At Housatonic Valley Regional High School, winter brings packed bleachers, ecstatic student sections, and distinctive energy for basketball season. The team culture and overall energy result in a large turnout at the home games. But beyond basketball, other winter athletes endure long practices and tough competitions — often with far less recognition.
While basketball tends to draw large crowds and headlines, sports like swim, ski, indoor track, and hockey compete in front of much smaller audiences. Other than the students directly involved, many people in the school community are unaware of when these teams compete, who their standout athletes are, and how they perform throughout the season.
Part of the difference in involvement comes down to location and the nature of the sports themselves. “It’s much easier to walk into the gym than it is to walk onto a ski course,” athletic director Anne MacNeil said. Basketball is a team oriented sport played in the school gym, making attendance easy. New traditions like rival night and themed games also increase excitement. MacNeil explained that when the ice hockey team used to compete at Hotchkiss, the games were widely attended. Many winter sports are also more individual based, making it harder to build hype around one race or run than a team competition.
Beyond the challenge of drawing spectators, the teams themselves are also limited in size. Housatonic’s small enrollment contributes to smaller rosters, especially in nontraditional sports. Cost and access also make some winter sports harder for students to become involved with. “You have to be introduced to skiing. You have to be introduced to hockey,” MacNeil said. “If you look at what it takes to play those sports, there’s a money factor involved.”
For the swim team, the difference in team culture is notable. Senior Katie Crane played basketball her freshman year before fully committing to the swim team. “When I played basketball, we weren’t just showing up for our team, we were showing up for the student section too,” she said. “For swim, what fueled our energy was just the team itself.”
Riley Klein
Swim meets rarely draw big crowds, but some competitors said that reduced the pressure. “I love swim because there isn’t that competitiveness and pressure,” Crane said. “I just showed up and I would race, but I was racing for myself.” Swimmers said their teammates and coaches were supportive, even if a big audience wasn’t there to cheer them on.
The lack of visibility can also be frustrating. “It definitely feels like I put up big performances without it getting noticed because I made Berkshire League first team and no one knows,” freshman Phoebe Conklin said. “For basketball and soccer, it’s this huge deal when you make first team.”
The ski team faces similar struggles. “It’s actually a fun spectator sport,” said junior Danny Lesch. Because races are largely individual, standout performances don’t always translate into team wins, even though the team has many accomplished athletes. Lesch said the individual athletes then get less recognition despite high levels of personal success. “What a lot of people don’t realize is that probably the most successful students we have at their sport have been our best skiers,” Lesch said.
dWinter Cheney sports three gold medals after a victorious performance in the Berkshire Hills Ski League championships Wednesday, Feb. 18.
Despite the recognition gap between basketball and other winter sports, athletes and community members have recently made larger efforts to improve visibility. “That’s always been an area that I have struggled to do better in,” MacNeil said. “In the last two years, I’ve really focused on our Instagram account and trying to spotlight people.” While trying her best to equally represent each sport, MacNeil also relies on athletes themselves to send photos and stats. “I can’t be everywhere at once,” she said.
Looking ahead, the future of other sports at Housatonic may depend on overcoming challenges tied to the school’s small enrollment. “I just had to cancel girls’ lacrosse,” MacNeil said. Increasing visibility and community support can help keep teams active and competitive. Greater recognition can help spark student interest, increasing participation and reminding the community that success exists across sports with less publicity. For members of the ski team, even small efforts can help make a difference. “What we hope for is one of the races next year, we get a crowd, get people to come, just one race,” Lesch said.
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Ralph Fedele sits at a desk in the historic Irondale Schoolhouse, which he led the effort to relocate to downtown Millerton.
Starting in 2015, the building was disassembled and moved — piece-by-piece — thanks to the efforts of a local organization called the Friends of the Irondale Schoolhouse and a Millerton resident that has dedicated much of his life to the community and preserving local landmarks.
That man is Ralph Fedele, a revered figure in the community both for his efforts to restore, maintain and educate people about the former schoolhouse and for more than a decade serving on the North East Town Board.
Fedele moved to Millerton from New York City 37 years ago, in 1988, and has since worn many hats – volunteer, historian, advocate, elected official – yet he still doesn’t believe he’s earned that title.
“I’m a transplant,” he said matter of factly. “I’m from the city.”
Years after settling in Millerton full time, Fedele was driving north on Route 22 when he spotted an old, classic building and couldn’t stop thinking about it.
“It was in dire straits,” he recalled. “Right on the road, but beautiful. I remember thinking, ‘Wouldn’t that be a great building to move into the village?’”
That moment would eventually turn into Fedele’s lasting legacy.
Fedele joked that people may have thought he was crazy during the lengthy restoration. “I was a tyrant,” he said with a laugh. “I really made sure that we were able to get it done.” The effort required coordination with the state, the county, village and town officials, and his newly assembled nonprofit board.
As a self-proclaimed history buff, Fedele didn’t stop at the restoration. He found a list of students in old records and did what any determined historian would do. He opened the telephone book and started making calls.
Eventually, he tracked down one of the schoolhouse’s original students – Mary (Mechare) Leitch – who, at the age of 101, returned to the building after renovations were complete.
“It was a marvelous time,” smiled Fedele. “I was so happy to see her.”
North East Town Supervisor Chris Kennan, left, and Mary Leitch, who was the last living Irondale Schoolhouse student until her death in 2025.Provided
Leitch died on Dec. 24, 2025, at the age of 103.
Leitch was born in Millerton in 1922 and grew up on Winchell Mountain in the hamlet of Irondale. Her early schooling was at Irondale’s 1858 one-room schoolhouse until it closed in 1930. She was proud of having been the last person to attend the school. From the third grade onward, she attended school in the Millerton school district.
“If you sit still, you will rust,” was a favorite Leitch saying, perhaps inspired by the Irondale district and the area’s iron industry.
Leitch delighted in the outdoors and in the company of animals and people, caring for many dogs—especially Jack Russells—and cherishing the horses that were part of her long, vibrant life. An avid sportswoman, she enjoyed deer hunting and fishing, keeping her licenses current right up until her passing. She was a longtime member of both the Jack Russell Club of America and the Dutchess County Professional Horsemen’s Association.
In 1958, she married William “Billy” Leitch of Millbrook, a professional horseman, sharing a love of the sporting life and enjoying active membership in the Millbrook Hunt Club. Billy pre-deceased her in 2015.
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