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Celebration of women’s sports: How Vermont Green FC women made smashing debut

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Celebration of women’s sports: How Vermont Green FC women made smashing debut


The Vermont Green FC women took center stage at Virtue Field on Saturday night and Sam Mewis — World Cup champion, U.S. Olympian and former professional women’s soccer player — was as nervous as she had ever been watching a match. 

The Vermont Green FC, with Mewis as a coach, were facing off against FC Laval in their inaugural women’s friendly and the two teams were headed to penalty kicks. 

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“(It was) akin to watching the national team take penalty kicks at the Olympics, that’s how I felt on the sideline, this intense stress,” Mewis said. “I think it is something I have been missing in my life, really caring about this moment and how it would affect the team.”

The Green delivered and erased their coach’s nerves with a win, outscoring Laval 5-4 in six rounds of the shootout after the two teams ended regulation tied 1-1.

“I cared about that game literally more than I have cared about anything in so long,” said Mewis, who was making her coaching debut. “That was so awesome. I am so proud of the team.” 

Vermont keeper Olivia Dubin made a save in the final round of penalty kicks and Roshann Purcell fired it in to lift the home team to the victory. 

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“I just wanted to honor my teammates hard work so badly, they had put in everything for the last 90 minutes, put in everything for the last three days and I just wanted to come up big for them,” Dubin said of her big stop. “I was in disbelief, the crowd was unbelievable.”

For the sold-out crowd at Virtue, the score may have been the least important part of the night. From the start, with escorts out for the lineups from young female soccer players, to an all-female reffing crew to handmade signs around the stands celebrating women’s sports, the night was a celebration of women’s soccer. 

“It was surreal, I have never played in front a crowd that size and with that much electricity,” said Olivia White, a Pittsford, Vermont native who captained the inaugural team. “It was very exciting, all of the girls were really excited and it’s a feeling that I will never forget.

“This is women’s soccer, and I am glad that we can show how much potential women’s soccer has and how much growth we have seen from it and women’s soccer is the future.”

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And the Green and Laval delivered a competitive match on the field. Despite just three days to train together, the Vermont players had the game’s early chances, with Neve Renwick finding room behind the defense for a few chances on goal. 

“It was hard at first but as the days went on we became more connected with each other, we became a team who definitely put a show on here tonight,” Renwick said of the team’s quick timeline. “I am so glad we won.”

It was Renwick who broke through for the first-ever goal for the Vermont women, breaking a scoreless tie in the second half. Milton’s Emma Wennar a threaded a near-perfect pass through a defender to Renwick, who dashed in alone on the Laval keeper and fired a shot into the back of the net.

“This is insane, the atmosphere, the people, scoring in front of the fans, there couldn’t be a better feeling,” Renwick, who hails from England and was in Vermont for the first time, said. “Genuinely, I am in awe.”

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The score set off a celebration at Virtue Field, with the Vermont Green players marveling at the excitement for the team’s first ever goal. 

“I got goosebumps,” Wennar said of the moment. “It was pretty incredible.”

It looked like the goal would be enough to carry the Green to a win but FC Laval struck in the final minute of regulation. Laurie-ann Moise made an excellent move at the top of the box to shake her defender and then fired it past Dubin for a 1-1 score. 

The two teams went to penalty kicks, where the squads traded goals until Dubin stepped up with a big save in the sixth round and Purcell followed it with a decisive score to clinch the triumph and set off another Virtue celebration — this time with the overflow crowd lining the fence behind the goal. 

“It was incredible, I have never even seen a crowd like this for my college games,” Dubin said. “It was just so cool to see so many people of all ages, of all demographics, to come and show the love for us.”

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The night ended with fans of all ages rushing on to the field to meet their new women’s sports heros, lining up for autographs and selfies with the players and Mewis, an outpouring of excitement that seemed to overwhelm all of them.

“This is the most autographs I have signed in my whole entire career, and I love it,” Renwick said. “Ranging from 70 year olds to two year olds, it’s crazy … Vermont is becoming more established in women’s sports, and this is the place to be.”

And for the players and coaches, they hope this only the beginning for the Vermont Green women’s team and are excited about what the future holds. 

“There is so much enthusiasm around women’s sports right now, especially around women’s soccer,” Mewis said. “It seems like women’s soccer is in this time of explosive growth and to be able to bring a game like this, with players like this to Vermont — Vermont Green is already a well-established club and to see how much they value the women’s game as well and their goals for the future of it is really inspiring so honestly i am just really humbled and proud to be a part of it.”

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Vermont murder suspect arrested in New York

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Vermont murder suspect arrested in New York


PORTLAND, N.Y. (WCAX) – Police say the suspect in a Vermont murder was arrested in New York on Wednesday.

Terrence Biggs Jr., 25, of Michigan, was wanted in the deadly shooting of Austin Rodriguez, 26, of Rutland. It happened at a home on Summer Street on April 22.

Investigators say state police in New York arrested Biggs during a traffic stop in Portland, New York, that is in western New York, early Wednesday morning.

Biggs is charged with second-degree murder.

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We still don’t know what authorities think led to the shooting or what the connection was between the two men.



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Vermont shelter celebrates 68 adoptions in one month

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Vermont shelter celebrates 68 adoptions in one month


Where did the time go? Where did summer go?! It was not too long ago that we were telling you all about the Rutland County Humane Society’s participation in the the “Clear The Shelter Event”. Most adoption fees were waived for eligible adopters who were looking to add a furry friend to their family. In […]



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A covered bridge quest in Vermont – VTDigger

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A covered bridge quest in Vermont – VTDigger


A covered bridge quest in Vermont – VTDigger
Since arriving in Vermont last year, Phill Gatenby has become smitten with the state’s covered bridges. He’s started a video visiting each of the state’s historic or authentic covered bridges. Photo by Tim Calabro/Herald

This story by Tim Calabro was first published in The Herald on Sept. 11, 2025.

Phill Gatenby rolled over the Moxley Bridge in Chelsea with a plastic skeleton riding shotgun in his Jeep, having made the long drive from Brattleboro for an early morning visit. Just a year ago, the Manchester, England native — by way of Florida — had never laid eyes on a covered bridge. Now he’s smitten.

Gatenby recalled seeing a covered bridge while driving around and thinking, “Oh, that’s interesting. I’d never seen a covered bridge in my life before. Never really heard of them,” he said. “A couple days later, I was going to Townshend, and all of a sudden it’s the Dummerston Bridge, and I’m just like, different size, different shape, different color.”

He stopped for directions and as he got lost on the back roads, he saw more and more covered bridges.

What started as casual curiosity has evolved into a quest: visit and film all 100 of Vermont’s authentic, historic covered bridges and share the journey on YouTube in a series titled “Vermont’s 100 Covered Bridges.”

So far he’s been to 50 and cranked out 37 videos of his visits — one every Sunday.

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The most recent set of episodes has focused on the covered bridges of Tunbridge, Chelsea, and Randolph.

No two are quite alike. From king and queen trusses to parallelogram-shaped spans built on bends, like some on the First Branch, Gatenby has come to appreciate their variety and character.

And, stepping back from the bridges, the entire scene fascinates Gatenby.

“I mentioned this in the Kingsbury Bridge [episode]. I was at the bridge and I looked, and you’ve got the green mountains in the background and rolling hills. Then you’ve got the farm with the — is it the corn towers? —  the river and a covered bridge. And it just says, like, you can’t get more Vermont!”

Gatenby’s process is rigorous. Each episode takes hours to shoot and edit. He gets different angles — sometimes driving through a bridge three or four times for the right shot. He’s waded into rivers, climbed steep banks, and once filmed inside a long-retired bridge that had been turned into a town shed.

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“I try and do something that’s consistent,” he says. “So it’s, you know, the same start, the same middle. I go in the river. I’ve been in every single river so far.”

Gatenby credits community access TV stations — first Okemo Valley TV in Ludlow and now Brattleboro Community TV — for helping him build his skills and loaning him equipment.

“They literally brilliantly sat down and five, six, seven weeks went through how you do it,” he recalled.

Gatenby’s episodes go out via Okemo Valley TV’s YouTube channel and have regular times on the Okemo Valley and Brattleboro TV stations.

Form, Function, History

Vermont once had more than 600 covered bridges, Gatenby noted, but flooding and age have winnowed down the number greatly. Now, 100 remain and many towns hold clusters of them.

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Tunbridge, for example, boasts five (Flint, Larkin, Mill, Cilley and Howe), with the Moxley bridge just over the Chelsea line. Randolph has three (Kingsbury, Gifford, and Braley or Johnson), all of them along the Second Branch.

Gatenby pointed out that three of the First Branch bridges were built by the same person, Arthur Adams. That’s a phenomenon common to covered bridges, Gatenby noted. Oftentimes the same person who had the skills to build a bridge would become the area’s go-to expert.

As Gatenby visits each of the 100 covered bridges spread throughout the state, he points out the history and construction techniques used in each, particularly the suspension methods unique to covered bridges. Most covered bridges in the White River Valley make use of modified king trusses, posts fitted into a triangle, which provide strength to the structure. Some, like the Moxley bridge, use both king trusses and square queen trusses around them.

Vermont’s covered bridges aren’t just structural relics, though — they’re cultural icons.

Some have graced the silver screen, including the Kingsbury Bridge in Randolph, used by Alfred Hitchcock as scenery in his 1955 film “The Trouble with Harry.”

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“North by Northwest” has its dramatic crop duster strafing Cary Grant, Gatenby jokes in one of his episodes before cutting to a humble, scenic shot featuring the South Randolph bridge. “Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite as glamorous as that!”

The Chiselville bridge in Sunderland — Gatenby’s favorite so far — featured in “Baby Boom,” Diane Keaton’s 1987 film, and a year later, in the 1988 Chevy Chase and Madolyun Smith Osborne comedy, the Upper Falls bridge in Weathersfield made for a memorable gag (“I wouldn’t go that way if I were you”).

Another memorable stop is East Corinth, where the prop bridge used in “Beetlejuice” was fabricated out of whole cloth for the two weeks of filming. “Thousands of people go there every year,” he said, noting that the set-piece, used now as a shed at a ski area, doesn’t count among the authentic and historic bridges he films.

Nor, he said, does the Quechee Bridge. Though it is often mistaken for a traditional covered bridge, it’s just a facade.

“It’s concrete and steel. There’s very little wood,” Gatenby said. “You see the wood on the outside and the roof.”

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Traditional bridges are completely made from wood and use a variety of truss systems to strengthen the span.

Place and Purpose

Gatenby moved to Vermont from Florida in July of last year. He now lives in Brattleboro with his wife and works as a shift supervisor at a home for adults with mental health issues.

“I’m a trained youth worker in England,” he said, having spent years working for the Prince’s Trust, a charity founded by King Charles. His day job might be demanding, but the early hours leave room for exploration.

“Three o’clock to 11:30 at night, so the daytime allows me to spend time in the TV studio,” he says. That flexibility has enabled him to squeeze in long road trips, sometimes filming six or seven bridges in a single day. “I’ve got to do minimum six, seven bridges each trip now,” he added. “To make it worth it.”

This Sunday, the show’s 38th episode will be released.

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“I’m doing a little special 50th episode,” he said, noting the halfway point in the 100-bridge journey. “That’s where I’m bringing in stuff like the Quechee bridge. Because people said, ‘Oh, you didn’t go to the Quechee.’”

As the series nears its midpoint, Gatenby’s audience is slowly growing, both online and in the communities he visits.

“It’s just amazing … you know, and I’m just visiting them all,” he said, “places that I wouldn’t have got to see otherwise.”

With 50 more bridges to go, Vermont’s covered bridge guy still has miles to travel and stories to uncover.Gatenby’s series of covered bridge videos can be watched on Okemo Valley and Brattleboro public television stations or found on YouTube.





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