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20250506-112518-ce8-scl-bwsc sports construction 4-21-25.pdf

Bristol Warren Regional School District Superintendent Ana Riley and Athletic Director Christy Belisle presented the school committee at its April 21 meeting with a formal plan for sports operations upon the start of the new Mt. Hope High School construction this summer.

For athletics, the plans are specific to those teams at the high school who compete outdoors in both the fall and spring, starting with the 2025-26 term.

Calling it the "most complex" of the components, Belisle said football games will be moved off campus to Veterans Stadium behind Kickemuit Middle School, once the home of the Warren High School gridiron program.

Home games in September will take place on Friday nights beginning at 5 p.m. while the lone contest currently scheduled in October will occur on Saturday morning at 11 a.m.

The football team will remain on campus for practice to start the season, but as work progresses the Huskies will prep for games at Jamiel Park in Warren in October until the end of their campaign in November/December.

The three other fall outdoor sports — girls' and boys' soccer along with girls' tennis — will head away from Chestnut Street to other parts of Bristol to play and practice.

Girls' soccer prep moves to Colt State Park with their male counterparts going to the Guiteras School field. They'll both host games as available on the Roger Williams University grass field. Girls' tennis will also utilize the RWU courts for games and practices, the latter pf which will take place nightly at 5:30 p.m.

For soccer specifically, Belisle said RWU has committed to at least allowing a pair of MHHS doubleheaders, including one when both teams will honor their soon-to-be graduates on Senior Night. Of note as well, if possible, some games could be played on the RWU main artificial turf field.

Asked about the difficulties with the process of formulating the plans for the fall directly, Belisle said, "I think there's going be some bumps. Like, there's going be some things we don't anticipate. And I say that mostly based on the fact that Roger Williams is always going to prioritize Roger Williams before us. So, we know that. It's not new. It will always be like that, but I do think that they're looking for more of a partnership than they have in the past."

She continued, "If you're a senior in high school the next two years and you had this vision that you're going play on your own field, sure, you're going be disappointed. But I think that the majority of our kids actually are looking forward to playing on the turf, they're excited about being at Roger Williams."

The biggest challenge overall, the director said, will be that the administering sports, staffing events properly, will be divided among a number of locations. 

"We're going to need more people," Belisle explained. "There's definitely still things that we're continuing to work on. But I think everyone's committed to the kids and making sure that they have the best experience possible. And I believe that if our coaches are positive about the experience, the kids will follow. They really will."

Spring notes

In the spring, the boys' and girls' lacrosse programs will both prep at Colt and still play home games at their current Naomi Street field. 

Baseball will practice and compete at Guiteras as it does now while softball will practice and prep at the Bristol Parks section in Colt.

Outdoor track and field throwers and jumpers will practice at Barrington High with runners also heading to Vets Stadium in Warren to train. There will no home meets scheduled. The seniors will be honored during a ceremony at BHS at the end of the season.

Fall, winter and spring indoor programs are unaffected. The only two teams that vie inside during the fall and spring, girls' and boys' volleyball, will continue as usual in Fitzgerald Gym. 

JV teams

Belisle said the junior varsity teams in the fall season will play most if not all of their games on the road and likely not as many total as is currently the case.

To fill the gap, Belisle said of the JV teams, "We're going to give them as many opportunities to play as possible, so we may see little things which we budgeted for where we'll send them to some tournaments, so that they'll still get as many opportunities to play and develop as they did in the past."

In response to a question about the JV soccer use of Guiteras, Belisle said it's "more of an issue with lighting," that the loss of sun as the fall season goes along could be impactful.

The plan is to offer opposing JV teams to travel to Bristol together with their varsity peers and play their games at Guiteras if desired, but that depends on the coaches of the road programs. There's also a move to play a so-called shorter JV game at RWU after varsity as time permits.

Belisle added, "Our commitment is to get (JV) as much playing time and development as possible. And we plan to do that, but we just might have to be more creative about how we go about it."

Field prep

Belisle explained last week some of the enhancements and agreements in place both to facilities in Warren and with RWU as the transitions take place.

At Vets Stadium, new football goal posts/uprights will be installed this summer to meet modern high school standards. A new scoreboard and soccer goals will also be in place for the fall.

In lieu of any rental fees at RWU, district personnel will line the field there for soccer once a week during the season and the district will also cover the cost of preventative maintenance when the fall schedule is complete.

In addition, the fields at Guiteras and Naomi Street will be reseeded with growing blankets in the fall. Also at Guiteras and for the Bristol Parks field, new soccer goals will be placed.

Transportation matters

To get students to the various locations, Belisle told the committee shuttles will be provided as required.

Also, for the duration of the new MHHS project, the senior parking lot will no longer be available.

With that in mind, the area in front of existing bus circle at the high school will be paved and lined for parking as will a location behind school.

All parking spaces will be numbered. Faculty, students and staff will be assigned spots. 

Of note, all parking, including on street parking, will require a visible permit.

Riley explained this part of the presentation, telling the committee, "Every student and faculty who drives a car to school will have to we have little things they hook on their mirror just to designate as they are parking and everyone will be assigned a spot. So every student and staff coming to school knows they have a parking spot and they know where their parking spot is."