Robbinsville’s Harrison Flyge makes a tackle for the Ravens’ football team this season. Flyge will be honored March 9 as a Delaware Valley scholar-athlete.
Christine Cabarle is a psychology teacher at Robbinsville High School, but don’t look for a lot of deep soul searching or psychological meanderings when it comes to her thoughts on Harrison Flyge.
“I must be frank and get to the point,” Cabarle said. “Harrison Flyge is great!”
Cabarle’s thoughts are shared by many in the RHS community, which is why the senior is this year’s Delaware Valley Scholar-Athlete winner from the Ravens football team. Flyge will be honored at the Princeton Hyatt on March 9, when the DelVal chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame holds its 52nd Annual George Wah Awards Dinner.
The event honors players for their work on the field and in the classroom. Harrison just completed a nine-year football career this past fall, earning All-County and All-Conference honors as a tight end and defensive back.
“I had the privilege to coach Harrison for the past two seasons, and from the moment I met him there was a different level of awareness with him and the other student athletes on the team,” said Mitar Rudanovic, who replaced Irving Fryar as the Ravens interim coach last fall. “He was able to comprehend schemes, recognize offenses and defenses. These qualities of awareness truly helped him be a great player for our program.
“Harrison has always exhibited a higher intellectual awareness on and off the field. He has always carried himself with a high degree of discipline and because of such qualities they have awarded him the achievement of being a competitive athlete and also a stellar student.”
It’s a well-earned honor indeed, and one that the recipient takes pride in winning.
“I guess it’s one of those things that an athlete and a student wants to hear; people thinking of him that highly to even be nominated for it,” Flyge said. “As an athlete, you’re aspiring to get noticed and things like that. Obviously being nominated for the award, you’re being noticed by your peers and coaches. It also means your school work is at a high, too, so it means a lot.”
Flyge has a 3.6 GPA and scored 1740 on his three-part SATs. He is uncertain where he ranks in his class, but Cabarle doesn’t mind ranking him in some things.
“This year, having Harrison in my (Advanced Placement) psychology class has given me the opportunity to review his writing skills,” the teacher said. “He is certainly in the top 10 percent of students I have taught in regards to his writing ability. His work is organized, supported and, when appropriate, peppered with humor.”
Cabarle said that when she first had Flyge as a junior, he was quiet and reserved in class, noting “often the brightest students in class are the quiet ones.”
That proved to be true. As the year went on, Flyge became an integral part of the numerous debates that take place in Intro to Psychology.
“By the end of the semester, students were trying to pick their opinion based on what side Harrison had picked,” Cabarle said. “They wanted to be on Harrison’s team. His ideas were well thought out, supported by fact and meticulously organized.”
To his credit, Flyge did not try to dominate the debate, making sure everyone had their chance to contribute. Once again, it was a case of athletics and academics interacting with each other.
“It was clear he took the lessons of teamwork and respect from the field, and applied it in the classroom,” said Cabarle, who coaches softball and field hockey.
Flyge also plays lacrosse, and feels that participation in sports provides incentive to hit the books.
“You know that you have practice, and you can’t fool around and procrastinate,” he said. “You have to go to practice, then get your schoolwork done. By then there’s no time left, so you better get it done.”
This past year was obviously tough for the Ravens when Fryar was dismissed after being indicted for allegedly conspiring to steal money by deceiving banks. It left the program in limbo and the players disappointed and confused. But Flyge never wavered in his duties.
“I really just tried to keep focused and keep in line with what the interim coach had planned,” he said. “At first I was shocked that allegations were there, but people have their own lives. I just tried to keep focused on stuff I had to do.”
When he’s not doing school or sports, Flyge is a member of the Cranbury Presbyterian Church, a volunteer for the Robbinsville Recreation Department and belongs to the Robbinsville Flock Club. The latter is a group started by basketball player Anthony Massi, which makes a point to provide student support at athletic events usually not well attended.
But what Flyge really loves to do is ski. He started at age 2 and began snowboarding at age 10 until last year. He returned to skiing and has tackled the black diamonds in the backcountry In Utah. There are also family trips to Vermont and last year the Flyges went to West Colorado. Now that he has his driver’s license, Flyge also takes weekend trips to the Poconos.
With that in mind, he could be in Utopia next year if Flyge attends the University of Colorado in Boulder.
“I’m not quite sure yet, but I’m considering it and possibly trying to join their freestyle ski team,” he said. “I haven’t talked to the coach but that’s something I’ll think more about when the winter comes around.”
As for football, Flyge said a career that started with the Hamilton PAL in fifth grade has come to an end. The Muhlenberg and Stetson coaches were interested in having him play, but Flyge feels it’s time to step away.
“I figured if I wanted to stop, I wanted it to be on my terms and I just decided this was the end for me,” he said. “I don’t really know what went into (the decision). I do still have a fire inside because I want to do something competitively but I just wanted to go down a different path.
“I don’t want to say it was expected of me, but I thought I would do it. I felt it was the right time.”
Wherever he ends up, Flyge wants to major in physiology and see where that takes him.
“I have no doubt Harrison will do very well in college,” Cabarle said, “and he will handle the academic transition with ease.”
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