NHS Sports Hall Of Fame Profile: Charlie Wightman, Class Of '94
Published: April 20th, 2012

NHS Sports Hall of Fame Profile:  Charlie Wightman, Class of '94

By Mark Abbott

Contributing Writer

Editor’s note: Today is the fifth part in a seven-part series profiling the 2012 Norwich Sports Hall of Fame induction class. The author of today’s article, Mark Abbott, was Charlie Wightman’s high school varsity basketball and baseball coach.

Mark Abbott first met Charlie Wightman in the summer of 1981 when he couldn’t have been more than five or six years old. Little did Abbott know what their relationship would grow and develop into.

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Charlie’s sister’s father and Abbott played on the same fast-pitch softball team (the infamous Ray Lodge) and we went to a tournament in Rochester (NY). Charlie tagged along for the weekend and he and Abbott hung out quite a bit, playing catch whenever the opportunity arose.

As Charlie progressed through the youth sports programs in Norwich (Pop Warner, Little League, YMCA Travel Team) his accomplishments certainly caught the eyes of the coaches, particularly Abbott and Coach (Bob) Branham. “When he reached middle school, we decided to put him on the fast path to success,” Abbott said.

As an eighth-grader, Charlie played both junior varsity basketball and baseball. As a freshman, he played both junior varsity football and basketball, though he came within a whisker of making the varsity basketball team.

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