caption, page 2: Members of the Woodstock Academy football team go through drills without a ball during conditioning practice on the South Campus turf last week.

captions, page 7: Members of the Woodstock Academy football team stretch prior to a conditioning practice last week.

Woodstock Academy football coach and athletic director Sean Saucier, left, calls out signals without a ball in a drill during conditioning week practice on the South Campus turf field. Photos by Marc Allard.


After hiatus,
Centaurs
back on
football field
WOODSTOCK — Woodstock Academy football head coach and athletic director Sean Saucier had to catch himself early last week.
It was the first day of practice for the Centaurs football team and he got lost in the moment. It felt normal.
“I was with the offensive line and we were having some fun and they were on point and I lost myself in what we were doing for a while, “Saucier said. “It all has purpose now,”
Last year, that purpose was to have the football players together, to connect and stay positive through a tough time. This year, the purpose is different.
Opposing teams, wins and losses, schedules, it all matters now.
The Woodstock Academy football team will be playing its first game of the season on Sept. 10 in Windham.
In past years, that would not be such a new flash and probably not as eagerly anticipated as it will be in 2021.
But as everyone knows, 2020 was a lost year for high school teams due to the pandemic.
While some teams opted to play a form of touch football with masks on, the Centaurs elected to play intrasquad games where tackling was allowed.
But a football season, it was not.
Football is happily back at Woodstock Academy. The first days of conditioning began last week.
The first preseason scrimmage, against Auburn, Mass., takes place on Aug. 28.
“It’s almost surreal,” Saucier said. “After what we went through last fall with no games, playing ourselves, and now, we have to reboot. We’re on a timeline. Certain things have to happen by certain days and we need to progress at a certain pace. It’s back to normal if you will in terms of the timeline and the pressure that comes along with that of being prepared and having everything installed.”
There were some concerns about high school football this season.
The recent surge of coronavirus cases due to the Covid-19 Delta variant had players, coaches and administrators on edge in regards to the season.
But recently the State’s governing body for high school athletics, the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference, announced that the fall season would go on as normal. No masks necessary on the playing field, not even for coaches.
It can easily change.
“We have to be smart, obviously, and do our part to stay healthy,” Saucier said. “Everyone has to be concerned about COVID-19, it’s still here. There are different beliefs and opinions about vaccinations so I think it would be foolish not to be concerned about it. We’re also not trying to dwell on it, just trying to have some fun, play some football and move forward.”
The Centaurs had about 50 student-athletes out for the first official days of practice which is down a little but Saucier expected that.
“The freshmen and sophomore classes, in general, are smaller. I hope to add another five or 10 more players as school gets going. Sixty would be great, 50 is not awful,” Saucier said.
Saucier said his team is physically stronger as most have concentrated on weight training over the summer.
His job will be to get their legs underneath them over the next couple of weeks.
“I think the fitness is what we have to bring up to par with the strength. The last two years the team has really committed to the weight room and it’s clear that they have. Now, we have to concentrate on our fitness,” Saucier said.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy

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