Woodstock
For the fourth time in his four years in charge, Wardwell is conducting a search for a varsity girls hoop bench boss. Timmy MacDonnell, who split his time between coaching the Wasps last winter and serving as Springfield High’s AD, moved over to a math teaching job at Hartford High at the start of the school year. The need to settle in at Hartford made coaching at Woodstock untenable this winter.
Wardwell took on Woodstock AD duties as Roger St. Hilaire was wrapping up his time as girls basketball coach there. Justin Smith and MacDonnell both lasted a year. Wardwell said on Monday that he’s hoping he can find someone who can stay a little while longer.
“I hope it’s just bad luck,” Wardwell said. “In both of these (last two) cases, they both got new jobs that made it difficult for them. Justin became a bus driver at Dartmouth Coach, and he was making trips to Boston every day; that’s not very conducive to coaching. (MacDonnell) wanted to make sure that, moving to a new school as a teacher, that he’d have to make sure he was giving it his all.”
Perhaps because of the revolving door at the bench, the Wasps have had a hard time generating long-term, lasting success. MacDonnell’s squad went 8-13 last year and made the Vermont Division II tournament. Smith’s 2015-16 team did exactly the same, right down to dropping a first-round postseason game at Lyndon Institute.
Woodstock fielded only a junior varsity squad in 2012-13, St. Hilaire’s first season in charge. The Wasps went 14-26 in his two varsity seasons, qualifying for states in the latter campaign.
“That certainly will be one focus of the interviews, talking about how the girls haven’t had continuity the last couple of years,” Wardwell noted.
Wardwell said he’d received five applications for the job as of Monday and is hoping to do interviews by the end of the week. His goal is to have a name to send to the Woodstock Union High School and Middle School board when it next meets on Oct. 12.
Preseason practices begin on Nov. 27, the Monday after the Thanksgiving holiday.
Hurricanes to Honor Military Again: The Hartford High football program is gearing up for its second Patriots Game on Friday night against BFA-St. Albans at Hartford High School.
As with last year’s inaugural contest, Friday’s game will feature a variety of activities geared toward recognizing family members in the armed forces and helping veterans in the Upper Valley area. In the case of the latter, volunteers will be on hand to accept donations that will go to The Veterans’ Place, a Northfield, Vt., organization that provides transitional housing and programs for homeless veterans in Vermont.
While accepting cash donations, the nonprofit is also seeking the following new items:
Pillows and pillow cases.
Bath towels and washcloths.
Nonwhite boxer shorts or boxer briefs, sizes M-XXL.
T-shirts, sizes L-XXL.
Men’s winter socks, sizes L-XXL.
Blankets and sheet sets with fitted sheets, size twin.
Twin-sized mattress pads.
Hartford seniors will, as they did last year as well, wear commemorative jerseys recognizing an individual veteran, active service member or a specific branch of the military, shirts that will be presented to honorees after the game. The Canes enter the 7 p.m. senior night contest on a four-game winning streak; the Bobwhites were knocked from atop the Vermont Division I standings by a loss to St. Johnsbury that ended their own run of four straight victories.
Organizers are also seeking financial sponsors for the event. For more information, contact Hartford High football coach Matt Trombly at tromblym@hartfordschools.net or 802-295-8640 or Gabrielle Lucke at glucke@gmail.com or 802-296-2690.
Hamilton Honored: The company behind the Great American Rivalry Series high school football program bestowed its scholar-athlete award upon Hartford’s Tyler Hamilton prior to the Canes’ 52-40 win at Rutland on Sept. 22.
The award followed MVP honors Hamilton earned under GARS’ watch in last year’s 34-33 defeat of the Raiders. Hamilton is a three-sport captain and all-state honoree in football, ice hockey and baseball. He is also president of the school’s athletic leadership council. Rutland’s Dylan Moore was also given a scholar-athlete award at last month’s meeting.
The series is a product of a Lexington, Ky., management consulting firm, iHigh.com Inc., that was founded in 1999, according to Bloomberg. The series’ website indicates the program partners with the U.S. Marine Corps and has been around since 2004.
Greg Fennell can be reached at gfennell@vnews.com or 603-727-3226.