Burlington Athletic Hall of Fame: Sparkes was always flying

Camille Sparkes-Griffin has always been about challenges.

In high school, Sparkes used her blazing speed and athleticism to become an all-star in soccer, basketball and track and field.

Along with a talented group of teammates, Sparkes led both the Red Devil soccer and hoop squads to winning seasons and state-tournament appearances.

After BHS, Sparkes went on to enjoy a four-year career of Div. 1 soccer at Hartford University.

The challenges weren’t over.

After her days as a competitive player ended, Sparkes turned to coaching.

She was an assistant coach at Bentley College and eventually took over the Burlington High squad that she once led, coaching the Devils for three seasons before resigning two years ago to pursue a Master’s degree at the University of Massachusetts at Boston.

Sparkes is starting a career in occupational therapy, currently working at Avery Manor, a rehabilitation facility.

Yes, another challenge.

In October, Sparkes will be honored by Burlington High with a spot in the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame. In an era of dominating female sports teams at BHS, Sparkes was one of the clear leaders.

“She was a tremendous athlete in all three sports, but she was a special soccer player,” said BHS coach Bob Conceison. “I would say she’s the best player I coached at Burlington. She was a forward for us, but I could have played her anywhere.”

And at times, he did.

Conceison recalls a game in Burlington against a Winchester program that hadn’t lost in more than five years. For that night, Sparkes was asked to play fullback and keep an eye on the best Sachem scorer.

“I didn’t care as long as it helped the team,” said Sparkes of the move. “Obviously, it did.”

“That was the game plan,” Conceison said of Sparkes’ defensive assignment. “Camille played an unbelievable game.”

In the end, thanks to a late goal by Stephanie Carlin and the goalkeeping of Stacey Ott, the Red Devils won by a 1-0 score.

Sparkes, Burlington’s top scorer for four straight years, would continue her soccer career at Hartford, where she became a starting midfielder for a Hawk squad that was one of the top-ranked teams in the nation.

“When you look down the list of kids [from Burlington] that played Div. 1 sports in college,” said Joe LeVasseur, Sparkes’ track coach, “there aren’t many.”

“She was really passionate about soccer,” said Conceison. “She was a great player and a very good athlete. I am sure she could have made the tennis team or played golf or hockey or whatever she wanted.”

While Sparkes’ physical gifts carried her a long way, Conceison is quick to point to her demeanor as another key to her success.

“She was so even-keeled,” he said. “She never got rattled and always had a smile on her face, but on the field she was a tiger. She just never wanted to be beaten.”

“She was a quiet leader,” added former BHS coach Peter Breton. “And as she matured, you could see her develop a lot more poise.”

On the basketball court, Sparkes led Burlington to 69 wins in her four seasons as the team’s point guard. Sparkes piled up 740 points, 332 steals and more than 200 rebounds and assists. The Devils won two league championships along the way including one during her senior year that saw Burlington finish with a 22-1 record.

The only loss?

A two-point defeat at the hands of eventual state-champion Masconomet Regional in the state semifinals.

“We were down big in that game and came back to cut the lead to two,” Sparkes said. “It was great. This little team from Burlington who nobody knew anything about came in and gave [Masco] a challenge.”

That year, the Cheiftains were led by Brianna Stepherson, who would end up having a four-year career at Boston College.

“Camille was awesome,” said Breton. “In my opinion, she had to be among the very best athletes [Burlington] had ever seen. She did it all.”

Breton admits with a laugh that the left-handed Sparkes wasn’t comfortable dribbling to her right.

“But it didn’t matter,” he laughed. “She was so athletic that she’d just blow by everybody.”

Sparkes was also a defensive stopper for Burlington, always guarding the opposing team’s top guard.

“Camille was surrounded by great players,” said Breton, mentioning Ott and 6-foot-2 Lauren Dorsey among others. “She didn’t have to do it all.”

“I played with so many terrific players,” said Sparkes. “Basketball wasn’t something I played all of the time. It was a challenge because I guess it didn’t come as naturally to me.”

Sparkes ended up with three all-star selections, two all-league honors and a league Most Valuable Player award in 1996.

On the track, Sparkes was one of the state’s best in the 100-meter dash each spring and helped Burlington’s 4x100 relay team. Ironically, Camille was on a relay team that broke a BHS record that was held by a relay team that included her older sister Tanya, a 1988 graduate of Burlington High.

To this day, Sparkes is still a co-holder of the school record in the 100 with her time of 12.6 seconds.

“Track certainly showed her raw talent,” said LeVasseur. “She worked hard.”

Sparkes continued her running career for one season in college before solely concentrating on soccer.

Now married and living in Norwood, Sparkes is playing soccer again recreationally and has also taken up golf.

“Right now, I’m focusing on work and finishing my degree,” she said.

The 30-year-old admits that growing up and playing sports in Burlington helped shape her life.

“In Burlington, I had a lot of opportunities to try different things,” she said. “Some of my college teammates didn’t have the opportunity to try half the things I did.”

Sparkes said that diversity and concentrating on her academics went a long way.

“You have to have discipline with everything you do,” she said. “Not just sports, academics as well. You have to set goals for yourself. It definitely gives you direction and it’s something I still do now. It gives you something to work for in the short term and the long term.”

She also urged young athletes to go the extra mile.

“Don’t just practice when you practice with the team,” she said. “You have to work at it all the time and keep working at it. There is always room for improvement.”