Walpole High winter sports are struggling.  No need to beat around the bush, about half of the winter sports have below .500 records and are ‘cellar dwellers’ in the Bay State League.  The boys hockey, boys basketball, wrestling, and gymnastics teams have been the inspiration behind numerous jokes at their own expense, while the indoor track, girls basketball, and girls hockey teams have excelled and are sitting atop their leagues or divisions.  So what has happened this winter?  Walpole hockey, wrestling, and – in the late 90’s and early 2000’s – basketball have had years after years of successful seasons, but for some reason this winter has been one that many Rebel fans hope to forget.

While many could blame the players for lacking talent or poor coaching for the team’s troubles, but there must be some other answer.  For one, the ‘lack of talent’ argument is false.  There are many great players on every team:  senior Captain Tom Donnellan and junior Captain Johnny Adams lead the boys basketball team, junior Captain John White heads the boys hockey team, senior Marvin Jean Simon excels in wrestling, and senior Captain Sydney “the Red Tide” Gillis is a force on the mat for the gymnastics team.  Perhaps this season could illustrate the ebb-and-flow of sports, that with the good seasons come the bad ones.  Maybe the 2011-2012 winter campaign is just a rebuilding year for the Rebels.  “Half of the team quit,” said Jean Simon on the situation the wrestling team is facing.  “We have trouble finishing out games,” said White on the boys hockey team woes, “we always can compete with a team, but struggle closing out games.”  Whatever the reason of this year’s woes in the winter sports department, one thing is true:  the troubles won’t last for long.

A solid core of returning starters will be back next winter, and with a new passion to win.  The boys hockey team returns all but four of their players and with a team with as much young talent as this – sophomores Pat Baker and Billy Moore are future all-stars – there isn’t any doubt that the team will be a strong competitor next winter.  Adams returns next year to headline the boys basketball team, who hope to learn from this past season in order to make a playoff push next year.  Sophomore Kyle Robbins will lead the wrestling squad in the future, as the sophomore had a stellar season.  The gymnastics team will be in good hands as well next year when junior Captain Caitlin Byrne takes the reins and hopes to steer the team to better days.

Seniors, don’t fret.  While the winter season may be disappointing, the spring looks promising for the Rebels.  The baseball and boys lacrosse team return numerous skilled underclassmen whose goals go beyond just merely making the playoffs.  “The softball team looks strong this year,” said senior Captain Katie Cavaca, “we hope to have the team in midseason form to start the season.”  The girls lacrosse team will look to improve on last year’s playoff run and with a plethora of talent returning, this shouldn’t be a hard task.  As usual, both spring track teams hope to continue their dominance and make the 2012 campaign another memorable one.  Never fear Rebel fans, the winter of mediocrity is soon over and by spring we’ll all be cheering on many, many winning teams.