This was the celebration for Nashua South following the last Turkey Bowl played in 2019. The game, cancelled due to the pandemic last year, may meet the same fate this season. (Telegraph file photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – Cold Turkey again?

While there is an attempt to restore much more normalcy to the local high school schedule, even in the wake of some increasing pandemic concerns, there may still be one more COVID casualty:

The annual Nashua North-South Turkey Eve Bowl.

It’s possible the usually annual football game won’t be played for the second straight year, and of course, that could pave the way for its elimination.

“That is still under discussion,” Nashua athletic director Lisa Gingras said recently. “I’ll be very honest with you. Right now it’s 50-50.”

Gingras is dealing with two different factions, the pros and the cons.

“There’s a group of people that can’t even believe we would consider not doing it,” she said, “and there’s a group of people that are like, ‘Why do we do this?'”

It’s a very polarizing subject, and Gingras said that the move from Thursday morning to Wednesday night didn’t produce much change in the crowds, although there have been some weather issues.

“When we moved it there was an uproar” she said, “but no more people came or didn’t come. Our attendance has basically been the same.”

One factor is obviously the pandemic, Gingras said, as everyone wants to wait and see how the games that do count go. There was no reason to have the event last year when no or few fans could basically attend.

And now there is a different dynamic to the following season, winter, as in an experiment the NHIAA is starting and ending the winter basketball season early.

“But you also talk about having the space between winter season, all those football players end on Wednesday and start the winter on Monday,” she said. “They get no break.”

Gingras said if the game will be played, it would remain a Wednesday night event. There is still time to decide and examine all the factors, she said, especially the pandemic.

“I would say we need to get into the fall, that’s the other consideration,” Gingras said. “That’s a game where people from out of town (alumni, college students,etc.) come to. What are COVID numbers looking like then? Do we want all of these people who are coming from all over the country, be they family or college students, together five days before we start our winter season?

“COVID numbers are creeping up that we’ve got to be careful.”

NEW SOUTH, BG VOLLEYBALL COACHES

Two years ago the Nashua South girls volleyball team had a dream season, going 21-0 and winning the Division I title.

Now the Panthers began practice last week with their third coach in three years.

Former North assistant Tom Langer has moved over to take control of the Panthers program, after Erica Vendituoli had to step down after one season due to work reasons. She received a promotion, Gingras said, at her place of employment that would take her away from the ability to fully put the coaching time in.

“She wasn’t going to have as much flexibility as she previously had,” Gingras said.

The Panthers, after a slow start, rode a hot streak at season’s end and picked up a tournament win as well, ironically over BG.

The position was opened, and Gingras said there was a great pool of candidates but Langer, even though he hasn’t been a varsity head coach, stood out.

“He has the experience in a lot of the different roles that he had in running a program, developing a program from the middle school, through the freshmen, the JV, the varsity,” Gingras said. “To the community service aspect, the communication with parents aspect, all of those things.”

And Langer is the boys assistant and JV coach in the spring, Gingras said.

Speaking of the Cards, their longtime coach, Abby Savard, is stepping away due to family reasons. Her assistant, Kyle Clement, has taken over.

“He fits right in,” Guertin athletic director Ryan Brown said. “It’s great to have an assistant who has been around and knows the kids, etc., and can step right into the job. Another smooth transition.”

NEW HOME FOR NASHUA GOLF

Nashua North and South golfers are practicing and having their home matches at Amherst Country Club this season, basically forced to leave their longtime home Green Meadow Golf Club in Hudson due to the onging uncertainty surrounding the year-plus proposed sale of the property.

Gingras said that the schools were told this past spring that Green Meadow couldn’t guarantee any time for the fall. “They didn’t really give us a choice,” Gingras said. “So I reached out to several different courses and Amherst was kind enough to give us some time.”

The varsity will compete at Amherst while the JV team will see some time at Amherst’s sister cross just across the road, Ponemah Green, Gingras said.