CRAFTSBURY – In their short time on the job, Interim Athletic Directors Sarah Hunt and Aaron Hill have accomplished a lot. They have now come to a three-year agreement to merge middle school and high school athletics at Hazen Union and Craftsbury Academy (CA).
The merger will start this spring with Hazen Union softballers playing at Craftsbury’s Dustan Field to play for head coach Ashley Gravel.
Spencer Howard will be stepping away from the Hazen baseball program and CA alum Shaun Allen will take over the Wildcat varsity program this spring. Allen and Will Garske rebooted the CA junior varsity baseball program last season. They will bring interested Charger baseballers to play for the Wildcats at Hudson Fields this coming spring.
Hazen Union and CA will have their own track and field teams this spring at both the middle school and varsity level. Hunt, a former Hazen Union student and athlete, filled a vacant Assistant Director position at CA this past December, just as the winter season was kicking off. A
fter getting her legs underneath her, she has brought organization to scheduling and created new awareness for CA athletics in her short time on the job through social media platforms that were nonexistent under previous leadership. She admits the merger with Hazen is bittersweet as the Craftsbury community has desperately fought and supported holding on to their varsity programs despite the evaporation of small high school programs around the state due to ACT 46, school choice, and overall deteriorating participation numbers.
Hunt realizes that there will be an adjustment period for everyone but feels that this is the best option to give student athletes the opportunity to compete at the middle school and high school level for both CA and Hazen going forward.
“I have a seventh grader at CA and I understand that this will be tough for our community. The reality is that we just don’t have the numbers to consistently field girls’ and boys’ teams at the varsity level right now. This winter we weren’t able to have a girls’ varsity basketball team due to numbers and our boys team started with eight and quickly dwindled down until we didn’t have subs for some games and had to forfeit a couple others.
“Our senior Sadie Skorstad was able to play for the Hazen girls’ team for a second consecutive year and will have the high school memory of winning a championship her entire life. Those are the kinds of opportunities we want to give our kids here, whether Hazen merges with us in some sports and we merge with them in others. It’s about giving them the opportunity to compete,” said Hunt.
The past few years CA has been forced to scramble to recruit and field teams up to the start of various varsity seasons, and in some cases having to cancel the season altogether, leaving student athletes in limbo without a team. Last fall Hazen took on CA soccer players for the girls’ varsity team just befoe the season began. Hunt wants to get ahead of situations like that going forward to eliminate the awkwardness it can present for student athletes. She remains busy this winter searching for a head coach for a CA track and field team that has risen to elite levels in their division, nearly defending their boys’ state title last spring.
“One thing this agreement does for the kids is it gives them a solid plan. There won’t be any last-minute scrambling or trying to fit into a team that has already been practicing for a week or two and I think that kind of stability for them is important. Aaron has been great to work with and we have some flexibility from season to season as participation numbers go up and down, which is great. Jess Barber is going to continue to help out with the track and field team, but won’t be able to coach full time this spring. We have some leads on finding a new head coach and hope to fill that vacancy very soon,” said Hunt.
The Vermont Principal’s Association (VPA) has approved the agreement between the two schools. It will be reviewed on a season-by-season basis depending on participation numbers.
