Gilbert School fall sports preview

WINSTED — Last year Gilbert looked to reinforce and rebuild the fall sports program. This year, they look to continue developing their youthful squads and slowly regain a position at the top of the league in all fall programs.

Gilbert’s football program received a major overhaul with the addition of a new head coach, Scott Salius, last season. The year before Salius’ arrival, the Yellowjackets football team finished with an abysmal 1-9 record. Salius managed to improve that record last year to just shy of the .500 mark with a record of 5-6. Under Salius’ guidance, the Yellowjackets tacked a Berkshire Bowl victory onto their season’s accomplishments by defeating longtime rival, Housatonic-Wamogo Mountaineers.

Yellowjackets football lost more than a dozen senior players, including quarterback Paul Kurtz. Salius has a sound replacement this year in junior Bobby Lippincott.

The Gilbert co-op football program will include 28 student athletes from Northwestern Regional High School. The numbers are sound, there are promising prospects to fill the gaps left by hefty graduation losses, but there is still plenty of room for the Yellowjackets to improve. The football team plays their first game of the season at Canton High on Saturday, Sept. 19, at 2:30 p.m.

Gilbert’s girls soccer program continued their lengthy run as a league powerhouse last season with an overall record of 9-7 and a CIAC Tournament appearance. The team sees plenty of strong returns from the last few seasons, including Courtney Hoxie and 2008 Berkshire Leaguers Jackie Vaccari, Megan Dzielak and Lindsey Dzielak.

Head coach Moose Dzielak has kept Gilbert’s girls soccer program among the league’s finest but will no doubt be looking to make another appearance in this season’s CIAC Tournament and push farther into the post season than last year. Gilbert’s girls soccer team has their first game at home against Wamogo on Tuesday, Sept. 15, at 3:45 p.m.

On the other side of the pitch, Gilbert’s boys soccer team will look to continue rebuilding the team into a league contender and improve on last season’s overall record of 4-12. Athletic Director Mike Gamari said the team is youthful and inexperienced, but the roster was filled with a solid turnout.

Gilbert boys soccer faces off against cross town rival Northwestern at home on Wednesday, Sept. 16, at 3:45 p.m.

Last year’s Berkshire League Sportsmanship Award winner Cindy Fixer returns this year as head coach of Gilbert’s volleyball squad.

“We have plenty of strong returns this season,� said Fixer. “We hope to improve on last season’s performance.�

Some of those strong returns will be senior captains Jennifer Hunter and Bridie McCarthy, who will be leading the Gilbert squad in their first game of the season against Joel Barlow on Tuesday, Sept. 15.

There is plenty of room and opportunity to continue rebuilding and improving Gilbert’s fall sports program. Though all teams involved have very different obstacles to overcome, they all have the advantage of strong numbers.

“We have nearly 120 kids overall. Almost 35 percent of the student body,� said Gamari. “That is where we like to be.�

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