Students, staff looking forward to new teams
Northern Essex Community College has officially announced the arrival of three new sports coming Fall of 2019 (Men’s Soccer, Women’s Basketball and Esports) which makes it a total of seven different sports for both men and women. Other sports include men and women’s cross country, men and women’s track and field, men’s baseball, women’s softball, men’s basketball and men and women’s golf. So, you could say that the athletics program keeps growing and growing each year and there is the opportunity for students to participate in a wide variety of sports.
According to a Athletic Department flier, ever since 2010, the Knights have received 10 NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association) Championships, two athletes from the track and field program have received National Championship titles, and the men’s baseball team have made six appearances including National Runners-up in the 2016 season.But it wouldn’t be possible without the athletic program team which includes Dan Blair,
who is the Director of Athletics.
Blair thinks that keeping the athletic program here at Northern Essex alive is just as important as expanding it. Blair also pointed out other benefits that student athletes gain while competing for the Knights. “The athletic program also helps student athletes compete at the college level before moving on to four year schools and even competing at the Division 1 level” Blair says.
Throughout the years, Blair has been seeing more improvements as well as people taking the sports here more seriously. “NECC athletes don’t just get the opportunity to play sports, but they improvements in their GPA and scholarship money for when the transfer to 4 year colleges or universities” Blair says. Every coach and member who is a part of the NECC athletic program take this very seriously to help the athletes in the future.
If you’re looking to compete for the NECC Knights, the door is always open to everyone that wants to join any team. You don’t even need past experience in any sports to compete for NECC. For more information, visit www.neccknights.com , visit the new official Instagram page at neccknights, and contact Dan Blair at dblair@necc.mass.edu or at 978-556-3820.
