By Tom Haley
THE RUTLAND HERALD
Boys soccer is returning to Springfield High School and a lot faster than Athletic Director Rich Saypack was anticipating it would.
He also believes he has the right guy aboard to return the luster to the Springfield High boys varsity basketball program.
Soccer was absent last season due to insufficient numbers.
“I thought it would take two years,” Saypack said on Friday while vacationing on Lake George.
Then, things fell in place for the team to play as an independent this fall with a patchwork schedule comprised of varsity and JV teams.
There was a good eighth grade team last year and players who had formerly played high school soccer started coming forward.
“I was shocked. I thought we would be without a team one more year,” Saypack said.
The Cosmos will not be going to the playoffs this fall and Saypack is only beginning to piece together a schedule. There is one home game against Proctor under the lights of Brown Field and another game against Grace Christian so far.
But it’s a step and, to Saypack, a step ahead of schedule.
Tim Considine, the Cosmos varsity softball coach, will be the coach. Considine was the JV girl’s soccer coach last fall.
Kraig Harlow is the Cosmos new varsity boy’s basketball coach, coming over from nearby Fall Mountain Regional in Langdon, New Hampshire where he was the JV coach the past four seasons.
During his stint at Fall Mountain, Harlow’s coaching philosophy evolved.
He quickly surmised that the hard-nosed approach doesn’t necessarily work today.
“I learned to lead with an open heart,” Harlow said.
“I am a very open communicator. If there is a play, we are running that the players do not like, we will talk about it.”
He made use of an African philosophy called Ubuntu espoused by Nelson Mandela.
“It means, ‘I am here because you are here and you are here because I am here,’” Harlow said.
“It is all about being as a family. We used that philosophy at Fall Mountain to great success.”
His final Wildcat JV team fashioned a record of 14-4.
He recently met a couple of players in an open gym including senior Tanner Gintof.
While there, Harlow assigned a book to be read this summer: “The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work and Team with Positive Energy” by Jon Gordon.
Describing his JV team last season, Harlow said, “We played fast. we played hard and we were fundamentally sound.”
That is the type of program Harlow would like to forge at Springfield.
He is also hoping to bring coaching continuity to a varsity team that is on its fourth coach in four years.
“I will stay as long as Rich will have me,” Harlow said.
When Ray Curren, the Springfield girl’s varsity soccer coach and Stevens High boys’ basketball coach, told Harlow about the job opening, Harlow began watching film of the Cosmos from last season.
“I watched a bunch of film,” Harlow said.
He saw some talent that he really liked. The body language? Not so much.
He wants to instill confidence into the team to change that.
Harlow said there is some talent in the pipeline including a 6-foot-7 freshman.
Harlow, who is a teacher in Unity, New Hampshire, wants to line up scrimmages with New Hampshire schools like Fall Mountain and Stevens.
“I am not a big fan of scrimmaging schools that you will be playing during the season,” he said.
He is a staunch disciple of man-to-man defense.
“I think man-to-man gets players ready for the next level. We will not be playing much zone,” he said.
Offensively, he embraces the tenets of the European game — a lot of cutting, hand offs and movement.
“It will be a lot of read and react. We want to play faster than what you think is fast,” Harlow said.
The Cosmos endured a 1-19 season in 2021-22 and Harlow is excited about the challenge of restoring a program that will bring the magic back to Dressel Gym.
One of the first people that Harlow called upon getting the job was his grandfather Gordy Harlow, known throughout Vermont as a former official.
Now, Kraig Harlow will try to make his own mark on the Vermont athletic landscape as a coach.
“I am ecstatic. I am excited. I am more excited than nervous,” the Plymouth State graduate said.
NOTES: The press box at Brown Field will be enclosed this season and all football games will be on NFHS. … The Cosmos first two football games are at home, Woodstock visits Brown Field on Sept. 2 and Fairfax/Lampoille on Sept. 9.
tom.haley @rutlandherald.com
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