Athletics

The Winchendon School is thrilled to announce that Bobby Carpenter has been hired as the new Head Coach for the Girls’ 19U ice hockey program. With an illustrious career spanning over thirty years in the professional hockey world, Carpenter brings a wealth of experience and a championship pedigree to our esteemed institution.

Bobby Carpenter’s career is nothing short of legendary. As a player, he graced the NHL ice for an impressive 18 seasons, during which he secured his first Stanley Cup with the New Jersey Devils. His transition from player to coach was seamless, showcasing his profound understanding of the game and his ability to inspire and develop talent. He won two additional Stanley Cups as an assistant coach with the New Jersey Devils, further solidifying his status as a hockey legend.

Carpenter’s coaching career is as distinguished as his playing career. He has served as an assistant coach in the NHL, where his strategic acumen and leadership contributed to the success of his teams. He further honed his coaching skills as the Head Coach in the AHL and KHL, two of the most competitive leagues in the world. Additionally, his role as a Player Development Coordinator for the Toronto Maple Leafs underscores his commitment to nurturing the next generation of hockey stars.

Carpenter’s appointment is a game-changer for the Girls 19U program, marking a new era of excellence. As the school continues to build on its strong tradition of academic and athletic success, his leadership is poised to take the program to unprecedented heights, fostering a culture of hard work, dedication, and elite-level performance.

Director of Athletics Dan Chretien remarks, “I’m extremely excited to welcome Bobby Carpenter as the new head coach for our 19U Girls Hockey team. Bobby brings tremendous knowledge and experience from his life’s work around the sport. His passion for hockey and commitment to developing young athletes is clearly evident. As the parent of a highly successful women’s hockey player, he brings an understanding of how to provide sound and sensible advice to our families. These attributes combine to make him the perfect fit for our program. We are confident that under his leadership, our team will continue to excel both on and off the ice.”

Head of School Sean Duncan adds, “Bobby’s addition is certain to have tremendous impact for our Girls Hockey Program over the next few years. More broadly, his presence as an exceptional coach, teacher, and human will help us further elevate Winchendon’s athletic programming across the school. As an institution that embraces character and leadership development in our athletic and co-curricular programs first and foremost, Bobby is a terrific fit.”

The Winchendon School community is buzzing with anticipation for the positive impact Bobby Carpenter is set to bring to our hockey program. His expertise and passion for the game are sure to ignite a new level of inspiration in our student-athletes, paving the way for their success both on and off the ice.

On Wednesday, May, twelve student-athletes signed their letter of intent to play collegiate athletics and signed to their university. National Signing Day is something very special to those involved and their friends and families. It is a great opportunity to celebrate their achievements and hard work throughout the years of their desired sport. 

The twelve athletes that signed on Wednesday were:

Laralee Rizarri– University of Toronto, Ice Hockey

Ellie Patrick- Keene State College, Ice Hockey

Ava Provenzo– Bowdoin College, Ice Hockey

Mia Provenzo- Elmira College, Ice Hockey

Sami Lester– Amherst College, Ice Hockey

AnnaBelle Calvanese– Western New England University, Ice Hockey

Giovanni Calvanese– Western New England University, Ice Hockey

Eli Deener-Chodirker– Tufts University, Ice Hockey

Laurel Hross– Regis College, Softball

Silvia Moretti– Goldey Beacom College, Basketball

Janae Gomes– Rhode Island College, Basketball

Brenna Hauver– Russell Sage College, Soccer

Each of these athletes have worked countless hours on the ice, on the field, or on the court to earn recognition for their hard work. They are rewarded with commitments to their colleges to continue their academic and athletic careers for the next four years, minimum. On behalf of the Winchendon School and community, we would love to congratulate these twelve athletes who signed on Wednesday, and are excited for even more commitments as time winds down and students continue to make their future decisions. Once again, Congratulations Wapiti!

Written by Abby Stone ’24

Photos by Allegra Leavenworth

The Winchendon golf team has been off to a great start in the 2024 spring season. With an impressive record of 8-1 with seven matches remaining in the season. The top six golfers of the week out of twelve are the ones to compete in the matches, and they have done a notable job so far this spring season. 

The golf team plays Cushing Academy three times this year. And the team’s only loss this season is to Cushing Academy by 2 strokes. They have their last home match on Thursday, May 9, and it happens to be against Cushing. We are hopeful as they take on the penguins to beat them in the mini “series” 2-1. The team will hold senior night for that match to celebrate the four seniors on the team. Those four include Abby Stone, DJ Plante, Eli Deener-Chodirker, and Liam Marek. 

As the rest of the season approaches, the team looks to keep their winning streak going in the final matches. Everyone on the team is confident they can do so. Junior captain Jack Bagley spoke about the team. He states, “For the golf team to be 8-1 we have had to work with each other to keep a good attitude through a busy schedule. We have also had to build each other up to be able to continue to have the drive to win against opponents. Also, our Coach Dr. Friedman keeps everyone in a good mood and focused.”

Jack was asked to use one word to describe the team, he said, “Gritty, I say this cause we have to play in all types of conditions no matter what. We also have to travel and adapt to different courses. We all are competitive players. This has led to our success. Everyone is always trying to play their best every day. Also, we are all good golfers so it leads to a tight roster of players.”

The team has such a competitive drive and willingness to make each other better. And success has become a huge outcome of that. If they keep this up the rest of the season, nothing will stand in the way of even more wins. The biggest thing they are doing to prepare for the rest of the season is to stay focused and keep working hard at practice. 

Good luck with the rest of the season, Varsity Golf Team!

Written by Abby Stone ’24

You may recognize the name, Livia Debranova. She has been all over the map recently playing in very prestigious tournaments. Most recently, she just played in the Women’s World Championships, in the Division IB. In the winter, Livia played on the junior Women’s team still representing Slovakia. 

For those who may not be familiar with hockey or international hockey, these tournaments are highly competitive grand tournaments that girls and women compete in, for the World Championships. Livia was asked what her favorite part of the Women’s World Championships was, and she said, “It’s hard to choose just one favorite part. The whole journey was good, but the best part was winning first place and celebrating the win.” Livia stated that this tournament was another very big opportunity for her, playing on such a big stage can bring lots of attention, especially from college coaches. 

There were a few ups and downs playing in such a competitive tournament. Livia explains, “Every game was challenging because only one team advanced to the higher category. In the game against Italy, we could have confirmed the championship even before the last game, but we lost. So we had to win the last game and we succeeded.” We are all so proud of Livia for doing so well in such high competition, especially as one of the youngest players on the team!

This particular tournament was played in Riga, Latvia. So close to home for Livia. But previously, she has traveled all over the world for hockey. Some places include here in the United States, Sweden, Switzerland, Russia, France, Finland, the Czech Republic, China, Hungary, and Croatia. We as a school are so excited we have student-athletes just like Livia playing in ambitious games and tournaments. Once again, congratulations to Livia! Awesome job in the Women’s World Championship in Division IB!

Written by Abby Stone ’24

The spring season here at Winchendon started in the early weeks of March. The Winchendon Baseball team got right after it the first week of spring break. The team has the opportunity to stay a week down in Port St. Lucie, Florida for a pre-baseball season spring training trip. Every year, the boys seem to have more and more fun. 

This year, the team traveled down to Florida on March 14th and came back on the 21st. Needless to say, it was one successful preseason trip. The schedule allowed for both relaxation on spring break, but also a very intense baseball schedule. Practices and games were had every day that the team was there. In total, the team played 10 baseball games. Winchendon played some very competitive baseball times while on their trip. Those included Thayer Academy, BB & N, Avon Old Farms, Worcester Academy, The Hill School, Iona Prep, Mercersburg Academy, and Milton Academy. 

The team left the preseason with a 6-4 record. Coach Toffey emphasized that the team had many big wins. He also mentions that the team performed very well and improved every day that they were on this trip. Big things to come in the NEPSAC spring season. Coach Toffey shared what he was looking forward to in the upcoming season, he stated, “I really enjoy being around the team. It is a terrific group of kids who work hard and have fun. I enjoy the competition playing against other great baseball teams and watching our students improve. We are very fortunate to play on a beautiful turf field too- the best in New England in my opinion!” And he is not wrong about that field!

Something that could not be put in the spotlight enough was the gorgeous weather they had the entire week. Coach Toffey was asked if there were any challenges during this trip. He expressed, “Not really! The team did so well and was complimented everywhere we went. They respected the school very well.  The weather was great! The accommodations were terrific. Overall, it was just an awesome trip.” 

There were so many things to highlight about this trip. The wins, the weather, the team camaraderie, and the good representation of The Winchendon School. Coach Toffey proudly highlights, “My favorite part of the trip is getting to experience a week with our students playing baseball on beautiful fields with perfect weather! We get to live like major leaguers for a week- the NY Mets spring training complex is next to where we train and play. Seeing many familiar faces and the relationships I have been fortunate to develop over the years is another highlight. I’m thankful the students get to experience a trip like this.” A spring break trip to Florida will always be a major highlight in the baseball season, no matter what year. 

The boys will take the field for the first time at home on Wednesday against St. Mark’s at 4:00 pm. They will follow this game with another one on Saturday against Lawrence Academy at 3:30 pm, which is also home. Good luck with the season boys! 

Written by Abby Stone ’24

Over the weekend of March 1st – 2nd, the Winchendon Power 5 team had a great span of wins. Just for a little background information, the Power 5 team had a very successful season with a strong record of 33-2. Yes, that record is very impressive. But what is more impressive is finishing off that record and winning the Power 5 Conference AA tournament. They started off the weekend by playing Putnam Science Academy and came off with a big 84-59 win. The top three scorers of the game for Winchendon were senior Zee McCown with 24 points, senior Nate Robertson with 21 points, and freshman Jayse Johnson with 11. This big win on Friday would advance the team to the finals for the Power 5 AA conference championship. 

Saturday, March 3, was the big game. The boys would face We Believe Academy for the championship title. The game was very competitive, but our boys came out on top with a 98-90 win. This would be the second time this year the Power 5 team would take home a piece of hardware. Previously, they had won a very big tournament down in Florida, earlier in the season. Coach Kenny Green could not be more excited for not only him but his boys. Coach Green reflected on the championship win, “Winning the championship feels great. It was an accomplishment that we as a team set out to achieve after falling short last season.” Feels right to have won it this year. 

The huge championship win did not come easy. Everything this team has done has been earned and not given. Coach Green was asked what the biggest challenge was in the final stretch of the season. He states, “The biggest challenge for us was having to play 8 games in 10 days. This was something that was unheard of in high school basketball and when I presented the dilemma to the boys and gave them an alternative, they passed and said they were up for the challenge.” 

There were so many accomplishments to look back on from this season. One of them being, “I think that finishing the season with a 33-2 record was the biggest accomplishment. It is a record that has never been obtained here for basketball.” stated Head Coach Kenny Green. He was also asked what it was like to have such great success on the team, he said, “For me the success is always for the team. They put the hard work in and pay attention to detail. I’m not easy to play for but the boys always knew I had their best interest at heart.” This is a wonderful example of a coach who puts his team first. 

The entire Winchendon community is so excited and ecstatic about this championship win. We could not be more happy for the entire basketball program, and we thank everyone for their unwavering support throughout the season. Lastly, we congratulate the Power 5 basketball team on their win and wish the seniors the best of luck going forward!

Written by Abby Stone ’24