White River Junction
The latter played 17 seasons in the NHL and WHA, including briefly with the Boston Bruins in the mid-1960s at the outset of his career. The former is getting back into hockey, having assumed the coaching reins of the Hartford High girls hockey program earlier this week.
The younger Goldsworthy is used to being asked if he’s related to the other. The answer is no, but it still had an affect on him.
“That’s how I got involved in hockey,” Hartford’s new coach said on Monday after meeting with his future team at Wendell A. Barwood Arena. “There’s no relationship, other than I wrote him many letters when I was about 5 or 6 years old when he played for the Minnesota North Stars. People always ask me — it’s not the most common name — but I grew up a big Bruins fan, grew up when he played for the Bruins, so hockey was in my blood.”
Goldsworthy, 53, is warming up that blood after a break from action. He’s coached everything from learn-to-skate through Midgets, predominately in Barre, where he still lives. When his son, Matthew, graduated from Spaulding High in 2013 and joined the club program at Lafayette College, Goldsworthy gave up coaching so he could see his son in action.
With Matthew out of school, Goldsworthy decided to jump at the opportunity of coaching again. He takes over for Marc Gattie, the former Lebanon High forward who guided Hartford the past four years, including a 5-13-4 campaign last season.
Goldsworthy’s connection: Hartford High athletic director Jeff Moreno. Goldsworthy taught at the South Royalton School for 18 years, including time when Moreno was also a teacher and, later, assistant principal. Goldsworthy took a job as STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) instructor at Hartford’s vocational-technical school two years ago, allowing him to reconnect with Moreno, the school’s first-year AD.
“I know the programs that he runs and what he likes to aspire to, and I work well with him, so that was another real plus for me to think about taking this job,” Goldsworthy said. “Just working with him and children in general, we have a pretty similar philosophy about sports and education.”
While participation numbers look strong, Goldsworthy said he’s still open to accepting players from outside Hartford through the Vermont Principals Association’s member-to-member program. Past Hurricane rosters have included athletes from Sharon, Windsor, Oxbow and Thetford, although less so in recent winters. The goal is to create a program of athletes geared toward doing well but also enjoying the process.
As for his namesake, Bill Goldsworthy never got a letter back from Bill Goldsworthy. It never diminished his love for hockey. He hopes to share that with his new team.
“I put the challenge to them to determine how much hockey means to them and what it’s going to take to establish not only a good season for us, but a program,” Goldsworthy said. “I’m very interested in building a program.”
Make-a-Wish Rosters: The 25th edition of the Make-a-Wish All-Star Hockey Classic will, as it usually does, include a fair supply of Upper Valley talent.
The games are scheduled for July 1 at UVM’s Gutterson Field House. The New Hampshire and Vermont girls, meeting for the 20th time, will start the day off at 4 p.m., followed by a 6:30 p.m. faceoff for the Granite State and Green Mountain boys.
The New Hampshire girls will include three members of eight-time NHIAA champion Hanover (Mahler Meyerrose, Clare Gardner, J.J. Taube) along with Lebanon scorer Grace Lindsay. No area girls made the Vermont squad.
As for the boys, New Hampshire gets Hanover blueliners Patrick Logan and Will Smith along with Lebanon forward Nate Gariepy on a squad coached by Gary Smith, who stepped down as Lebanon High coach after last season. Hartford forward Ben Rouillard will skate for Vermont.
All proceeds from the contests go to Make-a-Wish chapters in the Twin States.
Softball Stars: The Marble Valley League announced its B Division softball all-stars last week, several of whom still have three games to play.
Windsor’s Erin Wierzbicki joined Hartford’s Brooke Hurd and Rachel Loseby on the all-league first time. Windsor’s Annie Soho and Hartford’s Kylie Beaucage made the second team.
Wierzbicki and Hurd will join Woodstock’s Loretta Blakeney and Randolph’s MacKenzie Rumrill on the South roster for the Vermont North-South Classic at Castleton University on June 30 and July 1. The three-game set includes a doubleheader on the opening day starting at 4 p.m. with a nine-inning finale on the second day at 11 a.m. Windsor coach Phil Hathorn will be part of the South’s coaching staff.
CVL Stars, Too: The Central Vermont League unveiled its baseball and softball all-stars for the spring, and the teams had a strong Upper Valley contingent.
South Royalton, the VPA Division IV champion, was represented by senior Josh Scoskie and Stephen Paige. Rivendell’s Dashiel Fukushima and Whitcomb-Rochester’s Kevin Kingsbury also were honored. SoRo’s Dalton McDougall, Nicholas Howe and Andy Moore were honorable mentions, as was Whitchester’s Zachary Rhoades.
South Royalton’s Grace Pease and Whitchester’s Laura Vaillancourt and Brianna Hillier were named CVL softball all-stars. Rivendell’s Sierra Longto, South Royalton’s Mara Southworth, and Whitchester’s Hayley Mears and Sam Barcomb were honorable mentions.
Dollars for Throwing: Former Dartmouth College track and field coach Carl Wallin’s Lebanon-based Thor’s Stone Athletic Club has bestowed a $1,500 scholarship on recent Thetford Academy graduate and track standout Caleb Davidson.
Davidson will attend Castleton University this fall, with plans on competing on the college track and field team. He twice was a Vermont Division III state meet runner-up in the shot put, adding a second-place finish in the discus at states earlier this month. After posting a state-finals toss of 30 feet, 11.5 inches as a freshman in 2014, Davidson topped out at 40-3.25 in the shot at D-III states this year.
The club established the scholarship as a reward “to a graduating senior in the Upper Valley who is dedicated to track and field, weightlifting or powerlifting. (The) recipient must be of exceptional character, have integrity, be hard working and seriously involved in his sport.”
Davidson is the first recipient of the TSAC award.
Greg Fennell can be reached at gfennell@vnews.com or 603-727-3226.