-The Vermont Soccer Coaches' Association recently released their all-state teams for each of the state's four divisions.
Topping the Division I girls' team is Brattleboro senior forward Reese Croutworst. She finished her high school career as the school's all-time leading goal scorer, and helped lead the Bears to their first playoff win since 2007.
The Division IV girls' team included Leland & Gray freshman striker Addison Eldridge, who helped lead the Rebels to a surprising run to the semifinals this season that included an upset of No. 1 West Rutland in the quarterfinals, and Twin Valley senior center back Alejandra Bevilacqua, a five-year varsity starter for the Wildcats.
Brattleboro junior midfielder Eason DeMarsico was selected to the Division I boys' team, while Leland & Gray had two midfielders on the Division 4 boys' team, junior Spencer Claussen and senior Ethan Clark.
Twin Valley, the Division IV state champions, are represented by senior striker Carson McHale, junior Brayden Brown and sophomore Alex Sullivan in the midfield, and senior center back Chris Eckert.
SVL names field hockey, soccer, cross country all-stars
The Southern Vermont League (SVL) recently announced their field hockey, soccer, and cross country all-star teams.
• Bellows Falls, the Division II state field hockey champions, saw Veronica Moore, Haven Harty, Avery Dole, and Avery Maxfield all named to the A Division first team.
Brattleboro's Jasmine Thibault was also named to the A Division first team. Receiving honorable mention were Addie Bacon, Myleigh Illingworth, and Brook Parker of Bellows Falls, and Suha Rifaiy, Mary Cady, Kylie Jarvis, and Ericka Fletcher of Brattleboro.
• In girls' soccer, Brattleboro's Reese Croutworst, Sadie Cheslawski, and Naima Harris were all named to the A Division first team, with teammates Myah White, Emma Freshee, and Jules Pals receiving honorable mention. Brattleboro's Jay Cudworth was named Coach of the Year after leading the Bears to a top-four seed and a Division I quarterfinals appearance.
Named to the C Division first team were Leland & Gray's Addison Eldridge and Green Mountain's Kaylee DeBartolo. Receiving honorable mention were Leland & Gray's Sophia Hallock, Nyah Ryan, and Annabelle Brookes, and Green Mountain's Isidora Gibson, Leah Cassin, and Honore Hazen.
Bellows Falls' Abby Nystrom, Natalie Douglass, and Gracie Patterson, and Twin Valley's Alejandra Bevilacqua and Scarlett Cimino were all named to the C Division first team. Receiving honorable mention were Grace Hayes and Gwen Gould of Bellows Falls, and Ella Corbosiero, Joselyn Codogni, and Nella Warner of Twin Valley.
• In boys' soccer, Brattleboro's Eason DeMarsico and Oscar Dawson were named to the A Division first team, with teammates Colby Robinson and Gordie Kalill, receiving honorable mention.
Twin Valley's Brayden Brown, Alex Sullivan, Carson McHale and Chris Eckert made the C Division first team, with teammates Tucker Magnant, Landon Brown, and Niko Gerding receiving honorable mention.
After winning a Division IV state championship and his 500th career victory this year, Twin Valley's Buddy Hayford was named C Division Coach of the Year.
Leland & Gray's Ethan Clark and Spencer Claussen were named to the D Division first team, with teammates Ryder Butynski, Logan Plimpton, and Kenrick Ewing receiving honorable mention.
• Brattleboro's Nico Conathan-Leach, Liam Conathan-Leach, and Willow Sharma were named to the A Division boys' cross country first team.
Desi Broadley of Green Mountain, Division III girls' individual champion for the second year in a row, was named to the B Division girls' first team.
8-man football coming to Vermont?
• The Vermont Interscholastic Football League (VIFL) had its annual end-of-season meeting last week at Hartford High School and one of the hot topics was the possibility of bringing 8-man football to Vermont to shore up programs at smaller schools with declining enrollments.
Eight-man football removes two linemen and one skill player from the standard 11-on-11 lineup, and is played on a shorter, narrower field (80 yards by 40 yards) than the traditional kind (100 yards by 53 1/3 yards).
Unlike the 7-on-7 football we saw in Vermont during the 2020 Covid pandemic season - where there was no offensive or defensive lineman outside a center to snap the ball, no blocking or tackling, and no running of the ball - 8-man football looks and plays like the 11-on-11 game, just with fewer players on a smaller field.
Eight-man football is popular in the Midwest and in football hotbeds such as Texas and California. Eight-man is also played at the varsity level at rural schools in Maine, a state with similar demographic issues as Vermont, and at some New England prep schools.
There are currently 30 high school football teams in Vermont, and the participation numbers for the sports are in decline. That is a reflection of having fewer and fewer students in Vermont schools.
Bellows Falls, the Division III champions, started the season with 39 players on the varsity roster, but that included 10 ninth-graders who mostly played JV games. Brattleboro, which ended its Division I season with a 1-7 record, started their season with 40 players. That's just barely enough to get through a season, even with players logging time on both offense and defense as we saw with these two teams.
Some junior varsity teams in Vermont that were short on players played 8-on-8 games this past season. It enabled the younger players on teams with smaller rosters to get some experience. Can it work on the varsity level for schools that want to keep their football programs? That is currently under discussion at VIFL schools.
VA's McCarthy chooses Tennessee for baseball
• Chester's Kaiden McCarthy may still have two prep school baseball seasons remaining at Vermont Academy in Saxtons River, but he has already decided on where he wants to play collegiate baseball.
McCarthy, a right-handed pitcher, recently committed to the University of Tennessee, which won the NCAA Division I College World Series in 2024 and has one of the top baseball programs in the Southeast Conference.
He is one of the top pitching prospects in the country, with a fastball that has been clocked at 97 mph, but McCarthy recently told the Rutland Herald that he made an early commitment to Tennessee so he could concentrate on academics and baseball in his final two years at VA.
While his fastball caught the eyes of college and professional baseball scouts, McCarthy told the Herald that he realizes that "everyone throws hard today. Last year, I was a little heavy on my fastballs. I want to work on my secondary pitches and mixing it up more."
It helps that he's getting some good coaching. His father Matt McCarthy is the pitching coach at VA, and he has a good track record when it comes to developing pitchers.
Brattleboro Swim Team seeks a new coach
• The Brattleboro Swim Team (BST) is in the process of recruiting a new head coach for the 2026 summer season.
BST is accepting applications for head and assistant coach positions on a rolling basis through January 2026. Coaches work with swimmers ages 5–18 in developing their stroke technique for competitive swimming and building/supporting a positive team culture. The head coach will plan practices, oversee 1–3 assistant coaches depending on team size, and coordinate meets.
Practices are held at the Living Memorial Park pool on weekdays from 4 to 6 p.m. from June 22 to July 31. The season includes 4–5 swim meets within the Southern Vermont Swim League and the state Championship Meet for qualified swimmers.
Interested applicants should submit a resume and cover letter with a statement of interest and references to brattswimteam@gmail.com.
Senior bowling roundup
• Week 12 of the fall/winter season of the Brattleboro Senior Bowling League at Brattleboro Bowl on Nov. 20 saw first place Wayne's World (40-20) start to pull way from second place 3 Plus One (34-26). Pinocent Bystanders (33-27) moved into third place, followed by Lucky 7 (32-28), Slo Movers and Strike Away (both 30-25), Ricochet (29-31), Stayin' Alive (28-32), SOS (26-34), and Strikers (18-42).
Shirley Aiken had the women's high handicap game (240) and Candida Wall had the high handicap series (663), while Kevin Napaver had the men's high handicap game (267) and series (728). Pinocent Bystanders again had the high team handicap game (890) and series (2,639).
Napaver had the men's high scratch series (728) with games of 267, 246, and 215, while John Walker had a 664 series with games of 245, 236, and 183. Chuck Adams had a 655 series with games of 224, 223, and 208, Robert Rigby had a 601 series with games of 224, 189, and 188, Warren Corriveau Sr. had a 516 series, and Gary Montgomery had a 511 series. Notable games included Stan Kolpa (186) and Wayne Randall (185).
Aiken had the women's high scratch series (468) with a 179 game, while Carol Gloski had the high scratch game (180).
Randolph T. Holhut, deputy editor of this newspaper, has written this column since 2010 and has covered sports in Windham County since the 1980s. Readers can send him sports information at news@commonsnews.org.
This Sports column by Randolph T. Holhut was written for The Commons.