By HockomockSports.com Staff
With the 2014-2015 regular season in the book, the Hockomock League has announced Mansfield as the winner of the Val Muscato All Sports Championship.
The award is given to top sports school in the Hockomock League each year.
Each school is ranked by sport throughout the year based on where it finishes in league standings according to OA athletic director Bill Matthews. Once it’s determined which is the top team from the Kelley-Rex and the Davenport, the award is determined based on who had a better head-to-head record throughout the year.
This year, Mansfield was the best on the large side while Oliver Ames, who has won the award the past three years, was tops for the small schools. In the head-to-head, Mansfield had the edge.
The Hornets were certainly helped by first place finishes from field hockey, boys and girls cross country, golf, boys basketball, girls indoor track and baseball. Mansfield finished second in the league in girls soccer, girls basketball, hockey, boys indoor track and boys outdoor track.

“I was looking for three things – I wanted something closer to home, I wanted something in the Hockomock League and third I was looking for a ferocious sports town,” Boucher told HockomockSports.com. “Milford fit the bill in all three of those, it just made sense.”

Boucher, a Blackstone resident, has experience being an athletic director. He was the AD at Manatee Community College in Florida and filled in as interim AD at King Philip on two separate occasions.

After running for KP and graduating in 1989, Boucher served as an assistant coach with the Warriors’ indoor track team for four years while attending Bridgewater State. After graduating, Boucher took over all three programs. Between the three sports, his teams won 18 Hockomock League titles and five Massachusetts State Championships (one boys cross country, two boys indoor track, two girls indoor track).

With such familiarity with the Hockomock, Boucher admitted he preferred a job inside the league.

“I was mainly focused on the Hockomock League,” he said. “I know some other places opened up this summer but I didn’t apply, it just didn’t feel right. I was really hoping to be in the Hockomock, I’ve coached there so long, I’ve competed there so long. I just know the flavor and the feel. The Hockomock League to me is the best around in this area.”

It’s not uncommon for athletic directors to move into administration but the move from administrator to AD is seen less often. Boucher said he’s a sports guy at the core.

“Since I started walking, the only four years I haven’t been on a team, coaching a team or with athletics has been the last four years and its been killing me,” Boucher said.
“Everything I’ve done, everything, has been wellness and athletics up until four years ago. My heart has always been with athletics.”

“We are delighted to have Peter join the Milford Public Schools,” Milford High School Principal Carolyn Banach said in the release. “His depth and breadth of experience will bring innovative ideas and programs to the high school and middle school athletic programs. Peter has tremendous energy and his positive mindset will drive success and achievement for our student-athletes and coaches in the Hockomock League.”

“I’m looking forward to being around Milford athletics all the time and helping Milford get to the upper echelon of the Hockomock League,” Boucher said.

A welcome reception for Boucher will be held on Wednesday, November 12th at 7:00 p.m. in the Milford High media center.

Ryan Lanigan can be contacted at RyanLanigan@hockomocksports.com and followed on Twitter at @R_Lanigan.

By Josh Perry, Managing Editor

On Thursday evening, Foxboro High held a dedication ceremony for its new turf field, which opened for use this past fall. Thanks to the work of a group of students, four of whom (Gus Herlihy, Megan Ennis, Varun Nambikrishnan, and Kyle Newcomb) presented the idea to the Foxboro School Committee, the field will now be known as the Sam Berns Community Field. 

Sam Berns was a junior at the school who had the rare genetic disorder progeria, which causes accelerated  aging in children, and passed away in January. On Thursday, family, friends, classmates, teachers, and administrators gathered to remember Sam and the inspiration that he provided to the entire school community.

“Today is really, really special,” said Foxboro superintendent Debra Spinelli. “The fact that his name is up on the field represents everything that is good about our community and everything that was so good about him — the coming together of people from all walks of life, the focus on our children, the willingness to do anything to make it happen — and that’s the way Sam was. He didn’t see any barriers to any challenges.”

Herlihy, one of Sam’s many friends from the high school band, added, “He was very witty, very funny. You always wanted to hang out with him because he always made you laugh. He was just such a nice kid…everyone that wanted to meet him, he welcomed with open arms.”

One of the speakers at the ceremony was New England Patriots owner Bob Kraft, who recalled his first meeting with Sam and watching him speak to the Patriots before the team traveled to Atlanta in September. 

Kraft became very emotional at the end of his remarks. He explained, “I was going to say how I loved him and I just…There was something about his persona that drew you to him and you just respected him. I felt deep affection for him and I really miss him.”

Ennis said, “He was always positive; always motivating people and he never let his situation get him down and that was really a motivation to everyone. He always was there to put a smile on everyone’s face.”

At the ceremony, it was announced that on Thursday morning the Spinney family had provided a $25,000 donation to build a scoreboard that should be ready by next fall. It was a surprise announcement, but no one was shocked that the community would reach out to support a project dedicated to Sam.

Spinelli said, “He always had a smile on his face. We never knew when he wasn’t feeling well or if he was tired…We never knew anything about how he really felt because he was always positive and always moving forward.”

Herlihy summed it up:  “It’s very fitting considering how much influence he’s had in all our lives. Teaching us by leading by example…We all learned by how great of a person he was.”