By Emily Winslow
EAGLE TIMES
CORRESPONDENT
WINDSOR, Vt. — Greg Balch, who has been the head football coach at Windsor High School for the past ten years, is gearing up to coach Vermont at the Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl game in August.
This year’s game will be Balch’s second coaching the “granddaddy of all football games.” He believes his past experience at the event will give his team an advantage.
“I have a good understanding of what to expect this time around,” said Balch. “The Shriner’s provide a lot of support for you as a coach. Understanding the grind of it, the preparation that you need and how the week actually goes is big. It’s the best players in Vermont versus the best players in New Hampshire. I’m confident going into it with a lot of the same coaches that I worked with the first time.
“My staff and I coached the Shrine game in 2018 and Vermont won 24-13. This was the game that was delayed significantly due to storms and finished quite late. Windsor had 4 players on that team: Seth Balch played QB, Dakota Page played CB, Jacob Tucker played LB and Ben Meagher played DE and some TE as well” said Balch.
“It was a back-and-forth game with New Hampshire leading 7-6 at the half. In the second half the Vermont offense pounded the ball behind a great offensive line and the Green Mountain defense stepped up and caused several turnovers. It was a great team and there was strong representation from the Connecticut Valley League (CVL) area.”
The 2023 Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl will take place on Aug. 5 at Vermont State University in Castleton, Vt. Coaches from New Hampshire and Vermont high schools nominate high-performing seniors for a selection committee to vote on the final rosters. All fundraising efforts benefit local Shriner’s Children’s Hospitals. Given that teams only have a week to practice together, Balch is already anticipating how to get the athletes ready.
“We practice two or three times every day,” said Balch. “What we’re trying to do throughout the week is figure out the best positions for the 38 players that we have. The first few days is installing and learning your offensive and defensive systems. You can only do so much conditioning in the time-frame but we do that, too. We will be building throughout the week and towards the end of the week we need to be ready for the game, at that point it’s all fine tuning.”
Balch anticipates the team needing more preparation on the offensive side, given that athletes must take on new positions and learn a different offensive scheme that they may never have used before.
Among the 11 local players in the game, joining the Vermont team will be a pair of outstanding quarterbacks in Windsor’s Mason Fortin and Bellows Falls’ Jamison Nystrom. Balch is thrilled to have the opportunity to work with both players.
“Mason is a pretty special person and player,” stated Balch. “I’ve coached him for a long time. He is not only a tremendous athlete and football player but he is a great kid. I am just getting to know Jamison but he’s done great things at Bellows Falls and he is a real competitor. I’m excited to have the opportunity to coach him.”
For Balch, getting to see the Vermont athletes bond over a good cause, form life-long friendships, rally around friendly comradery and strive for success is what makes the Shrine Bowl such an exceptional event.
“It’s not just a game, it’s a charitable event for a great cause and it’s got a very rich history,” said Balch. “Meeting the Shriners and watching the players understand the cause and get to know one another is special. It’s also something that communities have rallied around for years. There is a lot of pride that goes into it. The Vermont team really wants to win and the New Hampshire team really wants to win.”
Balch is grateful to see and experience the spirit and passion that the Shrine game brings out. The game not only showcases incredibly successful high school athletes, but it also allows Communities in Vermont and New Hampshire to give to a remarkable cause.
This game is all about helping others as the Shriner’s have raised nearly $5 million dollars to support the Shriner’s hospitals in Springfield, MA and Montreal Quebec along with the Boston Burns Institute.
Donations can be made by going to the Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl website at www.shrinemaplesugarbowl.com.
Players and coaches will report to Castleton University’s campus on Sunday, July 30, and will spend the week preparing for the game. Kickoff is set for 11:30 on Saturday Aug. 5.
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