Longtime tennis coach now sharing wisdom at NFA; St. Bernard's not closing after all

Just thought I’d empty out my reporter's notebook while gearing up for the Taylor Swift concert next Sunday at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro ...

*It was great seeing Norwich Free Academy girls tennis coach Chris Portelance at the Wildcats’ Senior Day celebration earlier this week at Norwich Tech’s outdoor courts.

Portelance, 77, returned from Florida five years ago to be closer to his grandkids and came out of coaching retirement to guide the Wildcats to four straight tournament appearances. NFA’s amazing run might end during this season’s rebuilding year but Portelance, a Norwich Sports Hall of Famer who had previous coaching stints at NFA, Ledyard, St. Bernard and Mitchell College, still enjoys sharing his vast wisdom with his players as one of the top coaches in the Eastern Connecticut Conference.

Portelance was a runner and basketball star at NFA before earning a scholarship to Providence College where he played freshman basketball for a young Dave Gavitt.

The Wildcats celebrated Senior Day with a big win over Lyman Memorial before saying goodbye to seniors Jlayi Zhou, Yutong Zeng, Joanna Wu, Carissa Testut, Vianey Hinostroza, Amber Hunnicut, Carina Montero and Jasmine Phoumindr.

*Bill Buscetto, former athletic director of St. Bernard High School and Lyme-Old Lyme High School, announced on Lee Elci’s radio show (94.9 FM) on Friday morning that as a result of his and his friend Diederick Vandervelde’s interest as active bidders for the St. Bernard High School property, the Norwich Diocese has agreed to a new 10-year lease, along with a 10-year extension, when the proposed sale is finalized through the June 2 auction.

In simpler terms, St. Bernard is not closing.

The Diocese recently declared bankruptcy due to lawsuits stemming from abuse claims. St. Bernard, which wasn’t part of the lawsuits, became a “casualty” during the Diocese’s proposal to sell the school property, with an option for St. Bernard to lease back the land.

Some St. Bernard alumni, fearing the school would close, stepped up with serious offers to buy the school. Buscetto, a St, Bernard alumnus who is in the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame, and Vandervelde will be bidding for the school at the June 2 auction. Buscetto’s plans include donating the school back to St. Bernard, which would break off and become its own entity.

“It’s game on,” Buscetto said. “It’s an exciting process but we’ve already won. The school’s not going anywhere, no matter who wins the bid.”

*The NFL schedule was released this week and here are the Patriots' must-see games:

1. Oct. 15 at Las Vegas Raiders, Allegiant Stadium: The Patriots return to the scene of last year’s crime. Raiders 30, Patriots 24. I’m still trying to process how the heck Jakobi Meyers decided to throw a lateral back across the middle of the field on the game’s final play. The Raiders’ Chandler Jones caught the ball, ran over Patriots quarterback Mac Jones and sprinted for the game-ending touchdown.

2. Sept. 24 at New York Jets, MetLife Stadium, and Jan. 7 versus the Jets at Gillette Stadium. Let’s hope the Aaron Rodgers era in New York is a dud.

3. Nov. 26 at New York Giants, MetLife Stadium. Still haunted by the Giants Ghosts of Super Bowl pasts.

4. Nov. 12 versus the Indianapolis Colts, Frankfurt, Germany. Do the Germans even know about Deflategate? And when's the last time you heard of a football's PSI level?

5. Sept. 10 versus Philadelphia Eagles, Gillette Stadium. Season opener against the NFC champs. The greatest quarterback of all time returns to Foxboro to be honored by Mr. Kraft. Pats win on a last-second touchdown pass from Mac Jones to JuJu Smith-Schuster.

*The Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers are playing a Game 7 playoff game Sunday at TD Garden in Boston. It doesn’t get much better than that for basketball fans.

*STUCK IN THE '70s: It’s Boston in the late 1970s. Racial tensions were running high. It was the era of school busing. I had a high school basketball game on this day. My team, Boston College High School, was playing Cathedral. It was an away game and I forgot if it was played in Mission Hill or Roxbury. But I do remember telling my mom not to come. I was adamant. The gymnasium was in a rough neighborhood. The game had already been moved from a night contest to 3 o’clock in the afternoon.

During the pregame layup line, who do I see walking into the gym? My mother and grandmother. I guess my grandmother came as my mom’s bodyguard.

My mom never missed a game. And she surely wasn’t going to miss this one. Wishing all of the moms out there a Happy Mother’s Day!

Jimmy Zanor can be reached at jzanor@norwichbulletin.com.

This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: NFA girls tennis coach active; Norwich Diocese not closing St. Bernard