Unsung Hero: Natalie McCarthy, Madison

MADISON, CT — Today we inaugurate a new periodic series on Madison Patch, highlighting young student-athletes who are considered "unsung heroes." They are not necessarily the big star, but rather one who works hard, is a good student, is a positive influence and strives for the betterment of his or her school and/or community.

Name: Natalie McCarthy
School: Daniel Hand High School, grade 11
Sport: fencing
Nominated by: Beverly Smith

"Natalie has worked very hard this year as the fencing team saber captain to help improve the team and bring home a third place trophy from Connecticut team states for Daniel Hand. She also took home fifth place in individual states, the highest ranking of the team. She was elected captain as a junior and was re-elected to be captain again for her senior year by her peers. She implemented new programs for the team to include awarding “Fencer of the Week” to the fencer who put in the hard work for the week; she even made the certificates herself and printed them at home weekly to bring in. She has organized and worked several fundraisers for the team, raising thousands to buy new equipment. During the fencing banquet, she took the time to hand-write each freshman fencer an encouraging letter for the hard work they did during the season and to stick with the sport. She also gave several speeches for the departing seniors, including one she presented for another fencer who suffered from stage fright. Of course, she also maintains High Honors in school and participates in several clubs, including starting her own chapter of GirlUp, which supports U.N. programs promoting the health, safety, education and leadership of girls in developing countries. She also was selected and did 11 weeks of training to be a Madison Youth and Family Services Peer Advocate this year, and those skills have helped her work well with and assist her peers. On Presidents Day weekend, when most kids were out having fun, she did a job shadowing program at Milford Superior Court, where she shadowed the state attorney's office, the first person from Hand to take advantage of this opportunity (which she pursued and applied for by herself)."

To nominate a deserving student-athlete, email a brief description of their sports and community endeavors and a non-copyrighted photo (horizontal preferred) to tim.jensen@patch.com.