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For Winchester High School athletes, summer is almost over. Coach Wally Dembowki’s football team will be welcoming his Red & Black athletes back on the field for the first day of practice on Aug. 15. Their fall sports counterparts from the cross-country, field hockey, golf, boys and girls soccer, swimming and volleyball squads will get going three days later on Aug. 18.
But before any student-athlete can participate in tryouts, the following requirements must be met:
• The Athletic Office must have a copy of a valid physical exam. Physicals are good for 13 months from the date of the exam. Those with expiring physicals will not be permitted to participate in any manner until a valid physical is turned in.
• Parent/guardian and the student-athlete must have completed an online concussion course in the past 12 months. The free course may be found online at: http://nfhslearn.com/courses/38000
• Students must complete a baseline concussion exam through SportsGait. These exams are valid for two years. This test is optional for golf, cross-country and girls swimming. Directions on how to take the exam may be found online at: https://docs.google.com/docume.
• The Winchester School Committee voted to establish a user fee for student-athletes who participate in the high school athletic program during the school year. The fee is $400 per student per sport with a family cap of $1,450. Payments should be made no earlier than Aug. 23, but no later than Aug. 29. Waiver requests must be sent or emailed to the athletic director.
Additional pertinent sports information for the upcoming school year may be found on the WHS website at: www.winchesterps.org. Of note, registration forms must be completed by a parent / guardian.
ArbiterSports registrations, physical exams and baseline tests must be up-to-date and submitted by Monday, Aug. 11, at 3 p.m. in order to be eligible to start practice by Aug. 18. Any athlete’s submissions coming in after Aug. 11 will not be eligible to practice until Aug. 19 at the earliest.
Once the registration form has been completed, the student-athlete will receive email confirmation from ArbiterSports. You will also receive a follow-up email from the Athletic Office confirming that it also has a valid physical on file, the baseline exam is current and user fees have been paid. Student-athletes may review registration form by logging into ArbiterSports to view the information on the dashboard.
Football opens up at home against Peabody on Sept. 12
The football team has four scheduled scrimmages – Lynn English at Ciarcia Field on Saturday, Aug. 23, at 9:30 a.m.; Lynn Classical at Knowlton Stadium on Tuesday, Aug. 26, at 6 p.m.; at Stoneham on Thursday, Aug. 28, at 6 p.m.; and at Billerica on Thursday, Sept. 4, at 6 p.m. – before the home opener at Knowlton against non-league Peabody gets underway on Friday, Sept. 12, at 6:30 p.m.
The Red & Black will then go up against non-league Waltham at Waltham’s Leary Field on Friday, Sept. 19, at 7 p.m. On Friday, Sept. 26, they will return home to Knowlton to take on non-league Masconomet Regional at 6:30 p.m.
The Winchester boys will head to Wakefield to face the league rival Warriors on Friday, Oct. 3, at 6 p.m. On Friday, Oct. 10, the Reading Rockets come to town for a 6:30 p.m. game. It will then be off to Arlington to go up against the Spy Ponders on Friday, Oct. 17, at 6 p.m. Host Lexington follows on Thursday, Oct. 23, at 6 p.m. Belmont is next up on Thursday, Oct. 30, at Knowlton, beginning at 6:30 p.m.
The Division 1 playoff schedule follows for the next three weeks to set the stage for the Thanksgiving Day rivalry game against host Woburn on Thursday, Nov. 27, at 10:15 a.m.
Red & Black early fall sports primer for scrimmages, games
• Both the boys and girls cross-country teams will begin the season against Melrose on Wednesday, Sept. 10 at Woburn’s Horn Pond at 4 p.m.
• After three scrimmages against Concord-Carlisle (Aug. 21, 10 a.m. at Knowlton), Newton North (Aug. 26, 1 p.m. at Newton) and Newburyport (Aug. 28, 10:30 a.m., at Knowlton), the field hockey team will start the regular season at home against non-league Wilmington on Sept. 3 at 4:15 p.m.
They will close out the first week of the season two days later when Arlington comes to Knowlton for a Middlesex League game at the same time.
• The Winchester golfers tee off against Woburn at Winchester Country Club to begin a brand-new campaign on Sept. 3, starting at 3:30 p.m.
• The boys soccer team will first be participating in the Medford High Jamboree on Saturday, Aug. 23, against Mystic Valley Regional (8 a.m.), Wakefield (10 a.m.) and Chelmsford (noon), before beginning the regular season on the road at Wilmington against the Wildcats on Sept. 2 at 4:15 p.m.
The Red & Black will remain on the road to face the Arlington Spy Ponders two days later at 6:15 p.m. They will finally return to Knowlton for the home opener against Stoneham on Monday, Sept. 8, at 4:15 p.m.
• The girls soccer team will warm up for the season with three scrimmages against Central Catholic (Aug. 26, 4:30 p.m., at Knowlton), Newton South (Aug. 28, 4:30 p.m., at Newton) and Andover (Aug. 30, 9 a.m., at Andover).
The regular season will then begin at Knowlton against Wilmington on Tuesday, Sept. 2, at 4:15 p.m. Arlington comes to Knowlton for a game two days later at the same time.
• The girls swim team will get the regular season going against Woburn at the Woburn Boys & Girls Club on Wednesday, Sept. 10, at 4 p.m.
• Coach John Fleming’s girls volleyball team will start the regular season at home against Wilmington on Wednesday, Sept. 3, at 5:30 p.m. They will then be at Arlington to face the Spy Ponder two days later at the same time.
