Spring Games Schedule; Ansonia Freshman Football in Trouble

We've been pretty lazy lately, so we apologize. Here's the list of what we've got for spring games right now. We'll add to the list as we get more information (Crosby, Kennedy, and Wilby will also have spring games). Feel free to post your recaps of what you see at these games here.

Naugatuck: Friday, June 1, 5 p.m.
Ansonia: CANCELLED
Holy Cross: Thursday, June 7, 6 p.m.
Torrington: Friday, June 8, 5:30 p.m.
Woodland: Saturday, June 16, 10 a.m.

In the big news of the last few weeks, it looks like Ansonia freshman sports are about to be removed from the school's budget for the upcoming year. The school district lost between $1.3 and $2.2 million in state funding (depending on how one counts it) due to improving its test scores, and the town couldn't help make up the whole gap.

Freshman and middle school sports are among the most notable cuts, which also include two dozen layoffs, and some varsity sports (golf, tennis, track, dance, and winter cheerleading).

According to Mark Jaffee's report in the Republican-American, Ansonia athletic director Tony Piccolo said he needed to cut about $100,000 from his budget, which is by far the most the athletic department has ever needed to cut.

John Sponheimer (NHFF)

Jaffee also spoke with Ansonia coach Tom Brockett, who said the program averages about 25 incoming freshmen each year and "losing anything would be detrimental." John Sponheimer has been the longtime freshman coach at Ansonia, and it's currently unknown how the program would handle losing funding for freshman football. The varsity program is currently not in danger of being cut.

Our friends at the Valley Indy have this story covered very well, so refer to this piece for more in-depth info, as well as the release from the school district. According to a number of publications, the Board of Education is expected to pass the cuts at its meeting on June 6.

And just to make it even more fun in the heart of the Valley, the Ansonia-Derby merger talk seems to be heating up again. For those of you wondering, an Ansonia-Derby regional high school would put the football team in Class L (using figures from the 2011 season, the combined enrollment was 619, which was almost exactly in the middle of the Class L classification of 526-710). The debate on colors, mascots, home fields, and Thanksgiving opponents in the case of this ever happening (which seems more likely than not) would be endless and potentially violent.

But back to present matters: How much would the loss of Ansonia freshman football hurt the varsity program?