Photos from the last stages of construction of the new artificial turf field at Northwood School (Photos: Mr. Michael Aldridge).

The new artificial turf field at Northwood School is getting its finishing touches as the debut for the venue is nearing. This weekend, Northwood will be hosting a soccer showcase that will bring eight football clubs from the Northeast to campus to compete in front of coaches at some of the nation’s best collegiate soccer programs. 

Both the U18 and U19 teams will participate in the showcase, and each team will play 3 games over the course of the weekend. The first match on the new turf will take place on Friday, November 12 at 2:00 p.m. when the U19 teams plays IHC Academy from Watertown, NY. 

Saturday will be packed full of soccer action with eight matches throughout the day. At 10:00 a.m. the U19 boys will play St. Andrews School then the U18 boys will play at 1:00 p.m. against Burlington FC. The final match for Northwood on Saturday is against rivals High Mowing at 2:00, a highly-anticipated matchup. 

Games continue on Sunday as the Northwood U19s play NY Elite AlleyCats FC at 10:00 and RMPUS at 1:00. The U18s will close out the showcase playing North Country Select at noon.

The Northwood soccer team hears an inspirational message from their coach, Mr. Jon Moodey, at their first practice on the new artificial turf field, November 9, 2021 (Photo: Mr. Andy Donatello).

The soccer teams took the field for the first time this morning for training. It’s the first time the squad has trained on campus this school year. Until now, they have trained on a field on the outskirts of town. 

Kate Broderick ’22 (foreground) at the Pink the Rink game in October 2021 (Photo: Northwood School/Facebook).

Northwood hosted the annual fundraiser ‘Pink the Rink’ recently to raise money for cancer research. The CARE Community Service club did a ‘Pink Out’ on Saturday, September 23, where spectators dressed in pink to support the fight against Breast Cancer. To promote this cause, the school’s Varsity and Prep teams used pink accessories or taped their sticks with pink. The hockey games attracted many spectators to support the club’s worthy cause. In addition to raising over $500 in donations at the games, both hockey teams wrapped up the weekend with two wins apiece.

“We raised just under $600 within the community and had a great turn out of students in pink!” said Kate Broderick ’22, the event organizer and co-leader of CARE. Broderick said the funds raised will be split and donated to the Susan G. Komen fund and American Cancer Society. “I wanted to do this as something fun students could dress up for and I chose breast cancer as our charity because of the many relatives and friends I know who beat breast cancer,” Broderick added.

Fans at the Pink the Rink charity game in October 2021. From left to right: Kate Broderick ’22, MJ Prince ’22, and Hillary Larsen ’22. (Photo: Northwood School/Facebook)

The boys hockey teams had a rare, four home game series at the Lake Placid Olympic Center. To kick start the weekend, the Varsity team went head to head with the New Jersey Hitmen 16Us  Saturday and won 5-2. Nicholas Bennett ‘22 completed a hat trick in scoring the team’s first three goals. Teammates Roman Winicki ’22 and Landon Cole ’23 each scored one. Goaltender Ben Norton ‘22 had 17 saves in net. 

The following morning, Varsity continued their streak with a win 3-2 against NJ Hitmen 16U. Bennett dominated the game by scoring another hat trick to lead his team to victory. Goaltender Jacob Jaslow ’23 made an impressive 32 saves in the win. 

The prep team had a successful game on Saturday as well, winning  4-1 against the NJ Hitmen’s 18U team. Olivier Beaulieu ‘23 scored a hat trick and his teammate Bill Zonnon ‘24 scored as well. Goalie Johann Tremblay-Kau ‘22 made five saves.

Finally, on Sunday the Prep team dominated with a convincing 9-0 win against the New Jersey Hitmen’s 18U team. Carson Hall ‘22 led all goal scorers with four. James Schneid ‘23 (2), Billy Batten ‘23 (1) , Michael Urgo ‘22 (1) and Connor Santay ‘22 (1) rounded out the scoring. Jan Korec ’22, the goalie, backstopped the team with 8 saves. 

A new artificial turf facility is currently being constructed at Northwood School is expected to have a transformative effect on the school’s soccer program, but construction delays have stalled the field’s opening. Initially, the soccer team hoped to do most of their fall training and have their fall games on the new field. Now they hope to get in one game before the field is covered with snow.  

Bette & Cring Construction Group from Albany is the general contractor on the project and began construction this past summer with the hopes of having it finished by early September. However, upon renovating the site they discovered traces of asbestos in the old tennis courts. Abatement of the small amounts of hazardous asbestos set the project back several weeks as a separate company had to come in and remove the asbestos from the site.  

Artist renderings of the completed turf field. Note: these drawings include the former tennis courts and basketball court, which have since been removed.

The construction site has been busy the last couple of weeks. (Photo: Colter Cheney-Seymour ’22) 

According to Associate Head of School Mr. Tom Broderick, who updated the school community on the project at a recent school meeting, construction is expected to be finished in late October.  

The field will primarily be used by the Northwood U17 and U19 soccer teams that are associated with Black Rock FC. Since the start of the year-round soccer program at Northwood, the team has been training on campus and at a variety of grass fields off campus.  

This new facility is seen as a major upgrade by Program director and U19 head coach Jon Moody. “The addition of the new turf field at Northwood School is an exciting next step for the development of the soccer program,” Moodey stated. “This will provide the team with a high-quality surface for regular training while also enabling us the team to extend the fall season and start the spring season earlier,” Moodey added.  

Weather plays a large role in soccer training in the Adirondacks. And the turf field, which can be cleared of early- and late-season snow, will allow the squad to maximize the team’s training opportunities.  

The field is also expected to benefit the surrounding community. “This new field can become a great resource for the surrounding communities in the Adirondacks,” said Moodey, making it evident how the turf may be used for local activities or sports in the future.  

For the first time in two years, the Northwood Ski Team will be traveling to Europe. Seventeen Northwood ski racers will join other athletes from NYSEF for an early season camp on the Hintertux Glacier.  

The team flew out of Newark on Monday morning and landed in Munich Germany, then took a bus to Finkenburg, Austria. For two weeks they will train in the Zillertaler Alps.  

Photo credit: Leah DeFilippo ’22

Photo credit: Angelica DeGuardia

Photo credit: Kate Broderick ’22

Because the delta variant has caused a spike in COVID cases across the Europe and the US, staff attending this trip have been examining COVID protocols for months. NYSEF/Northwood head U16 coach Patrick Purcell said “COVID wise, we have researched all the necessary guardrails, restrictions, and guidelines that are required for travel. We have met all the requirements. It’s been exhaustive. We have put every safety precaution for our athletes and staff possible, but there’s always that risk. We feel confident that we’ve taken every precaution to continue our athletic training.”  

The skiers are excited to resume training, “I am very excited to go to Austria, to get back on snow, and to see how much I can improve from last year,” said Lincoln Norfolk ‘24.  Senior Hillary Larsen said, “I’m really excited to be returning to Europe. I missed the early season training that’s pretty rare in the US.” 

A ski camp in September may seem excessively early to those unfamiliar with ski racing, but the pre-season training is crucial to have a successful ski season. “We can’t sit back and wait for the snow to fly. By doing competitive athletic training camps like this, we’re expanding on what we do year round. Our sport is on the snow and we need to travel,” said Purcell.  

Coach Jeremy “Worm” Transue added that “The trip to Hintertux will provide the athletes with the opportunity to strengthen their fundamental skill set through varying events and terrain while gaining valuable lessons in the European cultural experience.”