Future students introduced to NECC
On Feb. 19, 2019, Northern Essex hosted its very first athletic open house for the incoming freshmen who are looking to come and play for the NECC Knights. The night was run by Dan Blair who is the director or athletics, and Jeff Mejia who is the assistant director of athletics. Blair talked about the upcoming sports this coming fall, the sports that they already offer, and what the requirements are if they want to participate in those sports. There was a video project that featured four athletes so that they could give the upcoming freshmen a perspective on what it’s like to compete for the NECC knights.
The video featured Kyle Hawes who plays baseball for the knights. The video also featured Hawes’s dad who talked about how much money they saved in 2 years just by coming here. About a total of 20 kids showed up that were interested in athletic. Most of them were boys that were interested in baseball. After the open house was held, students were allowed to go tour the whole campus and come watch the men’s last home basketball game. Blair stated that the meeting was held during Massachusetts’s February vacation so that kids from Massachusetts schools could come without school interfering.
“The main goal for the night was to have possible upcoming athletes get an overview what the athletic life is like here,” says Blair. “The main focus was to have them talk to the coaches and see if what the season would be like if they played that sport. “We also wanted to bring the students to campus so they could start admissions early and what else the athletic department offers. The door is always open for students that are interested.”
The main goal for the night was to have possible upcoming athletes get an overview of what the athletic life is like here.
– Athletics Director Dan Blair
Blair also stated that there is a possible chance for another athletic open house but the dates are undetermined as of right now. The sports that are offered here for men are cross country, track & field, basketball, baseball, and golf. For women sports, there’s cross country, track & field, softball, volleyball, and golf. As a reminder, NECC is adding men’s soccer, women’s basketball, and esports in Fall 2019.
For any full time, students interested in sports, contact head of athletics Dan Blair at dbalir@necc.masss.edu, assistant of athletics Jeff Mejia at jmejia@necc.edu, or another assistant of athletics Maureen Saliba at msaliba@necc.mass.edu.
