By Bill Murphy
Staff Writer
Sitting here wondering why two area schools couldn’t field boys soccer teams this fall and what the future of soccer in those towns and some others is bound to look like in the future.
I believe so much of what we are and what we do is tied up in our early years. Certainly there are cases of people who branch out and follow a path no one predicted they would go, but for the most part, we stay true to what we have learned and what we know.
I never was introduced to soccer at an early age so the sport was quite foreign to me. In fact, I don’t remember ever playing it even in physical education class. Right now, that doesn’t make any sense, but, I think I am correct.
My first true introduction to the game was as a reporter. I covered a variety of games learning on the go. I even had a favorite match-up. When Stevens and Fall Mountain met in soccer, boys or girls, it was a spectacle, even to ignorant me.
When it was made public that neither Windsor or Springfield would field a boys team this fall, I was quite surprised. To find out next that even if the two schools had worked to field one team between them, the numbers would still be iffy, left me more than flabbergasted.
If someone had approached me and said an area school would not be fielding a boys team this fall, my immediate guess would have been Bellows Falls. They struggle for adequate numbers just about every year. The fact they have a team this time around with some reserves to boot is a win in itself. The unfortunate part is the teams they were most competitive with will not be playing the sport.
Bellows Falls’ best years on the pitch happened under the tutelage of Larry Slason. His teams captured two Marble Valley League titles, in the early 2000’s which was the pinnacle of the programs’ history. Despite those successes, the Terriers have never won a post season soccer game in the school’s history. During Slason’s tenure the school population was declining, however the Falls always still competed in Division II.
Slason looks to the youth programs in the Rockingham/Westminster area as the base of when the Purple and White program was at its’ best. He told us, “a wonderful couple Bob and Mary Lou Smith were, the originators and the heart of that youth program and I ended up being the beneficiary of those good things they did.”
As stated above, Bellows Falls has been able to put a team on the field each fall, but, the youth program no longer exists and the numbers are tight every fall.
One thing is clear though. The football playing schools in the area, with the exception of Stevens and Fall Mountain, have had trouble fielding a boys soccer team lately. Is that the lone reason?
For some perspective on that we turn to longtime soccer aficionado Tim St. Pierre, who played for and graduated from Fall Mountain, when the sport was THE sport in the fall in Wildcat Land. St. Pierre, who is now the head girls coach at Stevens, began his coaching career under his high school coach Jim Brunelle, two years following graduation when he was welcomed on board as an assistant and has basically been coaching since. He spent 20 years as a head coach at Fall Mountain and had a short stint at Keene High School. We asked the dean of area soccer coaches what he thought about the numbers dwindling and some programs shutting down.
St. Pierre told us, “I know a lot of coaches including myself are working hard to make it work with boys or girls teams. The situation is different today. More athletes have to earn some money and the focus is a little different. I definitely am accommodating players in ways I would not have thought of doing in a different era.”
St. Pierre went on to speak about youth programs in communities which serve as an interest builder for the players at a young age. “Kids know when someone in their community makes a sport feel special. When these programs attract a good turnout the kids know the adults are invested in what they do. In return the kids commit and see this as a return on their own investment,” which obviously leads to kids committing to play in future years.
Fall Mountain may still have a strong soccer backing, however in recent years, the numbers for football, by way of Cat AD Gordon Danserau, have surpassed soccer in some fall seasons. In a day and age when you hear more people questioning the safety of the grid sport, this sounds amazing to hear. Another reason to wonder why soccer is possibly losing some of its appeal.
Stevens Athletic Director Doug Beaupre said the soccer numbers in Claremont have stayed status quo during the last five years, but, the girls numbers are down slightly this season. Beaupre points out “ some students need to work as a possible factor there.
In Newport, boys coach Caleb Godwin had only 9 players a week before the season began. “I literally went door to door to find more players,” Godwin said. His team now boast 14 players.
The history of boys soccer in both Springfield and Windsor easily exceeds the accomplishments of the Bellows Falls program. Springfield has a state championship in Division II to its credit in 2009 a 1-0 win over Missisquoi and another title appearance in 2005, a 2-0 defeat to U-32. In fact, there was one stretch in basically the Paul Kendall years that the Cosmos eight year record was 73-27-11. That’s called a soccer program.
Windsor has not reached any title games, but they did reach two semi-final appearances. Fittingly due to the size of their school they have always competed in Division III. The Yellow Jackets lost hard fought games in both Final Four appearances bowing to Northfield 1-0 in 2011 and Thetford 2-1 in 2006.
Despite the fact neither school is fielding a team this fall, interested soccer players do have an opportunity to play elsewhere. Three Springfield athletes ventured to Green Mountain and Windsors’ group went to Hartford with four of them making the varsity squad. Hartford AD Jeff Moreno tells us, “If this year’s team is going to go anywhere, it’s not going there without them,’’ referring to the Windsor athletes.
Some area schools, likely Bellows Falls, Springfield, and Windsor, who have football and declining enrollments find that “the soccer only schools often beat us soundly,” said Springfield Athletic Director Rich Saypack. He went on to say, “our middle school soccer has been coed in recent years and more schools recently are going in that direction. They need to because of the numbers.”
Overall, the numbers are a concern. Whether it is declining enrollment, the fallout of the pandemic or the presence of football, communities who don’t offer enticing soccer programs in the youth years may see soccer disappear from the high school landscape altogether. The trick appears to be, get them really interested early.
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