The question I get most from parents I meet at hockey rinks is “What is Dexter Southfield doing?”
In February, Dexter Southfield announced it was transitioning to a full-season model. Games would be played from September through March. Teams at the U-13, U-14 and U-16 level would be added. The varsity team wouldn’t start playing together in the fall until September 2025.
“I want to be crystal clear,” Dexter boys coach Danny Donato said at the time. “It’s not an academy model. We’re not trying to change — we still want to be a great academic school and that’s what we’re trying to do. Continue that and give our kids a chance to do it all right here.”
The news was fresh. It was a big change — especially for a metro Boston day school.
“If you’re doing well or winning or making lots of money, that’s great,” Donato said in February. “But someone else is going to try to do that, too. So how are you staying ahead of the curve? And I think we’re just trying to stay ahead of the curve.”
Things have changed since February.
In the spring, Dexter brought in former Cushing boys hockey coach Paul Pearl as its athletic director. Brian McColgan became the school’s director of athletic operations and is an assistant coach for the boys varsity team along with Jake Kulevich.
Dexter also aims to allow its players to participate in a NEPSAC-friendly model.
“The whole idea of what we’re trying to do here is develop our kids and also make it really convenient for our families,” Donato said in October.
Here is a full breakdown of where things stand. Dexter fully acknowledges that these plans are subject to change.
The fall team will be separate from Dexter
When the news came out in February, many thought Dexter would pick a team in September and play with that team into March. That is not the case. At least right now.
Instead, a program with an 18-U and 16-U team will play out of Dexter’s rink during the fall. The program that will play out of there has yet to be decided.
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It will be a similar model to what Cushing does. Cushing plays out of its own rink as the Central Mass. Penguins. Various other prep teams throughout the region play on a squad together in the fall. Islanders Hockey Club East is all Winchendon, while Islanders Hockey Club West is Holderness. Berkshire plays as Holy Name. There are many more.
The team playing out of Dexter’s rink obviously won’t have the same jersey and name as the Dexter varsity team. It also will be coached by completely different people.
Dexter players will not be required to play for that fall team playing out of its rink.
“We’re not going to force anyone to do that,” Donato said. “If they choose to play for the Junior Eagles or the River Rats or whoever, that’s fine. But we’re hoping they choose here just because of the convenience for them.”
Players will skate during class time, but not miss out on class
Dexter is testing this out on a group of middle school students. Because the school has only one ice sheet and doesn’t yet have plans to build a second or more, the middle school needs time to skate before the bus comes at 3:30 p.m.
So, on Mondays and Tuesdays at 8:10 a.m., and Thursdays at 10:20 a.m., that group skates in place of going to a science class they would usually attend at that time. Instead, that group joins a different bunch of students in the same science class later in the afternoon.
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“What we’re trying to stay away from is having kids get here at 8 in the morning and not be able to go home until 8 at night,” Donato said. “We’d like them to get home for dinner and be able to study at home and do their homework there.”
Dexter will continue having two middle school teams.
How Dexter plans to navigate its varsity schedule
A handful of metro Boston prep schools removed Dexter from their schedules this season. Dexter also won’t be participating in the Groton-Lawrence Holiday Tournament.
To fill in the schedule, Dexter got creative. For starters, it will play in St. George’s Christmas Tournament. Dexter added two games at Brunswick on Jan. 10 and 11, as well as a home-and-home with Mount St. Charles’ 18-U team on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1. Winchendon also was added to the schedule twice.
The idea is for Dexter to diversify its matchups as some local teams drop it from their schedules. It wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility for Dexter to add dates with Prep Hockey Conference teams such as Culver Military Academy, Northwood or Shattuck-St. Mary’s to its schedule in future seasons.
Still, Dexter remains committed to staying in NEPSAC and playing within the rules.
The reason Dexter is doing all of this
It starts with convenience. Because Dexter is a day school, students travel from all over the area. Commutes to and from home can get long, especially with traffic.
Add on traveling to another rink in Massachusetts or New England for practice or another gym in the area for a lift and it extends the day even more.
Dexter wants its players to have access to all of those things in one place.
“You’ll go through a full academic class day and then get out instead of getting in your car and driving maybe to Foxboro to work out and then somewhere else to practice at night,” Donato said. “You’re going to be able to come right down to the rink and get your work in. And then go over to the weight room and get your work in.
“If there’s any waiting around, you can also do some homework.”
The other big reason Dexter is doing this is to bolster its junior varsity programs and to develop from within. The boys have the varsity team, varsity B and prep, as well as two middle school teams.
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“The tough part about prep hockey is most of the varsity programs around Boston and New England are very strong,” Donato said. “And then you find that different schools don’t put as much emphasis on the development of players. They’re more about just bringing kids in.
“What we’re trying to do is make this a place where we develop kids in the middle school and they stay and if they’re ready for varsity, great. But if not, they don’t have to go to purgatory and play in a league where you might play a great team one day and then the next day isn’t a very good matchup.”
