BOBWHITES WELCOME THE NEXT GENERATION
By Ben Kaufmann
ST. ALBANS – The halftime entertainment at Thursday’s BFA-St. Albans vs. St. Johnsbury basketball game was perfect on Thursday night as the white and green squads of the Northeast Celtics 5/6 Mini-Metro program took the court for a brief scrimmage. As an added bonus, the closure of the snack bar as a COVID-19 precaution meant the youngsters had a full audience, and both the crowd and the players made it a wonderful six minutes.
The teams combined to hit a few deep shots and the crowd went wild with each make – a taste of varsity basketball for the next generation of Bobwhites.
“It means a lot to them,” said Ben Toof, coach of the green team. “They’ve been looking forward to it ever since I told them three nights ago. They just look up to these guys.”
Prior to tipoff, the players were treated to the VIP experience from their heroes in green and gold. Bobwhite coach Tristan Menard jogged over during warmups to offer fist bumps to the excited kids. As the varsity players warmed up, none neared the sideline without handing out high-fives as the youngsters yelled for their favorite players.
Sixth grader Riley Branon, asked who his favorite player was, was quick to answer.
“Seth!” Branon said, referring to BFA forward Seth Richards – producer of some monstrous slam-dunks this season. “Because he’s a paint beast.”
“I remember being that age and how important it was whenever one of the big guys came and gave me a high-five, I thought it was great,” Richards said, unable to hide a smile when told he was named a player-favorite. “So if I can do the same for the kids it’s great.”
BFA’s involvement with the youth program is a welcome sight for those in charge. The relationship may seem like a no-brainer but there are plenty of varsity programs who reserve that attention only for offseason camps and would never take a few seconds to acknowledge the kids just minutes before a league game tips off.
“They’re very involved,” said Shane Westover, who coaches the white team with Landon Potvin. “Tristan’s been good for the program, they’re all very involved with the program.”
Menard, BFA’s first-year coach, had players from the University of Vermont men’s basketball team in town to hold a clinic for youth players before he’d even coached a varsity game. The youth players wear their uniforms to varsity games and cheer wildly for the players they hope to fill the shoes of some day.
“It’s great,” Richards said. “I love being a role model for kids that are younger than me. I have six cousins at home that are all around that age and they love me, so I’m a little used to it.”
As much fun as the attention from the Bobwhites was on Thursday, it was the adoration of the crowd – decked out in costumes for the anticipated varsity game and large in number with no hockey game competing for student attention – which most won over the future Bobwhites.
“The student section,” Howrigan answered when asked what his favorite part of playing at halftime was. The reason, Howrigan said, was obvious. “Because they’re good at cheering.”
Now with a genuine taste of the experience all young players hope to have regularly one day, Toof says he hopes the players of the Northeast Celtics paid close attention to the elite basketball played by the big kids on either side of their halftime scrimmage.
“They look up to these guys and the rate of basketball they’re playing,” Toof said. “When they come home, I ask them if they’re going to be ready for this in a few years. Of course they always say they will be, but it takes a long way to get there. But they look up to these guys, they idolize the program.”
