For Community News Service, in partnership with the VTSU Castleton Spartan student newspaper.
It’s a Saturday afternoon at Dave Wolk Stadium. The crowd is buzzing, hanging on every play as the Spartans make their way down the field, looking to score.
The cool Vermont air is filled with cheers as the players in Spartan green approach the goal line. The game moves fast, and so does everything around it. But above all the chaos, one distinct voice shines through.
That’s the voice of Jack Healey.
His infamous broadcaster’s sound echoes through the half-open window of the sun-filled press box where he sits. Tucked in the corner of the little room, he carefully observes and relays every play from the field to the people watching on the other side of the screen.
For Castleton fans, tuning in from near and far, Healey’s voice has been a staple of Spartan game days for nearly two decades. From the court inside Glenbrook Gymnasium to the turf of Dave Wolk Stadium, 78-year-old Healey has called it all.
But long before he arrived in Castleton, Healey was an 8-year-old boy growing up just outside Boston with a tape recorder, a copy of Sports Illustrated, and a dream.
“You know that old adage about ‘you weren’t good enough to be a baseball player, so you became a broadcaster’? That was never the case for me. Not that I would have been good enough, but I’ve always wanted to broadcast,” Healey said with a laugh.
He worked his way through school, and when it was time for college, he enrolled at Colorado State University and decided to go the business route.
But it wasn’t long before he realized business wasn’t for him, and he was ready to chase the broadcasting dream his 8-year-old self once had.
After his first year of college, he left Colorado and returned home, where he enrolled in a six-month broadcasting program at Career Academy in Boston.
At the end of those six months, he began the search for his first radio gig.
Finding a job, however, wasn’t as easy as he had hoped.
“I think I sent out letters to something like 40 radio stations all over New England, Pennsylvania, and New York. Of those 40, only 12 bothered to write back, and only three had openings,” Healey said.
One station, located in Newburyport, Massachusetts, was only a few miles from where he grew up.
“That was the one I really wanted, and I went to the interview and was confident I got it,” said Healey. “Well, as it happened, I didn’t get it. But I did get the job at WIPS in Ticonderoga, New York.”
So, there he went.
Starting as a morning DJ, he was able to do some sports for about a year until he got into a “little shouting match” with the manager and was let go.
His next stop was a little station in Keene, New Hampshire. Here he was an “FM disc jockey” who didn’t get to say much, just play records. No sports.
That wasn’t what he was looking for, so back to the drawing board it was.
In 1971, he went to Connecticut and took a course to get a license that would provide him with better credibility and hopefully land him “the” job.
There he met a man who worked for a station in Rutland, WHWB. Shortly after, a position there opened up, Healey secured an interview, got the job, and made the move to Vermont.
He stayed with WHWB for about five years before leaving to go to the other Rutland radio station, WSYB, where he finally got his break into sports in the mid-1970s.
Healey interviews Red Sox legend Ted Williams at the Rutland Country Club in 1983. Provided photo
“I was still in Rutland, but doing work all over the place. Sometimes in Burlington. I did University of Vermont basketball and hockey in Montpelier for the radio for a while, and then I was also a part of the morning show in Rutland,” he said.
What’s funny is that when he arrived in Rutland in 1971, he wasn’t convinced he’d be sticking around.
“I figured I’d be here (Rutland) for maybe six months and then I’d be on my way,” he said.
That didn’t happen because he ended up loving what he was doing. But the one thing in the back of his mind was the opportunity to do radio for the Red Sox. When they had an opening in the late 80s, he figured he’d send in an audition tape.
Unfortunately for him, he didn’t get the job.
But it was lucky for Castleton.
“I always felt that Jack could have been the Red Sox guy; he could have been in the Red Sox Hall of Fame if he had gotten that job. Boston’s loss was certainly our gain,” said Terry Jarrosak, a Rutland radio legend himself, who co-hosted the morning show with Healey for several years on WSYB.
It was around 2008 when Dave Wolk offered him the opportunity to broadcast Castleton home games, and Healey jumped at the chance, especially with the addition of a football program coming in 2009.
“I love doing it. I look forward to every single game, and it’s interesting because I grew up listening to the radio for baseball, football, basketball, and hockey. But sports like field hockey, soccer, volleyball, and lacrosse, I really have been able to learn throughout the years,” said Healey with a grin. “Those are sports I never would have done if I didn’t come here.”
Now his voice was not only synonymous with Rutland, but had become a trademark of Castleton athletics.
“Any sports fan in the area instantly recognizes it and feels instantly at home,” said VTSU Castleton sport management professor Marybeth Lennox-Levins.
“We call him the Vermont legend. His voice is so distinguishable, and he always had such a great knowledge of the games that correlated so well with his energy,” said former Vermont basketball star and coach, Keith Cieplicki.
That “legendary” voice also makes it possible for family members all over the world to stay connected with their loved ones playing sports at Castleton.
Just one example of this comes from men’s soccer coach John O’Connor and his wife, Sheila, who serves as the aquatics coordinator and interim volleyball coach at Castleton.
Sheila’s parents live in Iowa and relied on Healey’s commentary as they watched broadcasts of the men’s soccer games to see their grandson, Michael O’Connor, play.
“He helped them get to know the players and made them feel like they were right there in the stadium. He brings the games to life. That is really special as far as I’m concerned,” said O’Connor.
Healey is also known for his incredible sports memory.
“Jack’s got fantastic recall, and he can do it in the spur of the moment. He remembers things not only that the current players do, but things their parents did some 20 years ago,” said Rutland Herald Sports Editor Tom Haley.
These are the characteristics that have earned him a spot in the Vermont Sports Hall of Fame, the title of Vermont Sportscaster of the Year 20 times, and the honor of having the press box inside Spartan Arena named after him.
He has also accomplished something most people dream of: finding a job that doesn’t feel like work.
“I truly love what I do. It’s not work for me. Sure, there’s prep and things I have to do, but it’s all fun stuff. My motto is that this beats work any day,” said Healey with a smile.
People who have met him say he also has the ability to connect with everyone he meets.
Even sitting in the lobby of Glenbrook for this interview, coaches, players, and even community members would pause to say hello, and he would respond with a huge smile and a friendly wave before answering the question exactly where he left off.
These are the things that don’t go unnoticed by the people who have the pleasure of working with him.
“He doesn’t just focus on the people scoring or getting assists. He makes an effort to recognize everyone who contributes and finds ways to make sure their efforts are acknowledged,” said athletic communications graduate assistant Ali Blackmer.
But, above all else, what makes Healey so connectable to the fans?
He’s one of them.
“Even though he has his ducks in a row, he is a fan first. He leads with his heart, he’s humble, and he’s more than a broadcaster. He’s the voice of the Spartans,” Jarrosak said.