This is the first of eight installments of the Valley News’ weekly profiles of local high school coaches this summer. It’s been a chance to better know some of the people guiding the area’s student-athletes. Today, we meet Thetford Academy indoor track co-coach Charlie Buttrey, an attorney originally from Ann Arbor, Mich.
Family: Charlie met his wife, Karen, a hospital administrator, during a blind date on which they watched the Milagro Beanfield War, a film directed by Robert Redford, in downtown Hanover. They were married in 1990. Their 27-year old daughter, Holly, is a Thetford Academy and Carleton (Minn.) College graduate who recently earned a global policy studies master’s degree from the University of Texas and who teaches in Houston. Their 24-year old son, Thaddeus, was part of five TA cross country and track state championship teams, graduated from Kalamazoo (Mich.) College and will attend Scotland’s University of Edinburgh for film studies.
Wolverine State Start: Buttrey’s father, Ted Jr., was a University of Michigan classics professor, and his mother, Marisa, was a Michigan Law School graduate and legal editor. Charlie’s siblings are Stephanie, Jim and Sam. Stephanie played field hockey at Michigan, Sam captained the Princeton rugby team and Jim played lacrosse at Harvard. “You could hear the crowd noise of Michigan football games from my house, and I’m still a huge Wolverines fan,” said Buttrey, whose grandfather, Ted Sr., captained Princeton’s wrestling team and qualified for the 1928 Olympics in that sport.
Old Nassau: After following Jim to New Hampshire’s Phillips Exeter Academy, Buttrey captained the Big Red’s wrestling team and won a New England title at 127 pounds. He walked on at Princeton in 1977 but was cut and became the lightweight football team’s placekicker. He booted three field goals in the first half against Rutgers and was president of a senior class that included future New York governor Eliot Spitzer and future U.S. Supreme Court justice Elena Kagan.
Diaper Dandy: Pursuing a relationship in the Upper Valley after college, Buttrey worked odd jobs, including a stint at a Norwich daycare center. “I still see some of those kids, and they have kids who are older than they were when I was taking care of them,” he said with a laugh.
Barrister for Hire: Buttrey earned a degree from Vermont Law School and started working for a Norwich firm in 1986. He joined his current firm in Lebanon in 1989 and specializes in personal injury and criminal cases. “Criminal law changes all the time, and you’re directly impacting people’s lives,” Buttrey said. “When they come to me, something bad has happened to them, and it’s nice to have a chance to help them heal.”
Game Time: “I still have butterflies when I’m at trial,” he said. “The analogy to playing sports can certainly be drawn, because in both you have to overcome anxiety with someone counting on you. You know you have to perform.”
Talking Head: Buttrey, a 60-year-old amateur thespian who once juggled while questioning a trial witness, has long performed in his own television commercials. They often feature his kids, and one of the latest includes a wandering puppy. “I try to be offbeat and sensitive to reflect who I am,” Buttrey said. “The best approach is to be collaborative, not combative, which is the same approach I take when coaching kids.”
Panthers Pride: Thetford Academy indoor track was a club program when Buttrey joined co-coach Joel Breakstone eight years ago. The team twice finished first at the state title meet before going varsity two years ago. TA was the smallest school in the Vermont Division II meet this winter, but the boys finished second and the girls fifth.
Fun Runs: “Thetford has always had a strong running culture and success engenders success,” said Buttrey, who also coaches TA’s middle school cross country team. “We’re just goofballs who enjoy each other’s company. I tell the kids that even if you finish last, if you set a (personal record), you’ve won.”
Indoor (Outdoor) Track: Like most local schools, TA has no indoor track practice access other than at Dartmouth College’s Leverone Field House during December. “We do internal workouts in the parking lots or the hallways,” Buttrey said. “These kids are so devoted to their sport and each other. They look forward to working out even if it’s 20 degrees and they’re doing hill work on Route 113.”
Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com.