Both hockey teams at Belmont High School have earned top 10 seeds in their respective MIAA Division 1 tournaments.
The boys finished with a record of 15-6-1 and are seeded sixth in the state tournament. The girls finished 15-1-4 and are seeded eighth. Both teams typically are competitive at the state level, but only the boys team has a state title to show for it — one in 2019-20.
The tournament kicks off for the girls team on Tuesday evening, squaring off against Arlington Catholic at 5:30 p.m. The boys, meanwhile, face Bishop Feehan at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, both at Ryan Arena in Watertown.
Both teams are the talk of the town, according to Dan Smith, the co-owner of Champions Sporting Goods on Leonard Street. He said everyone is aware of both the boys and girls teams’ success.
“It’s just on people’s minds, like, ‘Wow, the hockey teams are doing really well this year,’” Smith said.
Brendan Kelleher, head coach of the Belmont girls team, said he can’t be out and about in town without his team making its way into conversation.
For Kelleher, talking about his team is his favorite thing to do. Even his players know it.
“Nothing’s more rewarding to me than when I walk down the street and somebody goes, ‘Hey coach,’ and they stop and want to talk about my players,” he said.
One of those players is Smith’s daughter Mia, a freshman at Belmont High. When customers come into Champions, they make sure to ask Smith about it.
“Someone will come in and say, ‘Hey, our girls team is still undefeated, that’s awesome, and Mia’s on that team, right?’” Smith said. “It’s a fun conversation to have.”
Mike Carceo, the president of the Belmont Youth Hockey Association, said nearly all of the players on the high school teams played in the youth program.
“When we see the high school doing as well as they are this year, both the boys and the girls, it’s a good reflection of the work that our group and all the coaches are doing at the youth level,” Carceo said.
Carceo himself is an example of that pipeline. He grew up playing hockey in Belmont and graduated from Belmont High in 1999. He now lives in town with his family and has been on the association board for seven years.
The same can be said for Kelleher, whose family is entrenched in the Belmont hockey community. Kelleher’s father, Dan, coached at the youth program for over 40 years. Kelleher and his four brothers grew up playing through the youth program, and three of them, including Kelleher himself, graduated from Belmont High.
Now, Kelleher and his family live in Belmont. His daughter played through the program and the high school up until graduating. His son, Nolan, is currently on the boys team.
“It’s kind of a nice full circle moment for me,” Kelleher said.
Even with all the buzz and talk around time, the high school teams don’t even have a home rink — a new municipal rink on Concord Avenue is under construction. But that hasn’t affected attendance or the atmosphere. Ryan Arena hosted Belmont’s “home” games this season.
“A lot of those games have been filled,” Smith said. “Really exciting to watch and really loud.”
The Belmont High social media channels stream the games on YouTube, said Smith, so people who are unable to attend in person are able to watch.
“My mom can watch her granddaughter play,” Smith said. “It’s really cool that Belmont media does that.”
Smith and his wife, Jessica, who is the field hockey coach at the high school, have been involved in Belmont sports before they even lived in town.
Like Kelleher, it’s a full circle moment for Smith.
“There’s a lot of pride, there’s a lot of feeling of community that we have, and it’s fun to be able to share that with people,” Smith said.
Eli Cloutier is a journalism student at Boston University. This story is part of a partnership between the Belmont Voice and the Boston University Department of Journalism.