After heading to the MIAA tournament for the second straight season last fall, the boys soccer team graduated most of their starting lineup, leaving head coach Jim Barrington with some big holes to fill.

The Whitman-Hanson girls soccer team is coming off the euphoria of the program’s first South Sectional championship in school history and the heartbreak of a sudden death loss to Acton-Boxboro in the state semifinals.

How the returning players respond to both are two big questions hanging over head coach Dave Floeck as the team begins their quest in 2010.

The Panthers have some big holes to fill from last season, but head coach Sean Clifford said his team is loaded with athleticism. There is stiff competition for several starting spots, which he hopes is going to bring out the best in his players.

It is a fair Wednesday night in August.  As one approaches the dirt pits inside a grove walled off by hedges, one can hear the clink of metal on metal and the sound of voices raised in animated conversation and good-natured ribbing.

Whitman FC was hoping to end their season on a high note Thursday night when they hosted Easton United in the final game of their first season in the Old Colony Men’s Soccer League. They got the win, though in a more anticlimactic fashion than they maybe would have liked.

While most Whitman-Hanson students of all ages spent at least a few months this summer moaning and groaning over summer reading assignments, this reporter and proud member of the Pembroke Public Library relished the opportunity to catch up on his books. Before tackling “The Odyssey,” which I will probably be struggling through well into basketball season, I glanced through a book of sports essays I own written by the great George Plimpton.

The Whitman 11A All-Stars have made history, capturing their third straight District 8 championship along with completing their second straight undefeated season. 

Under other circumstances, it may have been fitting that the first ever meeting between Whitman United and Whitman FC ended in an even draw, but not when both teams needed a win to keep their playoffs hopes alive.

When he was closing in on three years old, Scott Byron got his first glimpse of motocross dirt bike racing at the Marshfield Fair and was hooked instantly. He started riding on his own four years ago, and it didn’t take long for his exploits to take him far beyond local fairgrounds.

It was just not meant to be for the Pembroke Post 143 Junior Legion baseball team this season.

What is summer without a little adventure? For those who are not quite ready, or never will be, for skydiving, there is SkyVenture in Nashua, N.H.

It may say Pembroke across their chests, but Whitman and Hanson baseball players are leaving their own mark on the Junior Legion playoffs.

After three straight disappointing losses, facing the team with the worst goal differential in the Old Colony Men’s Soccer League was just what the doctor ordered for Whitman United and their struggling attack.

Sometimes you just don’t get the breaks when you need them, as Whitman FC found out in Brockton on Monday.