Vermont high school sports received an early and unexpected Christmas present on Tuesday morning when Gov. Phil Scott announced no-contact practices could begin on Saturday.
The announcement was surprising, with no true evidence for why the decision was made and what the next steps toward a return to play are. VPA competition was supposed to begin on Jan. 11, but that is no longer realistic.
Yet the news finally gives some reason for cautious optimism for not just players but also coaches whose winters revolve around their teams.
Hartford High boys hockey coach Todd Bebeau has been reminded daily that, in New Hampshire, teams have been practicing for nearly a month. As a physical education teacher at Hanover High, he’s been watching students head into the gym for basketball and hockey bags float around the hallways after morning workouts.
He even took to Twitter on Dec. 2 with a list of things he will never take for granted again as a hockey coach, including the smell of the locker room, film sessions with players and the “God-awful music from the I-room.”
Before Tuesday’s announcement, Bebeau was starting to contemplate if he would ever get on the ice at Wendell A. Barwood Arena this winter. The last time he wasn’t playing or coaching the game of hockey was when he was 5 years old, he said.
“Hockey’s critical for me to be the best version of myself,” said Bebeau, a 1987 Hartford grad who is entering his 23rd season on the Hurricanes’ bench. “It’s a hectic schedule, but it’s my favorite time of the year. I find so much pleasure in it, even sharpening skates or going over my mind on a tough conversation I have to have with a player later. Those are the things that I love about coaching, and those have been taken away from me.
“I can only vacuum the living room so much when I get home.”
Mike Gaudette has had similar thoughts.
When he stepped away from the Hartford boys basketball job in 2011, he wasn’t sure he would get back to the varsity level ever again. He then took the opening at White River Valley two seasons ago and never once thought others would decide if he could hold a practice.
A 1980s Hartford hooper, Gaudette’s day job is as operations manager with Student Transportation of America, based out of White River Junction. Lately after work, he’s been watching college basketball to fill the void. But daily interactions with players after a practice or on the bus have been the hardest piece to replace.
Gaudette has been talking about this 2020-21 team since last winter. Set to return one of the Upper Valley’s best 3-point shooters in junior Dominic Craven, the Wildcats won’t begin practice until Jan. 11 when WRVS returns to in-person learning.
“You always looked forward to getting back on the court because you knew you were getting back out there,” said Gaudette, whose team went 13-9 last winter and fell to Rivendell in the VPA Division IV quarterfinals. “This year, you just don’t know. I feel empty.”
Vermont won’t offer indoor track this winter because of a shortage in availability of facilities to use for competition. The decision means the Thetford boys squad won’t defend its D-II state crown and the girls won’t have a chance at redemption after finishing second to Hartford.
Charlie Buttrey, TA’s indoor track coach, would’ve been in his 10th season, making trips to UVM’s campus for meets and stops at Al’s French Frys in South Burlington on the way home.
“It was the right decision, even if it was disappointing,” he said. “There was no option but to cancel the season. I think the only thing keeping me going is we could possibly train in the hallways, but it’s awfully hard to find motivation when there’s no meets to train for.”
Barry Emerson has two sons, one in eighth grade and another a junior at Oxbow. He’s seen firsthand as a parent how badly his kids need social interaction outside of classwork.
He’s also a physical education teacher at Oxbow, running gym classes, and has been confused lately what the difference between gym class and basketball practice is. But as the Olympians’ girls basketball coach, last week’s announcement allows Emerson to finally interact with his team for the first time since last season, when they were named a co-champion with three other schools because the VPA D-III tournament was canceled at the semifinal stage by the pandemic.
Both boys and girls basketball at Oxbow won’t begin until Jan. 4, so players are in compliance with the current travel and household gathering restrictions.
“I hope there will be games,” Emerson said. “I think that is what’s holding the kids together. Who knows at this point? I’m trying to be optimistic and realistic.
“I speak quite frequently with my athletic director, and I don’t think those conversations (about what a return to play will take) are even held at that level. Certainly, I don’t think it’s common knowledge around schools.”
Pete Nakos can be reached at pnakos@vnews.com.