Although Bedford is the new high school on the athletic landscape, it is Manchester West that is left looking to build from the bottom up once again in order to continue to field competitive teams. The spring sports season will mark the final group of West teams that will include Bedford residents, and Blue Knight coaches and school officials are continuing to search for the best way to continue to keep roster numbers up.

This is creating an issue for at least one Hooksett student, who won’t have varsity hockey available to him next year.

When the process of moving students to the new Bedford High School began, a total of about 65 percent of Blue Knight athletes were from Bedford, according to West Athletics Director Sarah Dumais.

“It was a big hit initially,” said Dumais. “We had some openings and blank spots on rosters. The more the word gets out, we’re coming back. This year was the worst it’ll be. After they’re gone completely it’ll start to turn around because the Manchester kids will know that they’re our focus.”

West’s hockey team is expected to take a significant hit next season, an issue that was brought up during a recent Hooksett School Board meeting by a Hooksett resident whose son attends West and played on this year’s squad.

Because so many Bedford athletes played on the hockey team this year and normally make up the team’s roster, there is a chance the school will be unable to put a varsity team on the ice next year.

“If kids who want to participate come out, they’ll have the opportunity,” said Dumais. “If we have, say, six freshmen and three sophomores with no varsity experience, we probably wouldn’t expose them to varsity play just because of the safety issues.”

If enough students try out for the team but aren’t experienced in the sport, Dumais said it is possible the school will only have a junior varsity team or possibly a club team.

“Socioeconomic is part of it too,” said Dumais. “It’s really expensive to play hockey, and in junior programs you have to pay for ice time. On the West Side, there just aren’t kids playing hockey.”

Hooksett students are typically sent to Central High School if they live east of the Merrimack River and to West High School if they left on the west side of the river, but may choose a different school. Dumais said the number of Hooksett athletes on teams at West is minimal.

Hooksett School Board member James Sullivan said that while West has some advantages, one of the drawbacks of the now smaller school, due to Bedford’s withdrawal, could come in a situation such as the hockey team.

“A small school can offer smaller class sizes, better ability to compete and ability to stand out more with their talents,” said Sullivan. “On the other hand, a smaller school, because of its population, may not be able to offer the breadth of course selections, and or extra activities, such as varsity hockey.”

While Dumais said she would be thrilled to see more Hooksett students choosing the Blue Knights, it is difficult for her to convince those students to select West.

“We would love for the Hooksett kids to choose West instead of Central,” she said. “We have more room and things to offer here. They have a contract that states they can choose, so there’s no way we can really nail them down and have them come here.”

Several teams had low numbers this year, including the West boys basketball team, which still managed a run into the quarterfinals of the Class L tournament.

Head Coach Sam Carey was down to about eight players on his roster by the end of the year, as he was forced to remove several players from the team for academic reasons.

“I teach at Parkside, so now I know that I need to push it and get those kids motivated,” said Carey. “The biggest issue between Manchester kids and Bedford kids that I had was the grade issue. I’ve got to get kids focused on their grades, and that starts before they get to the high school.”

Though it is a small sample size, of the students Carey had to remove from the team, none were from Bedford.

West softball coach Dan Drewniak expects to have a large group of athletes trying out for the team, but the amount of experience they have will likely be lower without Bedford students.

“The only difference is that a big percentage of the kids are novice players who don’t have game experience,” said Drewniak. “There were at least three girls at open gym who have never played competitive softball and are planning on coming out for my team. That’s the difference.” Drewniak said coaches at the school will need to begin stirring up interest with younger students.

“We’ve got to actively recruit and get the kids more involved at the middle school age,” said Drewiak. “I coached the middle school basketball team and took them over to see games at West. We’re stepping up and trying to get the kids interested in the programs.”

Dumais said the biggest difference between West and Bedford athletes is the amount of exposure they have to the sports they play.

Despite the loss of Bedford students, Dumais is optimistic about the Blue Knights’ future, and is looking forward to working with an increased number of Manchester student-athletes.

“There are athletes out there, but athletes that haven’t had the same opportunities as Bedford kids,” said Dumais. “An athlete is an athlete. If they’re athletic we’re going to take them and coach them.”