There will never be any snow-covered mountains in Cape Ann, but there are plenty of locals who enjoy hitting the slopes when the winter rolls around.
With that in mind, a group of 30-plus current students along with their parents and some administrators at Manchester Essex Regional High School are trying to get an alpine race ski team together for the next winter.
"The team has the support of principal James Lee and superintendent Marcia O'Neil if transportation and funding can be raised," said Susan McAuliff, a mother of two sons, who plan on competing. "They have to self-fund for the first two years so we really need to do some fund-raising before the September 1 deadline."
The Hooper fund approved a grant for the team's initial seed money but the ski team hopes to raise an additional $10,000 from a variety of donors including local individuals and businesses in the community. A ski and skate sale and raffle are being planned as well to additional raise money.
"There is no donation too small," explained McAuliff. "We already have an account setup at the school specifically for the ski team."
Like most new teams in high schools, for the first year the team would be a JV squad and then it becomes a varsity the next season, provided it has enough support financially. Ideally, 15 girls and 15 boys would take part in their respective races. Prior ski racing experience is not required and the team will be open to kids enrolled in grades 7-12 at Manchester Essex. The team would train and race on weekdays as many skiers head North on the weekends.
The Hornets would join the North Shore ski league which is currently comprised of Masconomet, North Andover, Andover, Bishop Fenwick, St. John's Prep, Haverhill and Austin Prep. Bradford ski resort in Bradford, Mass. is the home course for those teams and by extension the league.
There are 60 high schools and counting in Massachusetts that have alpine race teams and those teams typically have 10 races during the regular season followed by a state championship race at either Berkshire East in Western Mass. or Wachusett in Central Mass.
It makes perfect sense for Manchester Essex to have a ski team since so many local kids go skiing on the weekends with family and friends around Northern New England or across the country on vacation. Not to mention, the camaraderie that comes from being a part of a team is hard to resist for students that wouldn't otherwise play a winter sport. As it is, the Hornets only offer basketball and indoor track during the winter while a few students play hockey through a co-op program with Rockport.
"There is definitely a buzz in town about having a ski team," reports McAuliff. "How can we not have one? Manchester is known for tennis, golf and skiing, we need a ski team. The parents who are spearheading this are six sponsor families that are all experienced, knowledgeable skiers."
A head coach hasn't officially been hired yet but there's some outstanding candidates within Manchester Essex High School that each have impressive skiing credentials. A user fee will help cover lift ticket costs and transportation to and from Bradford.
McAuliff's two sons have raced for five years at Mt. Sunapee in New Hampshire and when they became friends with other racers there, they realized they were missing out on some skiing-related fun back at home. Most of the racers also were members of alpine ski racing teams at their high schools. Interest in creating a team at Manchester Essex has spread rapidly thanks to word of mouth between students and also their parents.
Richard Slate can be reached at rslate@gloucestertimes.com.
