Most years, the marquee match up of the year for the Boys Varsity Hockey team comes against an arch nemesis such as Deerfield or Taft.  However, with Team USA on the schedule, this year is a little different from the rest.

Choate has had some great moments in athletic history, notably hosting part of the Boston Braves spring training during the World War II period. “The Braves had their spring training here in 1942 because they could not travel to Florida by rail during wartime,” explained Choate teacher Tom Yankus. Choate was chosen over other venues because “we had the field house, a rare venue for indoor baseball in those days. The current tartan floor was dirt, and netting covered the entire area,” said Yankus.

The Choate Varsity Baseball team played the Boston Braves at the end of their stay at Choate, and the Braves “left a set of uniforms that Choate baseball teams used for several years. I remember that I was assigned the uniform of my left-handed pitching idol, Hall of Famer Warren Spahn,” Yankus fondly remembered.