The Greenfield field hockey team is getting a nice boost this fall.
A newly formed cooperative program between the Green Wave and Pioneer came together, with the Panthers joining forces with Greenfield this upcoming season. The co-op came to be after both programs saw the numbers for the upcoming season and realized neither would be able to fill out a full roster on their own.
Joining forces now gives athletes at both schools a chance to play varsity field hockey in 2023, according to Greenfield head coach Erin Thayer.
“Without those added numbers from Pioneer, Greenfield field hockey wouldn’t have existed this year,” Thayer said. “We had 22 girls in our program last year and lost 11 of them. Since COVID hit, numbers have been in decline. I was worried about this and saw it coming. We were trying to be proactive and knowing our numbers would be low and Pioneer wouldn’t have had a team, we decided to co-op.”
What is Greenfield getting with players from Pioneer? A program that has reached back-to-back Western Mass. championship games as well as consecutive appearances in the state tournament.
The Panthers made it to the Western Mass. Class D title game in 2021 where it fell to Franklin Tech. Pioneer then earned the No. 35 seed in the state tournament, where it lost in the preliminary round.
Last fall Pioneer finished its regular season with a 9-2-2 record, advancing to the Class D title game where it fell in overtime in a rematch against the Eagles. The Panthers were seeded No. 12 in the Div. 4 state tournament and defeated Littleton in the Round of 32 before falling to Lynnfield in the Round of 16.
“Pioneer has some good players,” Thayer said. “We have some talent coming in. I’m excited to work with all of them.”
That squad is teaming up with a Green Wave program that has been a powerhouse in Western Mass. for decades. Greenfield has made it to the last two Western Mass. Class C title games while reaching the Round of 16 in the Div. 4 state tournament a year ago and the Round of 32 in 2021. Prior to the COVID-shortened 2020 season, the Green Wave reached the Western Mass. Div. 2 title game each year from 2015-2019, winning sectional titles on three occasions.
It’ll be a step up in competition for Pioneer, which will now play in the Western Mass. Class C tournament as well competing in the fierce Suburban League that features a pair of games against Frontier, Agawam, Longmeadow, Minnechaug and West Springfield during the regular season.
Thayer said she hopes her young team will grow as the season goes on.
“It’ll be an adjustment for them,” Thayer said. “They’ll have to adjust to the speed and level of our league. There’s no gimme games in our league. We’re very young and have a handful of seventh graders, a good group of eighth graders and solid numbers at the ninth and 10th grade levels. We’re lucky to have the Pioneer players to be able to have a team.”
While the Green Wave have only had a few practices together, Thayer said the Greenfield and Pioneer players have integrated well together so far.
It’ll take time to get the full chemistry down, and with the first game of the season two weeks away, Thayer said more bonding activities will take place to further bring the team together before then.
“They all have a great attitude,” Thayer said. “They want to play hard and play well. We’re going to be spending more time doing team bonding and team stuff to help the two teams come together. So far the transition has gone well. They played together in the summer league which helps. We’re very hopeful for a good season.”
There aren’t too many other changes in the Franklin County high school sports world this fall.
Greenfield will once again be co-oping with Pioneer, Turners and Mohawk Trail for football while the Mahar field hockey team will bring in Athol players for the second straight year. As will the Franklin Tech and Turners Falls girls soccer teams, with the Eagles serving as the host school.
Franklin Tech and the Thunder won’t be teaming up again in boys soccer, however. Turners had the numbers to support its own team and will be playing an independent varsity schedule for the first time since 2015 this fall.
Another new addition will be the Athol golf team, which brought back its squad during the COVID season but did not field a team last fall.