-The winter high school sports season in Vermont began on Dec. 1 as athletes started their preseason practices and coaches around the state started assembling their basketball, hockey, and ski teams.
With dreams of a playoff run dancing in their heads, local teams will be taking to the court and ice starting this weekend.
• Girls’ basketball starts Friday, Dec. 12, with the Leland & Gray Tip-Off Tourney in Townshend. Friday’s opening round has Brattleboro taking on Mount Anthony at 5:30 p.m., while Leland & Gray and Arlington do battle at 7 p.m. The winners advance to the championship game on Saturday, Dec. 13, at 7 p.m., with the consolation game set for 5:30 p.m.
Bellows Falls opens on the road against Springfield on Dec. 12 and at West Rutland on Dec. 19 before the Terriers play their home opener at Holland Gymnasium on Monday, Dec. 22, at 7 p.m. against Thetford. Twin Valley starts the season in Whitingham on Dec. 12 when the Wildcats take on Mount St. Joseph in a 6 p.m. game.
• Boys’ basketball also starts Dec. 12 with Brattleboro at St. Johnsbury at 7 p.m. The Bears’ home opener will be against St. Johnsbury on Saturday, Dec. 20 at 1 p.m. at the BUHS gym. Bellows Falls gets started on Dec. 13 when Springfield visits Holland Gymnasium for a 1 p.m. game.
Leland & Gray opens its season at home against Mill River on Monday, Dec. 15, at 7 p.m. Twin Valley opens at Twinfield/Cabot on Dec. 12 and, after taking on host Green Mountain in the GM Holiday Tournament in Chester on Tuesday, Dec. 16, the Wildcats will face Leland & Gray in the home opener in Whitingham on Saturday, Dec. 20, at 2:30 p.m.
• Hockey season starts for the Brattleboro girls on Dec. 13, with the Bears hosting Harwood at 4:45 p.m. at Withington Rink. The Brattleboro boys get the season started on Wednesday, Dec. 17, when the Bears host Missisquoi at 7:15 p.m. at Withington Rink.
• Thanks to cold weather and last week’s storm, the Brattleboro Nordic ski team was able to get some outdoor training time on snow. Their first scheduled meet is a skate sprint at Prospect Mountain in Woodford on Dec. 13. The Bears will again have their home meets this season at the Marlboro Nordic Ski Club.
“We have a small team this year, with a handful of very strong upperclassmen leading the group: Nico Conathan-Leach, Willow Sharma, and Elijah Cummings are all seniors,” said Bears coach Amanda Dixon. “Maayan Coleman, our lone returning varsity girl, is a junior. There is a good-sized group of middle schoolers, six seventh graders and four eighth graders, who promise to be the team of the future.”
• The girls’ gymnastics season begins for Brattleboro on Dec. 17 with a meet against Harwood at Central Vermont Gymnastics Academy in Waterbury. The Bears will host Middlebury at their first home meet on Saturday, Dec. 27, at 2 p.m., at the Gibson-Aiken Center.
Bears boys’ soccer honored for sportsmanship
• This fall, members of the Vermont Soccer Officials Association (VSOA) worked at more than 1,700 games around the state. For the first time, following all regular season and tournament games, each referee rated both teams on the sportsmanship behavior of the players, coaches, fans and on-site administrative support. The information they gathered formed the basis of the VSOA’s first-ever Sportsmanship Awards.
Two northern teams, the Enosburg Falls boys and the U-32 girls, and two southern teams, the Fair Haven girls and the Sharon Academy boys, received top honors.
The Brattleboro Bears were finalists for the VSOA award, one of three boys’ teams from the Southern Vermont League — West Rutland and Otter Valley were the others — so honored.
What does good sportsmanship look like? Frank Martel, a noted referee for more than 50 years and the assignor of officials in Northern Vermont Athletic Conference, said that “sportsmanship at its best are players following the rules of the game, respecting opponents, teammates and officials. Players helping an opponent up, congratulating them on a great play, being honest and telling an official that the ball last touched them and for coaches, players, and fans respecting calls or non-calls even if they perceive them to be incorrect.”
“With the prevalence of social media, reports of poor sportsmanship nationwide in soccer are well documented,” said Eric Evans, who assigns the officials for all games in the Southern Vermont League. “It is refreshing to see Vermont high school soccer be immune to this trend through the efforts of the Vermont Principals’ Association, athletic directors, and especially the players and coaches.”
Early winter weather kicks off local ski season
• Nothing makes ski areas happier than early season snow to get people in the mood to get outside to ski and ride. Last week’s snowstorm helped add to what the snow guns created over the last few weeks, and all the ski resorts in southern Vermont are now open.
The Brattleboro Ski Hill at Living Memorial Park took advantage of last week’s arctic blast to make snow to start building up a good base for the weeks to come. They’re not open yet, but when they do open for the 2025-26 season, the ski tow will be running on Fridays from 4-9 p.m., Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sundays from noon to 4 p.m.
Lift tickets are still $5 a day. A 12-ticket punch card is available for $50, an individual season pass is $75, and a family season pass is $200. You can purchase season passes and punch cards in advance by emailing brattleboroskihill@gmail.com. If you want to help in keeping this all-volunteer ski hill running this season, email that same address for more information.
For nordic skiers, the Marlboro Nordic Ski Club at the former Marlboro College campus opened a few of its trails last week. They plan to host the BUHS Nordic ski team’s home races on Jan. 21 and Feb. 11, as well as U.S. Cup/World Junior Championship Team Trials on Feb.15.
Course access is for members only. An individual membership for the 2025-26 season is $95, a family membership is $190, and an extended family membership is $275. Go to marlboronordicskiclub.org for more information.
The Brattleboro Outing Club’s nordic trails at the Brattleboro Country Club on Upper Dummerston Road also was able to get about half of its 33 kilometers of trails open last week. You can check the latest trail conditions at brattleborooutingclub.org/cross-country-skiing.
Season passes are $125 for adults, $75 for youth age 6–25, and $250 for a family pass. Day passes are available for $15 for adults, $10 for youth age 6–25, and $50 for families. Children 5 and younger ski for free. Ski equipment and snowshoes are also available for daily rentals.
The BOC is also looking for volunteers to help prep and groom the trails, teach folks how to ski, and to staff their ski hut. If you’re interested, email skiboc802@gmail.com.
A bright idea
• If you’re out walking, biking, or running in the twilight of the morning or the dusk of evening this time of year, the Vermont Department of Health offers some tips to stay safe and seen.
For starters, wear light or bright colored clothing, or better yet, bring lights and wear something reflective. If wearing reflectors, they should be visible from the front and the back. A reflector should dangle because drivers notice movement more than a stationary reflection. Cyclists are required by law to use a red rear light or have a minimum of 20 square inches of reflective material facing to the rear.
If you’re walking or running, cross streets in well-lit areas with a good view of traffic. Use sidewalks whenever possible. If there are no sidewalks, walk or run facing traffic as far away from the road as you can.
Always watch for cars, bikes, and other vehicles, because they might not be watching for you. According to data from the National Highway Traffic Administration, many motor vehicle crashes involving pedestrians and cyclists occur in the evenings and during the darker months of the year. Pair that with factors like speed, inattention, driver impairment, poor lighting conditions, and roadways not designed with pedestrian and cyclist safety in mind, and you have a recipe for tragedy.
Be Bright at Night is a statewide campaign focused on nighttime road safety in the hope of creating a culture where pedestrians, drivers and municipalities collaborate to reduce injuries and deaths related to vehicle crashes involving pedestrians. Find out more at safestreets.vermont.gov/be-bright-night.
Senior bowling roundup
• Week 14 of the fall/winter season of the Brattleboro Senior Bowling League at Brattleboro Bowl on Dec. 4 saw Wayne’s World (46-24) have a 1-4 week, but still remain in first place. Pinocent Bystanders (42-28) had a 4-1 week tostay in second place, followed by 3 Plus One (38-32), Lucky 7 (37-33), Slo Movers (34-36), Stayin’ Alive and Strike Away (both 33-37), SOS (31-39), Ricochet (29-41), and Strikers (27-43).
Doris Lake had the women’s high handicap game (241) and Deb Kolpa had the high handicap series (660), while Robert Rigby had the men’s high handicap game (245) and Peter Deyo had the high handicap series (671). Strikers had the high team handicap game (853) and series (2,499).
Deyo had the men’s high scratch series (671) with games of 235, 219, and 217, while Kevin Napaver had a 665 series with games of 232, 222, and 211, and Rigby had a 646 series with games of 237, 211, and 198. Chuck Adams had a 580 series with games of 200 and 194, Mike Pavlovich had a 548 series with a 205 game, John Walker had a 531 series, Duane Schillemat had a 524 series with a 192 game, and Milt Sherman had a 194 game.
Kolpa had the women’s high scratch series (468) and game (166). She also rolled a 162. Pam Greenblott had a 165 game, Nancy Dalzell had a 164 game, and Diane Cooke had a 162 game.
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.