The Cougars are taking a phase-in approach to the fall sports season. Phase 1, which ran for the past two weeks, was socially distanced skills and drills practices. Phase 2 involves teams working in small groups and introduces more contact and Phase 3 includes intrasquad scrimmages. Each phase is scheduled to last about 10 school days, Derryfield athletic director and boys lacrosse coach Chris Hettler said.

Hettler said by mid-to-late October, the Cougars’ fall sports teams hope to begin playing games and participate in the NHIAA open tournaments.

Derryfield chose this approach for fall sports to best protect the school community from the coronavirus, as it is holding in-person classes.

“We kind of wrestled all summer with how do we bring the kids back and open the doors live and in person, which I think is different than a lot of other schools that are playing sports right now,” Hettler said. “The No. 1 goal was keeping the school open and keeping the health and safety of our community in mind.

“Our headmaster likes to joke that we’re putting on a wedding every single day of the week so it’s kind of an experiment right now.”

Derryfield boys soccer senior captains Chris Van Natta and Chris Lynch and senior field hockey tri-captain Charlotte Rohlfs were disappointed when they learned their seasons would not start on time but also appreciate just being back on the field with their teammates.

“For me personally over my four years at Derryfield, the soccer community has been my favorite part, probably, of Derryfield and it’s just nice to be out here with the boys and keep training,” said Van Natta, a center midfielder from Merrimack. “And if anything, we’re getting fitness in if we’re not going to play games. We’re developing each other and developing the program for the future.”

Rohlfs, a midfielder from New Boston, said she initially considered playing for her town team due to Derryfield’s phase-in approach but decided being at school and with her teammates meant more than playing right away.

“I thought it was really important for me to come back and I felt like it would actually create that schedule in my day again,” Rohlfs said. “The whole school day is tiring. I haven’t been used to it so it will be nice to get in that rhythm again.”

Hettler said only one student-athlete decided to play for the high school in the town they live in instead of returning to their Derryfield team this fall.

Derryfield boys soccer coach Jeff Cousineau said his team is psyched to be together but it also took a moment during its first practice to acknowledge the frustration of not being able to conduct its season as usual.

“The school has taken the approach — and it makes complete sense to me — that we treat everybody as an asymptomatic carrier,” Cousineau said. “We’re slowly getting through. We’re getting some pieces in there that are skill-driven and the kids get to play and they’re happy to be here.”

While Derryfield’s fall teams work through the phases, Cousineau, first-year field hockey coach Kelsey Federico and cross country coach Shannon Best are focusing on the personal growth of their athletes.

“It’s really just a great opportunity for us to develop some of the younger kids, really put an emphasis on the fundamentals and skill,” Federico said. “Even with everything — even with being distant and the masks and all the protocols that we put in place — they’ve been awesome.”

Last season, Federico served as an assistant to former field hockey coach and athletic director Lenny McCaigue, who led the program to five state titles over more than two decades.

Best said eventually she would like to implement some intrasquad races or modified relays in her practices.

“At the very minimum, we want to have a really good season of training so that the next season we come into, we’re not a year behind or six months behind or whatever it happens to be, so let’s get our year of training in,” Best said.

Each coach said their athletes cannot wait to compete against another team, which Hettler said has been challenging from a scheduling standpoint. Because Derryfield is not a regional school and pulls from 51 towns, some school districts have told Hettler that they are not comfortable playing its teams, he said.

“I think if they know our reopening plans and things like that, they would be comfortable with us but that’s made it a little bit difficult too,” Hettler said. “We’ve potentially partnered up with Trinity and Holy Family and some other schools locally here to play some games but we’re also looking at some private schools like a Berwick (Maine) Academy or other places like that that might be able to provide some games for us.”

Hettler said the high-water mark for field hockey and boys and girls soccer would be four regular-season games before ideally entering the NHIAA open tournaments.

Rohlfs said if the field hockey team eventually does play a game, she expects it to have a playoff-type atmosphere because it could be the Cougars’ only chance to compete this fall.

“I think it will almost kind of be like our championship game but just at the end of the season so definitely people will get very excited for it,” Rohlfs said. “And that will be good because it will push us to work harder during the game because it’s like our one shot to be able to win.”

While the boys soccer team waits for an opportunity to play, Lynch said he and his teammates want to get the most out of training while working within the safety protocols.

“We know we want to be working hard because we know Mr. Hettler is working his hardest to get us games if we’re going, and if we do get a game, we want to be there,” Lynch said. “It’s our senior season. We want to make the most of whatever chances we get so I think everybody is out here super positive and ready to make the most of it.”

New Manchester Central girls soccer coach Joe Silveira wants to continue the winning tradition his predecessor established but he will do so in his own way.

Silveira, a 1997 Central grad and social studies teacher at the school, takes over the program that was led by Peter Lally for the past 36 seasons, a stretch that included 35 straight playoff berths, 17 semifinal appearances, nine state finals and five state championships. Lally retired last season, which ended with a 2-1 quarterfinal loss to Bishop Guertin of Nashua.

Silveira taught with Lally at Central and coached against him the previous five seasons while leading Queen City rival Manchester Memorial.

“I think people will find this season in terms of in the past, Central was incredibly direct,” Silveira said. “I think you’ll find that we will hold the ball more and we’re going to dominate possession and pick and choose when we go into attack, not just a north-south type of game.”

Silveira said the Little Green will also emphasize team defending.

“Central dominated quick attack,” Silveira said. “I think we’re going to win the ball back with our cohesive team defensive shape and possess the heck out of it. That’s the goal.”

From a culture standpoint, Silveira has stressed the importance of inclusion.

“We promote we’re in this together,” Silveira said. “The upperclassmen have embraced the freshmen and made them feel welcome. They’re enjoying that.”

Even while dealing with the limitations caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Silveira said his transition into the program has been easy. He previously coached many of Central’s players at the youth level and taught some at school. Silveira’s daughters, Hannah, a senior, and Mia, a junior, and assistant coach Josh Bouthot’s daughter, Lauren, a junior, play in the program. Central’s returning players are also familiar with Silveira’s playing style from their experience playing against his Memorial teams.

Over the summer, Central held optional training sessions while working within the city’s COVID-19 safety guidelines and Silveira shared individual training ideas with his players during a Zoom conference call in June before the school year ended.

The Little Green have a new yet familiar offensive weapon in Erin Flurey, who returned to the team after a one-year absence. The senior and Syracuse commit terrorized opposing backlines working alongside former Central and current Quinnipiac University forward Paige LaBerge as an underclassman.

Flurey owns the program record for most goals in a season.

Lally previously called LaBerge and Flurey the best striker duo he ever saw on his or any other team during his 46 years coaching New Hampshire girls high school soccer.

“Every team is looking for a goal scorer they can rely on,” Silveira said. “We’re going to focus on how (Flurey) can contribute to leading not only by scoring but in terms of improving other people’s games as well. We’ll challenge her to play in such a way where she’ll have the freedom to do things herself and score goals and set up other people and support other people. It will give her a chance to demonstrate her leadership ability instead of just her playing ability.”

Silveira said Central will play Memorial, Bedford, Division III Trinity, Goffstown and Concord during its regionalized regular-season schedule. The Little Green open their season with a home-and-home series against Memorial this week, with both teams celebrating senior night during their respective home games.

With Silveira and his staff at the helm, Memorial tied Central for the first time in years and went 5-9-2 to earn the No. 12 seed in the Division I playoffs last fall.

“They’ll be as competitive as any games can be,” Silveira said. “It will be the first week of the season but it will be a postseason-type of situation.”