WOODSTOCK — Audrey Emery doesn’t hide her football allegiances. She watches games regularly with her family — “Big Giants fan; sorry, Patriots” — and the time spent by the television led her to play the game all through middle school and into her freshman year at Woodstock High.
Then the coronavirus pandemic hit. The Wasps are less one running back and safety on the gridiron because of it, but Woodstock’s field hockey program is forever grateful.
By answering the call of friends and filling a need, the sophomore is tending field hockey goal this fall. It’s a new thing for her, even as the recruiting by Woodstock teammates and coaches convinced her to try.
“The idea of seven-on-seven, no-pads football just didn’t appeal to me as much,” Emery said after impressing in a 3-0 loss to Windsor at Yvonne Frates Field last week. “I just wanted a change and (to) see what would happen, but I’m having fun. I like it. I do miss running around, though.”
Longtime Woodstock coach Wendy Wannop saw this day coming. She had Maggie Parker as backstop for four years, but the Wasps went through last season without a backup. When Parker had to miss a mid-September game at Burr & Burton, field players Sophie Yates and Myah Earle had to be pressed into service as goalies.
Emery would occasionally visit field hockey practices last autumn to see how her friends were doing. That’s when the sales job — with the help of Wannop’s assistant coach, Jane Hoisington — really began.
“She’s really got it,” Wannop said of her new shot-stopper.
Wannop had hoped Emery would hit a summer field hockey camp for experience; the pandemic nixed that. The late start to the season left the coach worried about Emery’s initial play, but the sophomore has been anything but overwhelmed.
She began with a 1-0 shutout of Otter Valley on Sept. 29, and her nine saves against Windsor kept her team close to the defending VPA Division III state champs. She added a 4-1 win over Springfield on Monday and was due to tend goal at BBA on Thursday.
Emery also plays goal for Woodstock girls lacrosse, and that background has helped her transition to field hockey. She’s developed a good clearance kick, Wannop noted, although Emery said she still needs to learn to boot the ball to the flanks instead of in front of her net.
But it’s going well, enough so that Emery isn’t sure whether she’ll be colliding with 200-pound linemen or hard plastic hockey balls this time next year.
“That’s a question I don’t know the answer to,” she confessed with a smile. “We’ll have to see.”
Hartford softball lights: Hartford High’s athletic department and the town’s parks and recreation department have begun the process of adding lights to the varsity softball field at the Maxfield Sports Complex.
Parks and rec director Scott Hausler said the town has a 10-year lease-to-purchase arrangement, splitting the roughly $18,000 cost evenly with the school district. The system features efficient LED lighting and has a 25-year warranty that includes on-site maintenance.
“The field lighting system was part of a pre-planned lighting program at Maxfield,” Hausler said in an email. “During the facility construction, the conduit and concrete base poles were installed, making the addition of the poles and lights a simple addition to an amazing sports complex.”
Maxfield’s varsity baseball diamond has had lights since it debuted 4½ years ago.
Thetford running game plan: Thetford Academy lost its annual Woods Trail Run last Saturday to the pandemic, and plans to host the annual VPA state cross country championships are still being formulated.
TA coach Joe Deffner lamented the loss of the former event, which would have been the 30th edition, one that draws teams from throughout the Northeast. Travel and crowd-size restrictions made it impossible, and the school is now planning for a special 30th anniversary celebration of the event next October.
Deffner said athletic director Blendon Salls has been working with VPA associate executive director Bob Johnson on various formats that could make the Oct. 31 state meet possible. Ideas include starting waves to limit the size of packs and having each of the VPA’s three divisions leave campus as soon as their races are complete.
“We are hopeful, though, if the trend remains positive in Vermont, that we will be able to have a stage meet,” Deffner said in an email.
Greg Fennell can be reached at gfennell@vnews.com or 603-727-3226.