By Roger Brown
MaxPreps.com
It appears that Vermont high school football will have a new look next season.
The Vermont Interscholastic Football League’s realignment committee put forth a proposal last week that would move Spaulding, the state’s Division II champion in each of the last two years, to Division I. Other changes in the proposal:
• Middlebury would move from Division I to Division II.
• Burr and Burton Academy and Champlain Valley Union would move from Division III to Division II.
• Woodstock and Bellows Falls would drop from Division II to Division III.
The proposal must be approved by the VIFL football committee and the Activities Standard Committee. If approved, the changes would be in place for the 2009 and 2010 seasons. The VIPL examines realignment every two years.
The state’s 34 football-playing schools would still be spread across three divisions with 11 in Division I, 12 in Division II and 11 in Division III.
Division I: Rutland, BFA-St. Albans, Essex, Brattleboro, South Burlington, Spaulding, Mount Anthony, St. Johnsbury, Hartford, Burlington and Mount St. Joseph Academy.
Division II: Mount Mansfield, Colchester, U-32, North Country, Otter Valley, Burr and Burton, Middlebury, Rice, Lyndon, Milton, CVU and Fair Haven.
Division III: Windsor, Mount Abraham, Mill River, Springfield, Woodstock, Montpelier, Poultney, BFA-Fairfax, Oxbow, Winooski and Bellows Falls.
Perhaps the most controversial move was placing CVU, a four-year-old program that has had three head coaches in those four years, in Division II. CVU was originally placed in Division I, while CVU coach Jim Provost requested to remain in Division III for another two-year cycle.
CVU is 0-6 in non-league games against Division II competition and was outscored 248-48 in those six contests. CVU lost to North Country and Colchester last season and neither of those teams qualified for the Division II playoffs.
“Stepping out of Division III has been a nightmare,” Provost told the Burlington Free Press.
Provost said that CVU would like to move to Division I, but isn’t ready to make that move at this time.
“He wanted a couple more years (for his program) to mature in Division III, but they have 82 kids in their football program and their boy count makes them Division I in all other sports,” Bob Hingston, executive director of the VIFL, told the Rutland Herald. “The committee felt he (is) a good coach and will get the program going, and that they should at least be able to play Division II.”
Boys Soccer: Essex Coach Resigns
Jay Brady, who had a 269-119-54 in 27 seasons as the boys soccer coach at Essex High School, announced last week that he has retired from that position.
Brady guided the Hornets to three Division I state championships.
“I knew at the beginning of this season that this would be it,” Brady told the Free Press. “The time is right.
“The competition is fun, but the relationships that have grown out of the whole soccer program is the most important part.”
Brady, 55, graduated from Essex in 1971. He played soccer, basketball and baseball for the Hornets. He said he will continue to coach the school’s junior varsity girls basketball team.
Brady took a leave of absence two years ago, but returned to the Essex program this year and served as a co-coach with Scott Mosher.
Roger Brown is the editor and publisher of the New Hampshire Football Report. He covers New Hampshire and Vermont for MaxPreps.com.
