court. She was that and more,” he said.
Gobrecht will graduate this spring with a degree in psychology. She hopes to work for Teach for America, a non-profit organization that provides exceptional young teachers for low-income communities. Community service has been just as big a part of Gobrecht’s Yale career as her myriad accomplishments on the basketball court. A long-time member of the Special Olympics Movement, Gobrecht has been especially active in the “Spread The Word to End The Word” movement to stamp out use of the term “retarded” in slang conversation.
Looking back on her Hamden Hall career, Gobrecht commented: “I cannot say enough how grateful I am to have become a part of the Hamden Hall community. Hamden Hall not only prepared me for Yale, but also provided me with an amazing opportunity to become friends with a very diverse, yet tight-knit, group of kids and faculty. My years at Hamden Hall were more than I ever could’ve asked for, and I am beyond thankful for the lasting relationships I made while I was there. The support from this community has been a driving force behind any success I have achieved at Yale.”
Photo: Alum, Mady Gobrecht, with Hamden Hall faculty members Tom Iampietro (left) and Tom Butler (right).
