Athlete Bio
Football
Basketball
Lacrosse
Gregory P. Shay
Class of 1978
The Concord-Carlisle High School Athletic Hall of Fame is a pretty exclusive club. To be selected, one must be either a superb all-around athlete or so outstanding at one sport that he or she is not just the best player at CCHS, in the league, or even in the state, but of All-American caliber. Or, like Gregory Shay of the class of 1978, a combination of both of these!
Greg Shay came from an athletic family - his older brother Jack was a tri-captain of the CCHS lacrosse team in 1977. But Greg, a junior that year, was already on on Coach McClellan's list for All-American status, described as a key element and a "team backbone." He dominated face-off from his midfield position and was second behind the phenomenal John Fay in overall scoring. Needless to say, Shay captained the team the next year himself, and led the Patriots to yet another winning season.
That winning season, 13-6, was achieved despite an enormous loss of talent from the 1977 team. and coach Jim McClellan remembers that Greg Shay was capable of winning a game "all by himself." As for scoring statistics, McClellan says no one should pay much attention to Shay's, because he could have scored much more than he did. "In those days we played many more players, with more lax rules about subbing and platooning. A guy like Greg Shay we would have played for the whole game today played much less then." McClellan simply shakes his head when asked to imagine Shay's scoring totals if he were playing in 1996.
If he'd just played lacrosse, Greg Shay would be worthy of induction, but he did much more. He was a varsity player in football and basketball as well from his sophomore year on. His presence was felt in both sports. His speed and athleticism made him a scoring threat on the hardwood, where CCHS teams during his playing years were always competitive. As a back in football, he was a regular as a sophomore, and despite suffering a broken ankle that shelved him for much of his junior season, his leadership and gridiron skills were such that he was elected a co-captain of the team for his senior season, along with classmate John McNally.
After his sparkling sports career at Concord-Carlisle, Greg Shay took his talents on to Brown University where he was the captain of the lacrosse team.
Gregory Shay, one of the greatest athletes ever to wear the CCHS maroon and gold, is now a Senior Vice-President at Aldrich Eastman Waltch in Boston. He and his wife Jane have a son Derek, nearly two, who is projected to be a deadly scoring threat as a lacrosse attackman. Another child, due in May of this year, is doubtless destined for greatness as a middle.