What’s wrong with Massachusetts high school hockey?
The Globe’s most popular high school sports story of the year — and one of the most popular stories in the entire newsroom — was our deep dive on the state of Massachusetts boys’ high school hockey.
Gone are the days of playing town hockey, then for the local high school, then playing in college. Private money has taken over the game — and parents’ wallets — as they pursue paths for their children to make it to the next level, however unlikely that may be.
The Globe spoke with NHL players, coaches, executives, agents, high school players and coaches, state and local hockey administrators, and independent analysts.
“Massachusetts is having an existential crisis,” one said.
Read the full story by Matt Porter here, and check out our two other stories on the topic:
Remembering Maisey O’Donnell
The Concord-Carlisle community suffered a tragic loss in April when standout diver Maisey O’Donnell was killed in a car crash in Florida. The wreck also killed two of her Concord-Carlisle senior classmates, Jimmy McIntosh and Hannah Wasserman.
O’Donnell was a high-honors student, an All-American, and a two-time state champion. She was unbeaten in her junior and senior years, and was a two-time MIAA North Sectional and Division 1 champion. In May, she was honored as the Globe’s All-Scholastic girls’ diver of the year for the second time.
But her impact out of the pool was her largest.
“I was always amazed that at every competition, she would become friends with divers from across the country and gave them words of encouragement and kindness, even as she was competing against them,” a former teammate said. “Her personality was like sunshine.”
Read Matt Porter’s story about O’Donnell here.
O’Donnell’s sister, Emmy, is a budding star in her own right — she was named to the US women’s soccer under-19 team this fall. Read the Globe’s story about how Emmy has channeled her grief into her performance on the pitch.
The making of AJ Dybantsa
At 18 years old, AJ Dybantsa never imagined he’d have already worked out with LeBron James or traveled to Paris as a guest of NBA commissioner Adam Silver.
He never imagined he would have an endorsement deal with Nike, or that Alicia Keys would follow him on Instagram. Or that high schools and colleges would offer him millions of dollars just to spend a year wearing their team uniforms.
“Sometimes,” AJ says, “it’s all hard to believe.”
But that’s life as the most highly touted basketball recruit in Massachusetts history.
Read Adam Himmelsbach’s story on the prospect from Brockton, who’s now starring at BYU as the second-leading scorer in the country in men’s college basketball.
What’s happening out in Stow? Inside Masters Academy International.
A new school is forming out in Stow, 21 miles west of Boston. It offers nine majors — all in sports. Meet Masters Academy International, an $83 million project across 82 acres that aims to become “the IMG Academy of the North,” according to its founder, Peter Masters.
When MAI opens in the fall of 2026, its founders expect it to become the destination for families who want to send their children to a boarding and day school where the pursuit of athletic excellence is viewed, unapologetically, as important as receiving a top-flight education.
Read more from Michael Silverman here.
Could this tragedy have been prevented?
Rohan Shukla suffered a head hit in Sharon’s Thanksgiving Day game in November 2024. What happened next changed changed his life and his family’s existence, and offered a cautionary tale when it comes to the ever-present danger in football.
Bob Hohler dived into the saga of the Shukla family, who has rallied around Rohan as he remains largely immobile, non-verbal, and dependent on a feeding tube.
Read the first story here, and our second on Rohan and his family as he returned home — and his family still waited for answers from Sharon officials.
Girls’ lacrosse has a big problem
Hostile interactions with coaches, parents, and even players are driving away Massachusetts girls’ lacrosse officials.
One official told the Globe about an incident where a coach was “screaming and screaming” at an official, trying to rile up his team as a motivational tactic.
“It made me feel like I’m not a human being,” she said. “I’m a cone. I’m just a piece of sports equipment that he can kick around and treat however he wanted. To me, it’s pretty despicable.”
In 2023, 37 candidates signed up for new official training; 14 are no longer active members. Out of the 35 adults that signed up in 2024, 30 completed the course and just 18 are officials in 2025.
“It’s not every coach, it’s not every town, but there’s always a bad apple out there,” said Sharon Feid, the MIAA’s 2024 girls’ lacrosse official of the year. “These bad apples sometimes infect your whole bunch. That’s a problem.”
Read more from Trevor Hass here.
Is Peter Bourque the next big thing?
Tabor Academy’s Peter Bourque is ranked No. 8 nationally among quarterbacks in the class of 2027. He plans to attend Michigan, which he chose over scholarship offers from Penn State, Georgia, North Carolina, and Oregon.
Bourque could be the successor to five-star freshman Bryce Underwood, who will be entering his draft-eligible junior season when Bourque enrolls (and who happens to be a month younger than Bourque).
His journey from Hingham, to Catholic Memorial, to Tabor — where he led the Seawolves to a perfect 9-0 season — was chronicled by Matt Porter here.
How one Harvard engineer is changing the game for girls
Sara Falkson remembers feeling uncomfortable in her pink dance leotard, wishing she could be anywhere else. Eventually, she quit dancing over the distress.
Years later, Falkson learned she wasn’t alone. A recent study conducted by Dove found that 45 percent of girls drop out of sports by the age of 14 because of low body confidence. That’s the problem Falkson sought to solve when she began a master’s program at Harvard’s engineering school and one she continues to combat through her company, Robyn.
With Robyn, Falkson is setting out to redesign the sports bra. But first, she’s working to bring resources to girls in Massachusetts so they can become more body confident — and stay in sports.
Meet the Globe’s All-Scholastics
The Globe has been naming All-Scholastics for more than 100 years. And for good reason: It’s always one of our most popular features.
Check out the Globe’s All-Scholastic teams from 2025 with Brendan Kurie’s stories on the athletes and coaches of the year:
Katie McInerney can be reached at katie.mcinerney@globe.com. Follow her on Instagram at @katiemac.sports.
