When you think of teachers you most likely think of lesson plans, gradebooks, and attendance. But did you ever think they could have previously been star athletes in high school and college?

You probably know Mr. Canfield as a sociology, psychology, and Law & You teacher here at RHS. He has previously been a soccer, volleyball, and basketball coach for the Rams, even though in high school he was a very talented baseball player. But, did you know he attended The Lake, a small school in New York, to play baseball, but unfortunately injuries derailed his plans.

“I went there to play baseball, but I ended up playing soccer because I hurt my arm senior year… When I reported for fall ball my arm was still hurting really bad so I needed surgery, I decided not to do the surgery, and I had been recruited to play soccer there anyway,” said Canfield.

In high school, Canfield was a pitcher who could throw 85-89 miles per hour, with many effective off speed pitches.

Canfield said, “I threw a lot of offspeed pitches, two different curveballs, two knuckleballs, change up, I threw a lot of junk and mixed it up, but I was a second baseman by trade.”

He was a power hitting second baseman that hit a few home runs per year. He was also utilized at shortstop, third base, and even caught for his high school team.

“We always had a really good shortstop that I grew up playing with, so we always played second and shortstop. We turned a lot of double plays and led the league in double plays the three years we played together,” said Canfield.

He grew up playing in New York, however, he hated the New York Yankees and the New York Mets. His favorite team was actually the Cleveland Indians. Baseball was not what he focused on in college.

Canfield’s career in soccer included playing a lot of different positions such as center striker, midfielder, wingback and even goalkeeper.

“Our keeper broke his arm in a game and I always had good hands, we were winning in the game and they wanted to hold the lead. I got thrown in there and I never came out all throughout high school,” said Canfield.

He was recruited by The Lake to play keeper, but due to over recruiting the team didn’t need anymore keepers so he ended up playing a different position.

“All of my teams were good up until college. That team was dreadful. Injuries killed us. We had 24 guys on the team to start the season but only had nineteen on the roster. Those five guys were either hurt before the season started or academically ineligible,” said Canfield.

He mentioned that at one point he was playing on two blown out knees, and the whole team was playing on injuries as well. Separated shoulders, broken arms and concussions plagued the whole squad.

Since then, Canfield has been coaching for over 30 years. He coached his first baseball team when he was thirteen, and has led teams in soccer, basketball, and volleyball in years since.

“Whether its soccer or volleyball, it would have to be the right situation for me to coach again,” said Canfield.

Mr. Canfield is more than just a teacher. He knows a lot about athletics and has immense experience with student athletes. If you need help with recruiting or athletics in college, make sure to ask him.