Girls Tennis Meeting

There will be a brief but important meeting for any girl interested in playing tennis this spring on Monday, February 4th at 2:30pm in room 144. All players interested in trying out, whether new or experienced, are encouraged to attend.

Please see Mr. Chamberlain with any questions.  chamberlainjo@cantonma.org

Foster joins 1,000 point club

Room for one more name....Devin Foster joins this group
in our 1,000 point club!

Tuesday night saw a little Bulldog history in the making as Boys Basketball senior captain Devin Foster scored his 1,000th career point in a Bulldog uniform. Foster poured in 25 points in the disappointing road loss at Taunton High School. The basket giving him the 1,000 came with about one minute to play and came off of an inbound pass from teammate and classmate Ryan Lentol. Foster would add a couple more baskets in the final minute to end the game with a career total of 1005 points.

Foster has been an amazing Bulldog here over the past four years. Not only has led the resurgence of the CHS Basketball program, but he has also become a school-wide leader- an tremendous role model and representative of Canton High School. We are all so proud of his 1,000 point accomplishment, but even more proud of the young man he has become during his time here at CHS.

Devin Foster in recent action

Foster was humble (as always) when asked about this major milestone. "I really need to thank my teammates, coaches and the entire Canton community.  So many people have helped me along the way. Now I'm looking forward to finishing out my career and the season with great team success."

With 11 games remaining in the regular season, Foster will continue on his march up the Bulldog all-time leading scorer list. Stay tuned for potential future big milestones from this young Bulldog phenom this season!

Attendance/Tardy Policy Clarification

In recent days, there has been much confusion over the CHS policy on attendance and tardiness when it comes to after school athletic eligibility. Here is some information that may help to answer some questions out there:

• It is an expectation that student athletes be in school, on time, every day. On days when student athletes are not in attendance at school, they may NOT participate in CHS athletic practices, games or other team activities taking place that day. 
• It is understandable that, from time-to-time, something arises that forces a student athlete to be late for school. In order to be eligible for CHS Athletic participation on a school day when a student athlete is tardy, that student athlete must be in school prior to the start of 2nd period (8:56am). 
• Attendance in school is only a determining factor in student athletic eligibility on the day in question.  For example- a student's absence from school on a Friday makes them ineligible for athletic participation on Friday but has NO IMPACT on that student's eligibility on Saturday/Sunday.  This means, it is possible for a student to miss school due to illness on a Friday and to play in a contest or participate in a practice over the weekend. 
• There are many reasonable exceptions to these policies. If a student has a doctor/dentist appointment that requires them to miss a portion of the school day, a doctor's note submitted to the main office will excuse them from the attendance expectation for that day.  Meaning- it is OK to miss a portion of the school day for an unavoidable appointment and still be able to participate in CHS Athletics that day. In this case, a doctor's note must be provided to the main office upon return from the appointment.  A parent note alone will not suffice.  
• There are some other reasons that may arise that force a student to miss school but still be eligible to participate in CHS Athletics that day. These would include things like a college visits and funerals. In these cases, the student athlete's parent should reach out to the CHS Athletic office PRIOR to the absence requesting the ability to miss school but participate in CHS Athletics. Please note that typically, only 1 college visit per season will be cleared. 
• THE BOTTOM LINE- Important medical appointments during the school day will be excused from the 5-period rule (the 8:56am requirement) as long as a doctor's note is provided to the main office. The 5-period rule (the 8:56am requirement) is mainly for cases where students are tardy for non-appointment reasons or leave school during the day for illness. In those cases, they cannot come back for athletics that day. 

Please feel free to contact the athletic office for any further questions or clarifications.  

Boys Tennis Informational Meeting

Newly appointed coach Bill Donovan will be hosting a Boys Tennis meeting for any Boy interested in coming out for the tennis team this spring.  The meeting will be held on Wednesday, January 30th at 2:30 in the CHS Library. The meeting will be brief but very important for anyone considering coming out for the team. It is a great opportunity to meet coach Donovan and to get important information regarding the team and the upcoming season.

Canton Athletic Department unveils new website

A completely updated and rebuilt Canton High School Athletics website went live today.  The new site should be much more user-friendly for Bulldog fans everywhere.

Some of the best new features are the that schedules and the master Bulldog sports calendar are much easier to find.  Things require many fewer clicks and are much more intuitive.

Hats off to Mike Barucci for all of the time and effort he has put in to this new site. It looks great!

Click it here to check it out now.

Nelson handing the Boys Tennis reigns to Donovan

The Canton High School Athletic Department is happy to announce the hiring of Bill Donovan as our new Varsity Boys Tennis Coach.  Donovan is replacing long-time CHS tennis coach Leo Nelson. Nelson has been at the helm of the Boys Tennis program for a decade. During that time he has coached many tournament teams and great individuals.

The transition is bitter-sweet for Bulldog Tennis fans as Nelson, one of our longest serving coaches, has meant so much to our program. His laid-back yet driving style helped many Bulldog tennis players improve their games over the years. He will be greatly missed.

Newly appointed coach Bill Donovan

Donovan has served as the Varsity Boys Tennis Coach at Cardinal Spellman High School for the past five seasons. During that time he took a fledgeling program and turned it into a contender. He'll be looking to work similar magic here as the Bulldogs have been struggling to make tournament appearances for much of the past few years.  When asked how he is feeling about taking over the Bulldog program he stated- "To steal a line from Pete Carroll, I'm pumped and jacked."

Beyond the high school tennis courts, Donovan is an avid tennis player and fan. He has a family connection to our tennis program as his niece, Colleen McCarthy ('91), and his nephews, Michael McCarthy ('94) and Kevin McCarthy ('99) were standouts on the tennis courts for the Bulldogs in the 1990s.  Donovan makes an annual trip to NYC every Labor Day weekend to watch the best in the sport play at the US Open.  He also is a huge Roger Federer fan and believes that young tennis players can learn so much from watching the sport.

Professionally, Donovan is a former staff writer for the Providence Journal, former adjunct journalism professor at Northeastern and BU and is currently toiling away on his first novel.

Best of luck to coach Nelson as he moves on to other opportunities and to coach Donovan as he heads into his first Canton High Tennis season.

Machuga leads Bulldogs to huge "win"

The smiles on Xavier's and Devin's faces tell the whole story

Tuesday night's boys basketball game between Mansfield High School and Canton High School may have ended with the Hornets outscoring the Bulldogs by more than 20 points, but it was the Bulldogs' first two points that meant the most to everyone in CHS's Masciarelli gym.

Canton High School senior, Xavier Machuga, who has battled back after suffering a brain aneurism in 2017, made his first start for the Bulldogs and scored the first two points of the game for the Green and White in front of a massive and emotional crowd.

The entire Mansfield team wore
Soldier X shooting shirts in pre-game

Hockomock rival and defending D1 State Champion Mansfield came to town and were gracious participants in this celebration of Xavier's resilience, heart and love of Bulldog basketball. The Hornets won the tip and proceeded to score a layup before CHS senior Devin Foster dribbled down the court, found Machuga- who was under the basket- and Machuga converted on his 4th attempt. The gym erupted as all in attendance felt a sense of pride, respect, happiness and love for this amazing young man. 

Kudos to the coaches of both teams- our own Ryan Gordy and Mansfield's Mike Vaughn- two very successful coaches.  They worked together- and with their teams- to make this special moment possible. Shout out to the Hornets for playing such an important role in the moment. 

Moments like this are what makes high school athletics such an amazing platform for learning.  All of us who were in attendance are better for it. Congratulations X! Nice shot. 

Bulldogs making lots of noise in regional polls

A very successful fall season has rolled right into a great start for many of our winter sports teams.  Many of our programs are currently earning recognition in regional and league ranking polls. 

Boys Basketball- Record- 6-1

• Hock 5 Boys Basketball rankings- Currently ranked 4th
• Boston Herald D2 South Super 6- Currently ranked 3rd
• Boston Globe Top 20- Currently ranked 20th

Girls Hockey- Record- 5-2-2

• Massachusetts Girls D2 Top 10 (Hockey Night In Boston)- Currently ranked 5th
• Boston Globe Top 20- Currently ranked 11th

Boys Hockey- Record- 7-0-0

• Massachusetts Boys D2 Top 15 (Hockey Night in Boston)- Currently ranked 1st
• Boston Herald D2 Super Eight- Currently ranked 1st
• Boston Globe Top 20- Currently ranked 13th
• Hock 5 Boys Hockey rankings- Currently ranked 1st

Girls Basketball- Record- 6-2

• Hock 5 Girls Basketball rankings-  Currently ranked 5th

Many other great things happening in Bulldogland including the Boys Swim team which currently sits in a first place tie in the Davenport. 

Let's keep it going!

CHS earns Safe Sports School Award

The CHS Athletic Department is proud to announce that the Bulldogs have recently been honored with the National Athletic Trainers Association Safe Sports School Award- 1st Team.

CHS Athletic Trainer Kristen Sasonoff

According to NATA, the award "recognizes schools who take crucial steps to protect their athletes from injury."

This award is recognition of the hard work and dedication that has been put into the well-being our student athletes by our Athletic Trainer- Kristen Sasonoff. Her commitment to keeping our student athletes safe, healthy and playing the sports they love is really what we are getting recognized for.  Beyond the hard work of Sasonoff, CHS was honored for the quality of our Athletic Training room, our commitment to healthy concussion protocols, and exceptional communication with the Canton Bulldog community in the area of sport safety and healthy practices.

Thank you to the Canton School Committee and the people of Canton for making the Athletic Trainer position full time three years ago. Having a full-time AT has clearly led us towards a much safer situation for our student athletes. This is just the latest in what are constant reminders as to how lucky we are to live, learn and coach in a community like Canton.

If you see Kristen, be sure to congratulate her on this great honor.

22nd Annual Peckham Wrestling Tournament

Coach Caffelle and Coach Steastedt in early action

Twenty-two years ago legendary CHS Wrestling coach, Tom Bartosek hosted the first annual Peckham Wrestling Tournament here at CHS. Today, wrestlers from eleven area schools converged on CHS to participate in this annual showcase of local high school wrestling talent. Our Bulldogs are facing some of the best wrestlers in the region today,

Peckham was a legend of Massachusetts Wrestling and is a member of the Massachusetts Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame as well. The tournament has grown and evolved over the years and has also become a celebration of coach Bartosek- who is really the "father of wrestling" in Canton.

For the past 9 seasons, the Bulldogs have been coached by Brian Caffelle- one of Bartosek's most impressive wrestlers back in his wrestling days. Caffelle has done an amazing job in keeping this local tradition alive and thriving up until this very day- the 22nd year.

Bulldog Dom Sica in the first match of the day

Participating in this year's tournament were Canton, Stoughton, King Philip, Norton, Xaverian, Sharon, Milton, Mansfield, Randolph, Southeastern Regional, and New Bedford.

Advancing to the Finals in their weight classes for the Bulldogs were:

- Senior Harry Carter was runner-up at 126lb
- Senior Jordan Neundorf was runner-up at 160lb
-Freshman Zach Peters was 3rd at 106

Thanks to EM Duggan
for our amazing mat

Today's tournament featured our two state-of-the-art Wrestling mats. One which was donated by EM Duggan Company and the other through the generous donations of so many including major support from the CHS Athletic Booster Club.

As Athletic Director, I can truly say that there is no other single athletic event held at CHS each year that is as impressive, competitive and ambitious as this annual tradition. It exudes teamwork, sportsmanship, hard work, perseverance, positive culture, tradition and the positive nature of competition- all in honor of some great role models.  What else can you ask from a high school athletic event/experience?

The Bulldogs return home to CHS after a brief road trip as they host perennial Davenport power North Attleboro on January 16th at 7:00pm.  It's an exciting team to watch.