Belmont Schools Name Ruane Interim Athletic Director

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Photo: Matt Ruane

Matthew Ruane, a Belmont High School counselor and assistant baseball coach, was named Belmont Schools interim athletic director for the next four months on Friday, Dec. 4. Ruane will fill in until the first week in March for long-time AD and Director of Physical Education Jim Davis who is expected to return at that time. Belmont Superintendent John Phelan did not provide a reason for Davis’ temporary departure.

Ruane will be responsible for managing the athletic department during the Winter Sports season and what is being called Fall II beginning in February during which football is to take place. He will be facing sports which will be playing a limited schedule and possibly without spectators due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all the while promoting participation and the health and safety of students.

While Davis is away, his physical education duties will be split between three “lead” teachers.

  • Ted Trodden: elementary students
  • Dena Cocchiola: Chenery Middle School
  • Stacie Marino: Belmont High School

Before Davis left, he took care of the team’s schedules, transportation needs, and gym registrations.

Ruane is no stranger to Belmont High athletics. As a student (Class of 2007), Ruane was named Boston Globe Division 2 Baseball Player of the Year (going 7-0 as a pitcher and batting .521 to lead the Marauders to a sectional title) and was named a Middlesex League’s first-team all-star at quarterback. He played baseball for four years at Bowdoin College compiling a .324 average with 12 home runs.

Ruane has been a high school counselor in Belmont since April 2016. He holds a Master of Education from Cambridge College and earned an economics degree from Bowdoin.

Letter To The Editor: Our Plan For A New Rink Worked But Town Lacked The ‘Political Will’ To Get It Done

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Photo: Rendering of the Belmont Youth Hockey’s proposal to the town for a new rink.

To the editor:

On Nov. 10, the Belmontonian reported that eight months after receiving a single proposal for the development of a new skating facility, the town of Belmont determined the proposal was not economically feasible. While certainly convenient to blame the bidder, it was not true; the proposal submitted by Belmont Youth Hockey Association to develop a new facility was professionally vetted and fully financially feasible.  

The deeper story is that the town issued a Request for Proposal that was never feasible. The RFP asked for more square footage of programming than currently exists in the designated development space west of Harris Field. In an area that currently houses the White Field House, one rink (the Skip), a soccer field, a softball field and facility parking – the town’s RFP asked for all of these to be maintained and improved while adding an additional half rink, baseball field, shot put and discus area and 90 additional parking spaces required by the new high school.   

Once the review committee realized they needed more space to meet their own RFP requirements, the town made the decision to pass on the opportunity to adjust their expectations to make the project feasible. The town lacked the political will to address the need for incremental parking for the high school in an alternate location.   

The decision by the Select Board to pass on the only proposal caps nearly 10 years of effort by Belmont Youth Hockey to address a critical issue: the town continues to operate a facility that is structurally and mechanically unsound. By passing, the town has eliminated any potential for a public/private partnership. Belmont is no longer a credible partner. The town wasted the time, resources, and diligent efforts of a consortium of financial, construction, design, operating firms, and individual volunteers all collaborating to solve a pressing safety and viability concern.  

The positive news is that the path forward is now clear. By failing the RFP process, the town must move forward on its own. It’s time to allocate and approve the approximately $15-$20 million needed to rebuild the Skip and the White Field House and to do so as part of an integrated plan to develop the space west of Harris Field so that the pending development of the field space is not squandered. Continuing to deny the lack of structural integrity of a complex that services several thousand kids and adults each year is not a responsible option.

Bob Mulroy

Belmont Youth Hockey

Four Marauders Sign NLI To Play NCAA DI, DII Sports

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Photo:

Four Belmont High School student/athletes signed National Letters of Intent (NLI) to compete at the NCAA Division I or Division II level:

  • Marina Cataldo Boston University Women’s Diving
  • Jordan Coppolo Rollins College Lacrosse
  • Ashley Green Bentley University Lacrosse
  • Kendall Whalen UMass Lowell Lacrosse
Marina Cataldo, Boston University, Women’s Diving
Jordan Coppolo, Rollins College, Lacrosse
Ashley Green, Bentley University, Lacrosse
Kendall Whalen, UMass Lowell, Lacrosse

Rink Sinks: New Skating Facility Proposal ‘Not Economically Viable’

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Photo: The Skip has opened for the season.

On the day the town opened the 40-year-old plus Viglirolo Skating Rink for the season, the Select Board heard that a long sought after replacement for the current dilapidated facility came to a close after the only candidate to reply to the ambitious proposal could not make the project financially feasible.

“I wish I had better news to report,” said Tom Caputo who was the Select Board’s liaison to the town’s effort to create a one-and-a-half ice sheet rink to the west of the current facility known as the “Skip.”

“But the consensus of the group [of town and school officials] who worked on this is we don’t have an economically viable public/private partnership at this point,” said Caputo during the board’s ultramarathon of a meeting [four hours and 26 minutes] held Monday, Nov. 9

This comes as Recreation Department personnel who run the rink state that it is only a matter of time before a catastrophic mechanical failure involving the pipes and compressors – some original underground equipment from the 1970s that are no longer being manufactured – will require the facility to be closed for good.

“It’s running. That’s the key every year, we just hope it gets up and going,” said Recreation Director and Assistant Town Administrator Jon Marshall.

“But in the near future, we’re not going to be lucky. That’s the challenge,” said Marshal.

First proposed in September 2015, a long sought-after new rink was envisioned to be private/public partnership in which the school department would lease a portion of its land west of Harris Field to a private developer/rink manager at not cost for at least 25 years. In exchange, the Belmont High ice hockey teams would practice and hold games for free as well as allow for free recreational skating while the rink manager would rent the space to hockey leagues and private functions.

A detailed request for proposal was developed with input from the school committee and district, the town and neighbors during at times laborious negotiations. While there was some interest in the proposal, only one team headed by Belmont Youth Hockey put their hat in the ring to move to more substantial discussions with the town.

A tall order that failed

According to Caputo, what doomed the talks directed at replacing the ancient rink was how the RFP “was pretty highly constrained” to the developer. Not only was the town seeking for them to fund, construct and operate a multi-sheet facility, it required more than 100 parking spaces that would be linked to the high school and construct three high school playing and practice fields while providing aforementioned free playing and game time for varsity and junior varsity teams.

“That was a tall order, to say the least,” acknowledged Caputo.

While the two sides negotiated over the summer and resolved many conflicts facing the proposal, at the end of the day, the Youth Hockey team could not made their proposal work financially if it had to meet the space requirements in the RFP, especially the parking component, as well as providing a large chunk of no cost ice time to the school department.

“We just could not come up with an economically viable project that would work for the applicate that they could get funded and be confident to make payments on,” said Caputo. In fact, the town believes as currently written, the RFP as outlined and as constrained is such that there is not a viable project that will work.

Under the column titled Next Steps, Caputo said there is interest in adjusting the long list of town requirements for the project and modify the RFP.

“This is not unusual … to have a couple of rounds with the RFP before you get it right,” said Caputo. “There is creative ideas around parking and maybe not have free access to ice time that can be explored.”

But Caputo admitted that some of those creative adjustments that are “kicking around” is that “they are so far from the RFP that was created that they are probably outside the bounds of what we can reasonably negotiate.”

In addition, Marshall has begun the first steps in better understanding what it would take to renovate or rebuild the current location.

Select Board Member Adam Dash said that many of the required changes needed in the RFP to spark interest from a private developer would be “no gos” on the town side as the RFP required a great deal of negotiations with the school district and residents.

Dash also derided any thoughts of refurbishing the “Skip,” describing it as a “disaster.”

“What would it cost to build a one sheet of ice rink? God knows when we could get the money to do it,” said Dash. “This one is gonna die probably before we can get there. It’s not a good situation.”

Soccer Night In Belmont Returns Nov 7, Nov 11

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Photo: Belmont girls in action

The Belmont High School Girls’ and Boys’ Varsity soccer teams will headline the 5th annual Soccer Night in Belmont matches on Saturday, Nov. 7 (Girls’) and Wednesday, Nov. 11 (Boys’), both games vs. Arlington High. A modified version event is planned this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the teams will still vie for the Phoenix Cup and the honor of having their team’s name engraved on it.

Normally, the varsity players are joined at the event by hundreds of younger players from the Belmont Soccer Association, their coaches, and thousands of other members of the Belmont soccer community.  This year, fans will not be permitted to enter Harris Field, but the community can watch live thanks to the Belmont Media Center on one of these Comcast channels: 8, 9, or 96 or Verizon channels: 28, 29, 30 or 2130. In addition, you can watch the live stream via www.belmontmedia.org.

The girls will take to the Harris Field to take on the Spy Ponders Saturday afternoon, Nov. 7 at 4 .p.m. The boys will face their Middlesex League rivals at 9 a.m. on Veterans Day, Wednesday, Nov. 11.

“This event showcases our varsity teams and recognizes the role of Belmont Youth Soccer in nurturing the talent that makes up these teams year in and year out,” said event organizer and founder John Carson. “Despite the pandemic, we can all tune in to support our varsity teams on live television.”

In addition to the trophy, the Players of the Match will be awarded following each game, with each player receiving a new pair of cleats thanks to Puma, a longtime Soccer Night in Belmont supporter.

Soccer Night in Belmont is sponsored by the Belmont Soccer Association, Belmont Boosters, Parents of Music Students (POMS), Phoenix Landing, and Friends of Belmont Soccer (FOBS), with special thanks Belmont High Athletic Director Jim Davis.

Sports: Field Hockey, Boys’ Soccer, Girls’ X-C Break In the Win Column At Season Midpoint

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Photo: Belmont High’s Isabel Burger taking first at Reading.

The shortened 2020 fall sports season reached it midpoint as Belmont saw three of its teams – field hockey, girls’ cross country and boys’ soccer – all registered their first victories of the campaign.

Burger leads Girls’ Cross Country to first of the season victory

A strong showing by Belmont girls’ harriers’ three, four and five runners saw the Marauders notch its first win of the season, defeating host Reading Memorial, 22-35, on a cool and cloudy autumn noon time on Saturday, Oct. 24.

Belmont Head Coach Melissa Tkacs said after the chaos of the first race in Lexington – every Belmont runner with the exception one ran an extra mile – that “each runner is coming into their own. We had a really solid training week so the runners felt confident coming into [the race] and you could see that confidence come through.”

Leading Belmont (1-2) over the short-ish 2.5 mile course was the team’s senior stalwart Isabel Burger who took first in 16 minutes and 2 seconds followed by fellow senior Elizabeth Hoerle who placed third in 17:03.

Burger lived up to expectations – she finished first vs. Lexington and second in Winchester – running stride for stride with Reading’s Sophie Shanley over the first half of the race before pulling away and winning by 61 seconds.

Tkacs also praised the running of Tori Meringer, Tilly Hamer and Angie Zhao – again, all seniors – who secured the win finishing in 4th, 5th and 6th.

“In cross country, what’s important is not only how your top runners do but also how the pack performs. Today I think we had a tight pack and that supported the team and provided us having a successful race,” she said.

Next for the harriers is a trip to Arlington on Sat. Nov. 7.

Estrada’s brace lifts Marauders to victory

Two goals by junior striker Mateo Estrada and a clean sheet from junior goalkeeper Damon Reyes resulted in the Belmont High Boys’ Soccer (1-3-1) winning its first game of the season, 2-0, in action at Harris Field Saturday, Oct. 24.

Estrada opened his scoring account midway through the second quarter with an assist from senior co-captain Theo Kargere. He doubled his goal total just 32 seconds into the third quarter on a solo strike, giving first year Head Coach Jean Laforgue- Carlone his initial victory running the team.

Belmont will be at Reading at 10 a.m., Halloween, in the reverse fixture.

Field Hockey, behind Donahue’s hat trick, earns first win

Belmont High Field Hockey was thrown into the fire as the season began, having to face Middlesex League powerhouses Lexington and Winchester all the while having to learn a new game due to extensive rule changes – the most significant being the reduction of players on the field from 11 to 7 – on top of limited practice time.

While Belmont found itself on the wrong side of big score results, the team made steady progress adapting to a game that relies less on traditional skills of short passing and stickhandling and more long on the long ball and speedy counters.

“We are starting to gel after having such a hard start with so many new kids on the team and trying to figure out where they go. You have to rely on some of them because our starters can’t last out on the field because they are covering so much of the ground,” said Belmont’s long serving head coach Jess Smith.

Belmont demonstrated its newly found game with a 3-1 victory against host Reading on Saturday, Oct. 24 as forward Emma O’Donovan scored the hat trick with goals in the second and fourth quarters.

As for the offense, it all comes down to O’Donovan.

“We could talk all afternoon about number 24 [O’Donovan],” said Belmont’s long serving head coach Jess Smith. The senior co-captain demonstrated her outstanding stick handling in passing defenders leading to her second goal on the solo break four minutes into the fourth.

O’Donovan’s final goal came 83 seconds after the penultimate strike, coming off a long rebound that she took on the backhand – requiring her to hold her stick with the stick blade positioned downward – and one timed it back pass the goalie.

While O’Donovan took charge up front, the Marauders’ defense starts with senior goalie Kendall Whalen who had a busy day beating back several drives into the the attacking zone.

“I don’t know how many saves [Whalen] had but I remember a couple of two player breaks that she rushed out of the net and came up huge. That takes confidence,” said Smith.

Twins Olympia and Sophie Kalavantis anchored the backline as the senior co-captains while midfielders Ellie McLaughlin and Ally Donahue won Smith’s plaudits for doing the heavy work of rushing back to help out defensively but also contributing upfield in the attack. And junior attack Molly Dacey “is just non-stop with a ton of energy who works hard whenever she’s on the field.”

At 1-4-0, Belmont hosts Reading at Harris Field at 1:30 p.m. on Halloween.

Rest of sports:

Belmont High Girls’ Soccer had most of the shots and was putting on a display of combination passing that Head Coach Paul Graham described as “the best we’ve done all year.” But the Marauders lacked the finishing touch against host Reading on Oct. 24.

And Belmont would suffer the fate of good teams that allow their opponents to “stick around.” Scoreless midway through the fourth quarter, a tricky shot alluded the Belmont defense which gave Reading the lead. And while the Marauders had their chances late, they could not convert from a series of set pieces, falling to Reading, 1-0, as the Rockets earned its first win.

Belmont, 1-3-1, will next see Reading on Halloween at the ungodly hour of 9 a.m.

Soccer: Girls’ Hang On For 3-2 Win In Season Opener; Boys’ Looking For Offense In Shutout Loss

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Photo: Belmont High’s Katelyn Sawyer (9) and Grace Kane (3) in action against Lexington

Belmont High Boys’ and Girls’ Soccer squads got their respective seasons underway this past weekend.

Girls’: Belmont Hangs On To Secure Opener Victory

The Belmont High Marauders showed what a senior laden team can do best as it took maximum advantage of the opportunities given them to take home a 3-2 opening day victory against the host Lexington High Minutemen.

“I’m happy with the results because we lost twice of them last year. So that was a big one for us,” said of Belmont’s long time head coach Paul Graham.

The senior strike partnership of Kiki Christofori and Jenna Thomas joined sophomore midfielder Kiley Meringer with goals in the inaugural game of the shortened 10-game season.

Christofori scored midway though the first quarter off a hard shot that hit the Minuteman goalie’s shoulder and bounced in. Meringer lofted a floater that caught the goalie off her line and settled in at the 7:30 mark of the second quarter. Thomas slotted a shot that snuck into the net five minutes into the third to give Belmont a 3-0 lead.

It turned out that each goal was needed as the Minutemen grew stronger – they hit the crossbar twice in the game – as the game progressed led by its talented junior forward Kirsty Carnan who was a handful for the Marauders backline, a group that won Graham’s praise.

“I have to say my four defenders really played well, Graham said describing the workrate of sophomore Sabrina Spalls, senior Grace Kane – who moved from the midfield – and returning stalwarts junior Ally Landers and senior Ashley Green.

“You know they were very very strong, they’re tough to beat up,” said Graham who acknowledged senior Rachel November was a standout controlling the middle of the field.

Senior Abbie Moran kept a clean sheet in the first two quarters with a fine stop of a Carnan shot on her near side post. Junior Bridget Martin was busy for the entire second half giving up a Carnan goal in the final minute of the game to cut the margin of victory to one.

Belmont will host Lexington this Saturday, Oct. 11 at Harris Field at 4 p.m.

Boys’ Lacked Punch On The O Side Of The Ball Falling 2-0

While it was perfect fall weather to play a game – sunny in the upper 60s – it was a frustrating game for the Belmont High Boys Soccer as a lack of offense punch left the Marauders empty handed on the scoresheet falling to Lexington High Minutemen, 2-0, in the home and season opener on Saturday, Oct. 3 at Harris Field.

While Belmont’s midfielders and defenders kept the Minutemen at bay for the first two quarters, the Marauders – under new head coach Jean M Carlone Laforgue – couldn’t find the right combination of passes that would spring their forwards for clear shots.

Senior midfielder Ali Noorouzi had Belmont best chance when, in the second quarter, he ran onto a probing pass to the right of goal but couldn’t lift the ball over the on rushing goalie.

Noorouzi was Belmont’s Man of the Match whose work rate allowed the Marauders to hold the majority of possession in the first half. Senior center back Lars Gustav Bauerle controlled the turf in front of junior goalie Damon Reyes. Up front, senior forward Will Kivalatitu was the most threatening to the Minutemen backline.

Lexington where able to end the stalemate at 14:20 in the third through senior Lynn Jueppner from junior Eric Edmonds on a nice build up on the left wing. The same combination hit in the fourth as Jueppner got the brace from a strike in close between a pair of Belmont defenders at 14:26 in the fourth.

The remainder of the game saw Belmont attempting to find a way around a Lexington team packing the middle with little to show for their attempts.

Belmont visits Lexington at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 10.

Q&A: Nearly Cancelled, FBE’s Apple Run Found A Way To Start The Race

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Photo: The FBE Apple Run is underway

The start of the Foundation for Belmont Education’s Apple Run 5K/2K race is … anytime the runners want it to be.

From today, Friday, Oct. 2 until midnight, Oct. 12, participants will take to the 3.1 mile course racing against each other virtually due to the continuing coronavirus pandemic. Runners are racing in a number of traditional individual time categories in addition to team contests, best costumes and a slowest racer competition.

Race registration here

Read the latest information on the race here

With the Brendan Home Run ending in 2019, the Apple Run – formerly the Dan Scharfman 5K – is the largest athletic event in Belmont in sponsored by the Foundation in support of technology at the Belmont public schools.

Paul Roberts, this year’s race director, talks to the Belmontonian about transforming the race into a virtual contest and way it was important to have it take place despite all the external pressures no to.

Question: The FBE Apple Run 5K/2K is the largest athletic event in Belmont and one of the Foundation’s major fundraisers. What were your plans as race director for the second running of the race when the pandemic put a halt to all large gatherings back in March?

Roberts: When COVID first hit, we weren’t even in the planning stages for the 2020 race yet. FBE was actually ramping up for its annual Spring Gala, which is our biggest fundraiser, and which ended up getting cancelled. At the time I remember thinking that ‘surely things will have sorted themselves out by October’ and that we’d be able to do the race per usual: in person, sponsor booths, Donna Ognibene’s workout, DJ Paul Madden, the whole bit. That turned out not to be the case, however. 

Question: Was there ever a thought of cancelling the event like so many other organizations did?

Roberts: We did discuss cancelling the event, of course, or postponing it. A couple of things pointed us towards a virtual event. First: the race is an outdoor event and one that – just looking at the race piece of it – doesn’t require face to face or close contact. Second: we had seen other yearly race events “go virtual,” so we knew that was an option. Finally, we really felt like it was important to the community to keep this fall tradition alive. We understood that it was going to be a different year, regardless. But we felt like the more we could do to keep things the same, the better. With that in mind: we decided to plan for a virtual event and even to stick to our Couch to 5K program, though in virtual format, also.

Question: So when and how did the virtual race concept started in earnest?

Roberts: I’d say the virtual event was on the table all along. We had a kick off meeting back in the May timeframe and basically the three options were: cancel, do some form of in-person event (circumstances allowing) or do a virtual event. What we did then was to reach out to the Town Administrator Patrice Garvin and Wesley Chin at Belmont Health Department and get their thoughts on the feasibility of an in person event: whether we might do a smaller event or whether we could structure the day of in such a way to keep people physically distanced. Essentially the guidance was: no races of any size until we have a vaccine. We were pretty sure that wasn’t going to be October, so at that point we made a commitment to doing the run virtually.

Question: What has been the response from the community? 

Roberts: The response has been tremendous. We had 340 runners as of Thursday, which is far above what we were expecting. The Foundation has also been really touched by the continued support of our sponsors:

  • CitySide Subaru, our Platinum Sponsor again this year,
  • Belmont Orthodontics, 
  • Shant Banosian/Guaranteed Rate, 
  • John Rogaris,
  • Belmont Center Business Association,
  • Belmont Chinese American Association.

Donna Ognibene at Triogo stepped up and will record a virtual workout for all our runners. These are very difficult time for small businesses and families, so this support has been really inspiring. 

Question: You have included a few special extras to the race.

Roberts: We decided to take advantage of the virtual format to have some fun with our prizes. Because runners have 10 days to do the race, rather than an hour, we wanted to recognize and celebrate all the fun and funky ways people can do the Apple Run – running it multiple times, running it in a funny costume (not exactly a new thing), doing the race slooowly and so on. We’re also going to be celebrating runners all through the week on social media.

Question: Explain the importance of the race to the technology fund and also as a community event during a pandemic. 

Roberts: The Apple Run has become one of the Town’s biggest annual events and one of the FBE’s most popular traditions. The race has raised more than $150,000 for the FBE and its Innovative Teaching Initiative. With all of the challenges and new costs that COVID has created for the community and our public schools, having an organization like the FBE becomes even more important. We think its critical right now to provide a bit of normalcy for the community. We’re really looking forward to seeing Apple runners out on the streets in the coming days! 

Former Belmont High Boys’ Swim Coach Charged With Taking Inappropriate Photos

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Photo: James Saidnawey during his time as head coach of Belmont High Boys Swim team

The coach who in 2018 led the Belmont High Boys Swimming and Diving team to its first Middlesex League regular season title in two decades was arrested last week in Eastham, Mass on charges that he took inappropriate photographs of teenage girls, according to a report in SwimSwam.

James Saidnawey, 29, has been charged with two counts of posing or exhibiting a child in a state of nudity or sexual contact, Eastham police said in a statement. They also indicated that the investigation is ongoing and that additional charges may be filed.

Saidnawey was arraigned on Sept. 23 in Orleans District Court and was released on $1,000 bail. He is set to return to court on Nov. 23 for a pretrial hearing.

Police seized several electronic devices from Saidnawey’s home and interviewed multiple potential victims before making the arrest, according to the news report.

According to SwimSwam, Saidnawey was hired during the summer as a 4th grade teacher at Eastham Elementary School. Nauset Regional School District Superintendent Thomas Conrad reported that district officials knew about the investigation before classes started on Sept. 16, and while he participated in some staff meetings, Saidnawey never had any contact with students.

After his one year at Belmont High School, Saidnawey worked as a 5th grade teacher in Newton Public Schools and coached the Newton North High School girls swim team.

Public Access To HS Athletic Fields Restricted Beginning Sept. 21

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Photo: Harris Field in Belmont

Beginning Monday, Sept. 21, access to the Belmont High School Athletic Complex located on Concord Avenue – which includes Harris Field, the track and the fields west of the “Skip” Viglirolo ice skating rink – will be limited to Belmont High School Fall athletic teams and school authorized personnel during Belmont High practices and games, according to Belmont Athletic Director Jim Davis.

In accordance with guidelines set by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association, the general public is asked to refrain from any use of the athletic fields and track area of the complex when Belmont High School teams are practicing and hosting games.  

Practices are scheduled for:

  • Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday: 2:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
  • Wednesdays: 12:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.  

On Game Day Saturdays, the facility is scheduled for use from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. for both games and practices.