Shawsheen Fall Sports Teams Begin Practices

Shawsheen Tech athletes have big cleats to fill this upcoming sports season.

The Rams have forged a tradition of excellence, not only among Voke schools but on the Division 2 state level.

As recently as the 2008-09 seasons, Shawsheen dominated vocational high school sports, winning state vocational titles in girls cross country, boys and girls soccer, boys hockey, wrestling, girls swimming, and girls basketball. The school also won league titles in boys cross country, golf, softball, boys lacrosse, and football and basketball cheerleading.

Overall, Shawsheen proudly displays 95 championship banners in their gymnasium, and the coaches hope to add to the collection in the upcoming 2010-11 seasons.

Tryouts for the Shawsheen golf team took place from Aug. 18-19 at the Patriot Golf Course in Bedford. Out of all of Shawsheen's sports programs, golf is the first to hold tryouts. Unlike other fall sports, golf season is brief, and spans only from Sept. 1 until the end of October.

"With such a short season, we need to be playing every day," said golf coach Tom Struthers.

Not only did the Shawsheen golf team win the Commonwealth Athletic Conference championship last year, they have done so for five straight seasons. The team also finished second in the Massachusetts Vocational tournament. 

"This will be my sixth year as coach of the Shawsheen golf team. We have been very lucky to have a talented group of kids every year," Struthers said.

According to Struthers, approximately 30 kids attended golf tryouts this year, but only 12 will represent Shawsheen in the fall.

"I have seen some good talent from some of the new kids so far," Struthers said. "It is nice to see that so many kids are interested in playing golf. Unfortunately, our team only carries 12 players, mostly due to the difficulty of finding playing time on the golf course."

After the team is finalized, regular season golf practices will start up Sept. 1 at 2 p.m.

Other fall sports will begin tryouts later in the month of August, including the defending state champion soccer teams. Soccer tryouts will be held Aug. 26-27. Richard Barriss coaches the boy's team, and the girls' team is lead by Doug Michaud.

Also, Shawsheen's Annual Sports Physical Day is being held today, Monday Aug. 23 from noon to 4 p.m. in the nurse's office. Hopeful players are required to present a current physical exam by their primary care physician within the last 12 months before they will be allowed to play sports at Shawsheen.