NEW BEDFORD — After endless quarantine, social distancing and wearing masks, most people rejoiced when COVID restrictions were lifted.
Not GNB Voc-Tech’s Tyler Tavares.
“It was like a dog trapped in a cage and I’m trying to get my way out and finally they let everything down,” he said. “Masks off, this and that. Next thing you know, it’s almost like the world is crashing in on you. I was kind of lost. I didn’t know what to do.”
The thought of being around large groups made Tavares sick.
“I couldn’t go to school,” he said. “Before school, I would throw up. I felt so sick to my stomach. I couldn’t get through class. I couldn’t do anything.”
Tavares knew it couldn’t keep going on like this.
“I was looking for help,” he said. “I was too scared to say it. One day I finally let it all out to someone. I thought it was my mother. After that, I sought the help that I needed.”
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It took six months on a waitlist for Tavares to get help at Butler Hospital, a private, non-profit, psychiatric and substance abuse facility in Providence.
As he focused on improving his mental health, Tavares stepped away from football, a sport he had played since he was little.
“I’m definitely a lot more mentally stronger this year than last year,” said the junior running back. “Personally, I suffered with a lot of depression and anxiety last season. Toward the end of last season, I had to take it off and take time for myself and I went to a mental hospital.”
Tavares said he also benefited from mental performance training workshops GNB Voc-Tech hosted earlier this year for student athletes in the school.
“When she started up the program, that’s when everything clicked,” said Tavares, noting that Dr. Heather Larkin was instrumental in his progress. “Laura Wilde came to our school and she had a program for mental health. She pretty much touched base on everything. The main thing that stuck with me was staying where your feet are.
“For example, right now I’m at practice. I’m where my feet are. I’m on the turf. I’m focused on this exact minute. I’m not worried about what is going to happen in five minutes or what happened five minutes ago. I’m not worried about any of that.”
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GNB Voc-Tech head coach Justin Cruz said that in years past the Bears have struggled with the mental side of football.
“Sometimes we’d get down on ourselves if a play didn’t go our way and we wouldn’t be able to recover,” said Cruz, who also participated in the mental performance training. “You talk to coaches and they talk about how we get guys mentally tough. How do you teach that and train that? It’s another tool in the toolbox for us.”
Senior running back Joseph Brightman said the training has given him a new outlook.
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“I remember last year I had a lot of mistakes and I was always stuck at that moment, but the mental training helped me,” he said. “We need to focus on the next play. Don’t worry about what happened last play. You can’t keep on thinking about what happened last. Football is a sport that you have to keep going forward and go 100% every play.
“Last year whenever someone scored on us, we would always get down on ourselves. We were getting down on each other. I think this year we’re going to be better with that.”
With the graduation of several players, Tavares knows he’ll have a much bigger role out of the backfield and he’s ready for it.
“There’s definitely a lot more pressure on me this year,” said Tavares, who lives in Fairhaven. “I just want to do the best this season I can. A lot of people are depending on me to do big things that I’ve set myself to do and I haven’t been able to accomplish that because of what I’ve had going on. I’m trying to lead the team and do my part.”
After reaching the State Vocational Large School championship a year ago, expectations are high for the Bears this fall.
“We’d like to get back to the vocational state championship game and we’d like to win that this time,” said Cruz. “Beyond that, we’d like to make the (MIAA) playoffs again. We did that the year before COVID.”
The Bears reeled off three straight wins to reach the 2021 Vocational championship, but lost to Northeast Metro 30-7.
“Every time I worked out in the weight room in the offseason, that’s what I was thinking about,” said GNB Voc-Tech senior linebacker/wide receiver Jerry Vasconcelos. “It was a long ride home and it was cold. We got blown out and it was heartbreaking. It was terrible.”
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Junior quarterback Jhaiden Reis agreed, “We really wanted that championship. It was tough for us, but that gave me motivation for this season. I’m going to work as hard as I can to get back there and help others along the way.”
Reis is battling for the starting QB spot with sophomore Nick Boucher after the graduation of Cam Lynch.
“We’ve got some talented younger players,” Cruz said. “No matter who we lose, it’s high school football and we rebuild, and we’re rebuilding strong.
“We talked about building a program to a point where guys aren’t playing by default. They’re playing behind a senior who has earned his spot and we’re right on track for that. We’ve got [Joseph] Brightman and [Tyler] Tavares, who both have some varsity experience, but they had to earn their time in the backfield.”
Senior wide receiver/outside linebacker Michael Murphy said a strength of this year’s team is its closeness.
“Since the COVID season we haven’t had a lot of bonding time, but this summer we’ve all been doing 7-on-7, weightlifting in the gym and hanging out with each other,” he said. “The bond we’re building up over the summer is building up chemistry.”
Junior lineman Isander Algarin added, “A lot of us put in the work. I think we’re ready.”
2022 SCHEDULE
Sept. 9: at Southeastern, 7 p.m
Sept. 15: at Dartmouth, 7 p.m
Sept. 23: Fairhaven, 6:30 p.m
Sept. 30: Old Rochester, 6:30 p.m
October 7: Old Colony, 6:30 p.m
October 14: at Somerset Berkley, 6:30 p.m
October 22: at Apponequet, 6 pm
October 28: Dighton-Rehoboth, 6:30 p.m
November 24: Diman, 10 am