Montana, sports cooking at GMC
Toolbox
By Tom Haley STAFF WRITER - Published: August 16, 2009
POULTNEY — Why would a grown man trying to get his college basketball team prepared for the 2009-2010 season run off and join the circus?
Green Mountain College men's basketball coach Todd Montana didn't really run off. He was sort of drafted into Circus Smirkus. Last summer he hooked on with Circus Smirkus as a cook midway through its tour when his friend needed somebody to replace a person in the kitchen who had quit. This summer Montana helped cook for the 65 people, performers and staff, for the whole 70-show tour, covering stops in Vermont, New York, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Maine.
He only returned to his office at GMC on Friday. But thanks to the cell phone, his kitchen and car served as a portable office, where he was able to keep in touch with his players throughout the summer.
"There are a lot of similarities between being in the kitchen and coaching," Montana said. "It's a very fast-paced environment. There's not a lot of boredom."
Circus Smirkus is a non-profit, award-winning international youth circus that promotes the skills, culture and traditions of the traveling circus.
"It's an amazing organization," Montana said. "One of the jugglers is headed to MIT and one of the clowns to Carnegie-Mellon University."
The performers are high school students and younger.
Montana said he does not have the skills to be able to perform like the students he watched over the summer.
"I can spin a basketball on my finger and I did run the spotlight a few times," he said.
Other than that, he was applying his culinary skills.
"I am half-Italian so I do a pretty good job with the Italian food," he said.
Now, it's back to the office and gearing up for a season that begins with a game at College of St. Joseph on Nov. 16.
There is also a scrimmage in place against Union College, coached by his father Bob Montana who has led the Dutchmen to postseason appearances in eight of his 12 years at the Schenectady, N.Y., school.
Todd Montana's Eagles will also be in the University of Rochester Tip-Off Tournament and will be competing for the first time in Norwich University's Hockenbury Tournament, where the other teams will be College of St. Joseph and Wesleyan.
Sitting in the office adjacent to Montana's is GMC men's soccer coach Brad Mitchell.
Mitchell didn't travel with Circus Smirkus, but he might need to perform a Houdini Act if he is to escape the lower rungs of the North Atlantic Conference ladder.
Mitchell was unexpectedly thrust into the head coaching position last season and inherited his team.
This time he was recruiting in an effort to change the culture and attitude of the program and the youth movement might not translate into a lot of victories this season.
"We have a lot of incoming freshmen. We sort of cleaned house," Mitchell said. "We got kids with the right character, discipline and great attitudes. We are trying to build the program.
"Castleton is the favorite (in the NAC) hands down and I think Husson will be second and Maine-Farmington third.
"I think we'll be close to the bottom this year, but I am feeling very good about the future. That is sort of what we're looking for."
Due to the preponderance of freshmen on his team, Mitchell has decided against a scrimmage.
"I didn't see the value in it with so many young players. We'll train straight through," he said.
The opener is Sept. 1 at SUNY-Morrisville. The Eagles come to campus Tuesday and begin practices Wednesday.
One of the newcomers Mitchell is high on is a goalkeeper, Nate Kishbaugh from Niskayuna High School in New York State.
The Eagles recruited intensively to bring in this group and also to set the recruiting in motion for the next class. Mitchell has made two trips to Colorado and his assistant has visited Florida. He has also scoured New England. He has some prospective players from Texas and Colorado visiting campus in September.
Green Mountain women's soccer coach Katie Keogh will greet her players Wednesday and they will begin double sessions Thursday as they prep for the opener Sept. 2 at home against Colby-Sawyer College.
She and her Eagles will be making an overnight trip to Rhode Island before that for scrimmages against Community College of Rhode Island and Salve Regina University in Newport, R.I.
She has seven incoming freshmen, including Lindsay Tassie and Kiley Palin from Williamstown.
West Rutland's Katie Jablonski returns and Keogh is looking to her for senior leadership.
Another Vermonter is Fair Haven's Brittany Roberts.
The Eagles will look to take another step after beating Maine Maritime in the NAC quarterfinals before falling to Husson in the semifinals.
Karen Davidson returns in the goal.
The Eagles will be playing Norwich University and Daniel Webster, new opponents since Keogh took over.
They will be playing only 14 games.
"I think that will help us by saving our legs for the tournament," Keogh said.
The Green Mountain College women's volleyball team launches its season Sept. 4 with a new coach. Erin Bellomo takes over that program.
It has been a good summer for the Bellomo family. Her husband Nate was chosen as the Otter Valley Union High School boys varsity basketball coach.
tom.haley@rutlandherald.com
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