BELLOWS FALLS, Vt. – Bellows Falls Union High School recently announced that they are bringing back their former basketball coach, Evan Chadwick, to lead this year’s boys’ hoopsters into the new season. Chadwick had previously coached the Terriers for six seasons, from 2008 through 2014.
Originally from Rochester, Vt., and now residing in Brattleboro, Chadwick brings a wealth of basketball experience including coaching stints going all the way back to his college days in the early 2000s.
“I have coached some level of basketball since I was a sophomore in college, I started with a six-year-old rec league team in Burlington, North Carolina,” Chadwick said in a recent interview.
“When I moved back to the area to finish my degree at Keene State, I was an assistant coach for the boys’ varsity team at Monadnock High School. From there, I coached JV girls’ basketball at Leland & Gray, and then in 2008 I was hired at BFUHS.”
He added, “After my first stint at BFUHS, I coached Sr. Pro in Brattleboro, and also ran the Southey Chaos, a youth spring league team. Then, in 2019 I coached the freshman boys at Brattleboro Union High School.”
Now a lawyer with an office based in Brattleboro, Chadwick had previously resigned from the BFUHS coaching position after he passed the bar exam and was launching his own law firm. He said at that time he really needed to focus on his professional career.
“When I coached here for six years my first time around, I loved it. I love the grind, the kids, the competition…everything. The experience reaffirmed my belief at how much good can come from high school athletics.”
Nate Milliken is 2014 BFUHS graduate and played under coach Chadwick.
“I think it’s great that coach Chadwick is returning to coach Bellows Falls basketball. What I remember most about coach is that no matter what your role was on the team, he made you feel that any contribution you made was vital to the win. Whether you were a starter or coming off the bench, you wanted to give 110% on the court because he believed you could, no matter your skill level. Those BFUHS players couldn’t ask for a better coach.”
When asked what he had learned from his previous Terrier coaching experience, Chadwick replied, “I want to focus more on athletic development and less on the scoreboard. Ultimately, we want to be playing our best ball at the end of the season, and if we have some bumps along the way, that’s simply part of the process.”
In the end, Chadwick has always loved to coach basketball and now that he feels stable in his professional life, he decided it was time to throw his hat back in the coaching ring and get back out on the court.
“I’ve had the time I needed to feel comfortable in my profession, and now feel it’s time to resume the pursuit of my passion,” Chadwick concluded. “I know that we have a lot of talent and high-grade character kids here, and I really look forward to discovering a lot more this winter.”