When Loomis Chaffee and Deerfield Academy took the ice on March 8, a title was at stake. Not just any title. The Chuck Vernon Elite 8 girls hockey championship, the name a reminder of a man who meant so much to four coaches at those schools. 

Chuck, known by many as “Bruno,” was a longtime Loomis faculty member and coach and was instrumental in establishing the Loomis girls ice hockey program. Loomis head coach Liz Leyden, Loomis assistant coach Chelsea Ouellette ’08, Deerfield head coach Brooke Fernandez ’09, and Deerfield assistant coach Avery Flynn ’19 each played for Chuck or coached alongside him, or both. Chuck died in 2024. 

Loomis Chaffee left the ice March 8 with a 5-1 victory and its second Elite 8 title in a row. Last year’s was the team’s first since 1989. The New England Prep School Athletic Council (NEPSAC) Elite Eight Tournament was renamed the Chuck Vernon Elite 8 in the 2019–20 season.   

“To have the premier tournament in New England prep named after him speaks to his significance in growing and creating the New England Girls Prep School Ice Hockey Association,” Liz said recently. “It really hit me last year after we won — the significance of this, and same this year. He would have been so happy to see Loomis win, and I know he would have delighted in giving us the trophy. He made sure to attend the championship game every year to hand out the Chuck Vernon trophy, and this gave him great joy. He loved it when Williston, his alma mater, won in 2022 and 2023. He would have been thrilled to see so many Loomis alums coaching against each other in this year’s final, and I’m sure he would have made sure to chat with each of us, to share stories, and to comment on the growth and development of the girls game.” 

Liz became the varsity girls hockey coach in 2009.  

“Chuck served as my assistant coach the first nine years I coached at Loomis,” Liz said. “He was one of the best mentors I have ever had, and I miss him to this day. Bruno cared deeply about others and invested in people. As a coach, he was one of the best at breaking down a game to its most basic parts and then building it back up in a way that everyone could understand. ... I look to build upon his legacy to this day. The Loomis girls hockey program is as strong as it is due to his considerable work and effort starting in the 1980s.” 

 Chelsea played for Chuck and coached with him. 

“I always hoped we would win it while he was still with us,” Chelsea said. “But I do think it’s kind of fitting that we didn’t win it until after he passed. Bruno never liked the attention or to be in the spotlight.” 

Chelsea, a three-sport athlete, started coaching and working at Loomis Chaffee in 2015. She is a database specialist in the Admission Office. 

“While he went from my coach to a colleague — although, and he would hate for me to say this, he always still felt like a coach to me — what didn’t change was Bruno,” Chelsea said. “What has always stood out to me was how much he cared about the players in the locker room, both as players and people. He cared that way about people in general.” 

Brooke played hockey for four years at Loomis, earning New England Prep Player of the Year honors in 2009. She was a four-year standout on defense for St. Lawrence University, finishing her career second all-time at the university in career goals for a defenseman (26) and third in points (87). She also is an associate athletic director at Deerfield.   

“Bruno's legacy lives on not through the tournament named after him, but the small — sometimes silly/goofy — moments that you remember long after his passing and still talk about with teammates,” Brooke said. “He was warm, he cared deeply, and he always put emphasis on the positives and the learning lessons in any good/bad moment of you personally or the team generally. If I've embodied any of that in my own coaching, then that's thanks to Bruno, too. 

Avery played at Amherst for three seasons (she lost her sophomore season to COVID-19) and was second-team All-NESCAC (New England Small College Athletic Conference) as a senior in 2023. She played ice hockey and lacrosse at Loomis Chaffee, and club hockey for the Connecticut Polar Bears for six seasons. 

“On the way to the [championship] game, Brooke and I were talking about [Bruno] and how crazy it was that we both were coached by him,” Avery said. “We shared memories of his defensive coaching and his amazing salsa that he would make for us. Graduating 10 years apart from each other at Loomis, I think it’s cool how Brooke and I both share similar experiences of who Bruno was and what he meant to the team. I think that is such a testament to who he was.” 

Bruno was many things, a coach, a mentor, an inspiration who carved out quite a career at Loomis Chaffee, to say nothing of all the pieces of furniture and other items he made not only for team members but others around campus. He was a talented woodworker.  

“Bruno was someone who always supported and joked around with us,” Avery remembered. “He was so dedicated to the hockey team and the players. He handmade everyone, out of wood, a push-up machine called ‘Bruno’s pec-o-maker.’ I still have it today. Doesn’t get much use, but it is a funny reminder of him, for sure.” 

Chelsea remembers what Chuck did for her when she arrived as a coach. 

“He made a wooden box with my initials painted on it, just so I would have a place to put my things in the coach’s room,” Chelsea said. “When I was a student at Loomis and was out for an extended period due to injury, he sent me a copy of Endurance, the story of Ernest Shackleton’s voyage across Antarctica, along with a handwritten letter. I still have the book and the letter. It turns out I wasn’t alone: he sent copies of that book to many players who were out with injury or going through some kind of adversity. It was little things like that that made Bruno stand out.”   

Those little things didn’t end just because someone’s time on the Island did. 

“He kept up with players long after they graduated from Loomis, and he was always so proud to watch their lives grow and see everything they accomplished,” Chelsea said. “He would bring ‘Bruno salsa’ to former players when they played in college games locally. He made rocking chairs when they had babies. And he never forgot a face or a name. Once he knew you, he never forgot you.”  

And Loomis Chaffee is sure to never forget him. 

“We now have the ‘Bruno Gloves’ that go to a player after every game, a way to honor and recognize his significant contribution to our team and program,” Liz said. “These gloves go to someone who did the little things in the game that contributed to the team success, things that might not end up on a scoreboard but still matter deeply to the team. That was like him, always in the background helping out, not seeking recognition, but helping people feel and be seen.”