BY SAPNA PATHAK
When Bedford High School opens its doors later this year, traditions will be tested and rivalries rewritten. Around 900 students will move from Manchester West to BHS, dropping West’s student body by almost 40 percent.
But perhaps the biggest hit will come to Queen City athletics programs.
With each school drawing from various areas, athletes, coaches and athletics directors are anticipating how the changes will affect their sports teams. Fans, booster clubs and proud parents have also expressed concern about their athletes donning different uniforms come next season.
“That’s the general sentiment of all the Hooksett parents I’ve heard from,” said Central High head football coach Ryan Ray. “A lot of them want to send their kids to Central because they’ve gone there. People have loyalty to their high schools because they have a lot of memories from that time.”
A proposal to shift Hooksett, Candia and Auburn residents to West had many concerned, but West will still suffer the loss of leadership and participation in many extracurricular activities.
Arthur Beaudry of Manchester Ward 9 said although parents haven’t verbalized their loyalties to one school, he believes sports are an underlying reason for some of the disagreements. Beaudry said a battle over athletics is almost unavoidable.
“If we have magnet schools, then we run the risk of coaches cherry-picking athletes from certain areas to make a better team. There’s always been a problem of schools recruiting athletes,” said Beaudry. “No one came right out and said they didn’t want their kid playing for a different school, but for some, I would assume it’s the real reason.”
Though some are unclear as to the future of the schools, many student-athletes are very aware of their loyalties.
“Honestly, I don’t think I’d play football if I had to go to West next year,” said Hooksett’s Mike LeClerc, the Little Green’s starting running back. “Central’s my family, I’ve played with the Hooksett Hurricanes knowing I’d play for Central someday. It just wouldn’t be right playing for another team. It’d be like fighting against my own family.”
Recent studies in sports psychology have examined the idea that personal well-being and overall mental health are vastly improved by feelings of acceptance, alliance and support provided from one’s teammates and fans.
LeClerc agreed, saying “people don’t realize how great a family a team is. We have 50 guys there for you; it’s a home-family but better.”
Central’s girls soccer, football and boys basketball programs have seen key contributions from Hooksett athletes. The recent success of West’s girls soccer program, including back-to-back Class L titles in 2004 and 2005, has been largely in part to Bedford natives. Some Blue Knights’ rosters house more than 80 percent Bedford-athletes and some have no Manchester players at all.
West’s athletics program as a few more months to adapt to either a dramatically smaller pool of athletes to draw from, or an influx of athletes perhaps unwilling to accept their new surroundings or unfamiliar with the Blue Knights.
“Hooksett would be a nice compliment since we already have Hooksett kids here. It’s not like we’d be taking in a whole new group,” said Beaudry. “Central and West have programs that attract a lot of people. Winning teams entice kids and that’s the dilemma we have.”