POMFRET — Brendan Little hasn’t yelled much lately, so he was pleasantly surprised not to be hoarse three days into Woodstock High boys lacrosse practice last week.
A group of about 30 athletes moved to Little’s dictates on Wednesday, during which he shouted to be heard across the moderate expanse of the Prosper Valley School’s playing field. He occasionally grabbed a stick to use as a teaching tool or to direct traffic.
At full timbre, his voice echoed off adjacent trees and hills.
“There’s two things I learned as time went on coaching: whistle etiquette — you can’t have a weak whistle — and you can’t have a weak voice,” Little said after Wednesday’s workout. “I wouldn’t call it an art, but there’s a skill set to it.”
With each utterance, he revealed how much he’s missed the sideline.
Little, a former player at Woodstock and UVM, stepped down following the Wasps’ 12-5 season in 2019, his 11th in charge. He has two children, and he’s also a co-owner of the Woodstock Farmers Market, with his hands full lately completing an expansion to a second location in Waterbury. He felt he needed to set lacrosse aside and dedicate more time to his other priorities.
Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Woodstock, a VPA Division I semifinalist three years ago, lost its 2020 season. Then the market’s plans went on hold. Then the Wasps lost the guy who would have been Little’s successor.
Between all of that and lobbying from a couple of his assistants, Little decided he wasn’t ready to call an end to coaching after all.
“I love his energy; it’s really upbeat,” senior tri-captain Field Willis said. “He loves intensity, and I think that’s great. With this group of kids, all these guys, we like to play at the highest level. We played a bunch of summer lacrosse. I like going fast-fast-fast; I love that about him. He keeps on going.”
It’s hard to get a gauge on what 2021 will bring since 2020 provided nothing. Last spring’s the only high school season completely wiped by the pandemic in either of the Twin States.
Having a senior-laden core — even with a smaller roster, playing much larger D-I schools — should help the Wasps. The likes of attackman Willis, fellow senior captains Charles Greene and Andrew Gubbins, and junior attackman Keaton Piconi were all key members of the 2019 team that lost an overtime quarterfinal to Essex and reached the D-I semifinals one year prior.
“A lot of these guys, lacrosse is what they do,” said Greene, a defenseman. “Lacrosse is how they get away from school, how they get away from COVID. We’re a big family out here; everybody’s included here. Everybody’s having fun. It’s definitely great to be back.”
Little felt at peace with departing two years ago, but other forces eventually came into play.
Willis’ father, Mike, was set to guide the Wasps last year had the campaign not been canceled; he was unavailable to continue this spring. Meanwhile, two of Little’s assistants, Josh Roylance and Devon Wood, encouraged him to reconsider. Little said community members also expressed a desire to see him extend his tenure, if he could.
“It was a really hard decision to step down, and I want to say I regretted it, but I missed it,” Little admitted. “It was a lot of family conversations about, ‘Can we make it work?’ I just needed my family’s support to figure out how to get the kids to different places and have dinner made.”
The family — part of it, at least — now tags along. Little’s 11-year-old son, Cole, has become a workout fixture, occasionally joining in drills. (Little also has a 9-year-old daughter, Zella). When he wasn’t required, Cole and a friend occupied themselves away from the field. When summoned, they hustled over to get involved.
“The community and the kids; hands down, just being with them and seeing how hard the kids work today to get what they want, and being part of it,” Little said about the joys of coaching. “Other than we started two weeks later (than usual), we’ve got a 12-game schedule. I think it’s going to be the most normal thing the kids have experienced in a year.”
The Wasps can expect to hear about it — in loud tones, with ideal enunciation and palpable, echoing joy.
“It always gets us fired up to play at the top level in Vermont and play against the best competition,” said Gubbins, a midfielder. “I think with Brendo back especially, his passion for the game is just so large, and his love for the team and us makes us want to get to that championship game.”
Greg Fennell can be reached at gfennell@vnews.com or 603-727-3226.