The return of Harvard’s high school athletes in late August is a dependable sign that a new school year is about to begin, and this week they were back, enlivening town fields and running its hills once again as coaches and aspiring players prepare for the coming season.
Monday, Aug. 21, was the first official day of tryouts for all but one of the six varsity teams Harvard will field in September. The golf squad gathered at Shaker Hills Saturday, Aug. 19, while the field hockey and boys and girls soccer and cross-country teams began their preseason workouts two days later.
Athletic director Dave Boisvert told the Press that as of Tuesday this week, 216 students had signed up for a fall sport, plus five others who registered to play co-op football with the Ayer Shirley Panthers. By midweek, following two days of tryouts, coaches will have split their players into varsity and junior varsity teams, players will have elected their captains, and serious training for the coming season will begin.
The most popular sport this year, as always, is boys soccer. Turnout was exceptionally high, with 47 boys registering for a place on the varsity or junior varsity team and another 34 signing up for the middle school team. Head coach Alex Horne told the Press he was expecting at least two more varsity players to arrive next week. Meantime, he and Boisvert are considering whether to form two middle school teams this fall to accommodate the large number of boys who want to play.
Few changes
The fall coaching staff is unchanged from last year, but there have been a few changes in the make-up of the Midland-Wachusett League divisions in which Harvard’s teams compete. The number of Mid-Wach field hockey divisions has been reduced from five to four, and Harvard will compete in Division D this year against Gardner, Clinton, Narragansett, Tahanto, and Maynard. Boisvert said he expected the team to do better this fall and make it to state finals, but the new division “will be competitive.”
In boys soccer, Fitchburg is moving out of the Mid-Wach C division and Tahanto is moving in. Oakmont remains the team to beat, said coach Horne. They won the league title last year and “we’re out for revenge.”
‘More grass than ever’
Boisvert said he expects the athletic fields will be ready when the season gets underway after Labor Day. “There’s more grass on them than ever. But of course, when it rains three days a week, it’s hard to keep them maintained,” he said. “You can’t mow wet lands, so the grass and the fields are all thick right now.” The field hockey field at Bromfield, however, has been too damp for practice, and the girls were forced to use the tennis and basketball courts behind Bromfield School for their first two days of practice. Even Upper Depot field where the boys soccer team practices is “a bit shaggy,” said Boisvert.
Left: Muhammad Niazy dribbles the ball through a set of cones during soccer practice, Aug. 22. Right: Tilly Fitzgibbons dribbles the ball around a cone in a timed drill. (Photos by Lisa Aciukewicz)
Left: Katie Boutelle (left) and Taylor Curtis vie for the ball in a game of one-on-one during soccer practice, Aug. 22. Right: Emmy Baker (right) congratulates Amanda Smith on a goal during field hockey practice.
Anthony Cianfichi and Gigi Benway fight for the ball during practice, watched by senior Olivia Mueller-Juez. Wednesday morning, Aug. 23.
