by Julie Gowel ·
Friday, December 12, 2025
Winter sports practices are underway at the Bromfield School with games beginning this week. The boys and girls varsity basketball and ski teams began the season with new coaches, and the swimming team will see the return of its coach who was new last year.
For the boys varsity basketball team, this season will be a transition under new head coach Anne McWaters, who led the girls program for seven years. Former coach Tim Skaggs announced his retirement from coaching at the end of the last season, and McWaters said she felt it was an opportunity she couldn’t pass up.
“I worked in men’s college basketball for many years, that’s where my real experience with the sport comes from,” said McWaters in an interview with the Press. “The pace of the men’s game is a little different, and the intensity. That’s what excites me. It’s a new challenge for me and this group of young men—they’re good, they’re talented, they’re hungry, and they’re ready to play.”
Leaving her post as the girls coach was a difficult decision, according to McWaters, but it paved the way for Bromfield alum and junior varsity girls soccer coach Brian McCullough to step in as the new varsity girls basketball coach.
“Being given the chance to compete at the varsity level is an incredible opportunity, and I am very grateful,” said McCullough. “I think any coach moving from JV to varsity feels a little pressure with what is really at stake now. Some of these girls will ride into the sunset on their basketball careers, and I want to make sure I do everything possible to make it a great experience.”
While the varsity swimming coach is not new this year, last year was James Thomas’ inaugural season, and he hopes to improve upon his experience. “Being [that it’s] my second year, I know the league better, how to work schedule, and when and how much we should be resting for the league meet,” said Thomas. “I’m looking to run better practices and always trying to make it more fun and enjoyable for the kids.”
Each coach has unique goals in mind for this winter. For McWaters, her goal is for the players to work as a team. “It’s a five-man game, you have to play together.
And the teams that play together are the best teams out there,” she said. “These guys can do that. They have the talent. They certainly have the drive, and I think it all comes down to, ‘Do we play together out there every time and have each other’s backs?’ ”
McWaters is the Park and Recreation director for the town of Harvard, and a parent to two Bromfield students. Her son, Ben, is on the varsity roster, but coaching him and his peers is not a new experience. McWaters coached many members of the team when they played for the town youth basketball program.
McCullough has similar goals to McWaters for the girls. “We are going to play for each other, work nonstop, and have a great time doing it,” he said. “I want to teach the game the way I was taught, by my dad. Love your team, love the journey, play hard 110% every play, that’s when the magic happens. My goal will be to help create the environment that will let us embrace it all.”
McCullough, who commutes to Bromfield daily from Spencer, calls coaching his “hobby,” balancing a full-time job as a paraprofessional with nighttime work at a bakery. “There are not many things I would drive that far to do daily, but being the coach for this team is absolutely one of them,” he said.
Thomas, a former swimmer himself, said he intends to build upon his rookie coaching year experience by developing all his swimmers and getting as many to qualify for league, sectional, and state meets as possible. “The team goal is to put up the best dual meet record we can in order to take as many kids to the league meets.”
Thomas lives in Devens and has a daughter at Bromfield. He coaches the middle school girls field hockey team. “It’s a sport I didn’t play, so I am learning something new all the time, which helps me be better when I get to the swim season.”
Bromfield winter athletics also includes boys and girls indoor track, coached by Greg Bourque, and Alpine skiing, coached by Samantha Tomaszewski, who is new to the team this year. Neither were available for interview before publication. A co-op is in place for female Bromfield students to play hockey and participate in the gymnastics team at Acton-Boxborough. Bromfield boys hockey players co-op with Littleton.
Be sure to check Sports Roundup weekly for game schedules and results