With the spring sports season ready to get underway within the next two weeks, NECC is trying to find a way to cope with all the snow that still blankets all the playing fields. While the baseball team has their yearly trip to Florida for the start of their season, they will still return to a snow-covered diamond. The softball and track team face the same dilemma.
Athletic Director Sue MacAvoy has been looking for places to play in the meantime.
“We’ve been talking to some places around here with turf fields, like Haverhill Stadium,” she said. “Baseball and softball have been practicing there a bit, with track running around the perimeter.”
But Haverhill Stadium has one of the very few turf fields in the area, making it hard to find time to get out there.
“Every school around wants to practice and play out there,” MacAvoy said. “It’s just hard to find times that work for everybody.”
MacAvoy estimates that the fields on the Haverhill campus won’t be ready until at least mid-April, especially with the snowfall this past weekend. In the meantime, the Knights’ baseball team has one game scheduled at Haverhill Stadium, against Bunker Hill Community College on Saturday, March 28.
The weather has certainly played a part in the limited numbers for the track program so far, making it hard to new head coach Beau Couture to get a feel for his team.
The softball team has been throwing the ball around in the gym on campus for the most part. They’ve been practicing since about January, and have been outside at Haverhill Stadium four times. The girls are just itching to get out on the field, and they’ve ramped up their practices to five days a week. The Knights are scheduled to begin their season on Saturday, March 28 against NHTI. The game is scheduled to be played on the Haverhill campus, but there is a possibility that it will be moved to NHTI’s home field in Concord.
This will be the first season that softball will be a full varsity sport at NECC.
So while the snow plows try to move some of the snow off the track to help get the weight off it, MacAvoy will continue to look for ways to get her teams out onto the field for the spring sports season.
The NECC Knights softball team is preparing for the second year in the program’s history, and their work has already begun this semester. The Knights will be playing a short scrimmage season this fall, with practice through October and highlighted by two scrimmage games, one on Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2014 against New Hampshire Technical Institute and another the next day, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2014 against Southern Maine.
Both games are home games for the Knights, in the softball field next to the Sport and Fitness Center on the Haverhill campus.
While the Knights would love to play more than two back-to-back scrimmage games this fall, that is all that is allowed by NJCAA protocol. In addition, once practices end this fall, coach Robert Gillespie won’t be able to have team activities all winter.
However, many players on the softball team are planning to take part in a kickboxing club in order to stay fit over the winter break. Coach Gillespie fully supports this, saying that he “would just like to see them stay active.” Practice will begin again in mid-February, and more preparations for the main spring season will be made.
The first season in the program’s history was mainly a building year. Unable to become a varsity team due to the uncertainty of fielding a full team, the Knights were classified as a club team, meaning they would not play a full schedule. With the addition of terrible weather last spring, the Knights were only able to play nine games all season. This year will be different, however. The Knights have become a varsity squad this year, and coach Gillespie assures that they will play at least 20 games this spring season, a full schedule.
The Knights are certainly looking to be competitive this spring with nine returning players from the first year of the program. In addition, Coach Gillespie has done a great job of recruiting, bringing in all-around talent like Tarah Reilly of North Reading, who Gillespie said, “has a great glove in the field and knows how to swing the bat.” Coach Gillespie will be bringing in six or seven recruits to the Knights’ team this year, and he fully expects the team to be competitive.
Gillespie said, “we’ll really have a truer test with the scrimmage games this week, but we look good so far and I expect us to really compete this year.”
A big part of being competitive this season according to Gillespie is pitching.
“To me, pitching is huge. We have a pitcher this year, which is what we were missing,” said Gillespie.
The pitcher he is referring to is one of the new recruits that Gillespie has, Nodine Webster. Webster, a Wells, Maine native, throws a lot of strikes and is “a legit pitcher” according to Gillespie. He knows that the main problem last year was that the Knights had no good pitching, and it was almost entirely the reason they failed to win a game last year.
Gillespie hopes that with the additions of Webster and the other recruits, as well as his stock of returning players and a full offseason to get work in, the Knights are going to push forward in a big way this season.
Another way coach Gillespie hopes to improve this year is having a better mental approach to the game as a team, and playing the game with more flow and fluidity on the field. He is convinced that this will certainly be improved as a result of their improved pitching staff and additions to the lineup. These improvements will speed up the game for the Knights, keeping all the players ultra-focused and fully invested in each game.
Coach Gillespie is certainly happy with the improvements his team has made since the first season of the program, but he also knows that his work spreading the word about the softball team at Northern Essex is far from over. Gillespie is always recruiting, telling prospective players about the advantages to not only playing softball at NECC, but also going to school there.
“I’m a firm believer in the community college system, so it’s easy for me to tell players about the advantages of coming here,” said Gillespie.
He has also been spending time talking to high schools about the program, and pushing graduating seniors to come play for him.
Gillespie knows about the issues that some students have with playing sports in college, whether it’s other commitments such as a job or classes. He would like to sit all of his players down with an academic advisor this winter so that they can work all of their class schedules in sync and have plenty of time for practice and games in the spring.
Whether playing or watching, sports are a great way to come together over a common goal: to beat the opposing team.
Unfortunately, some of the sports at NECC have had trouble filling their rosters. Volleyball may not even be able to put a competitive team out there this year. Students’ schedules are full, their resources are limited, and for any number of reasons not every team can draw enough student athletes to the court.
At NECC, the women’s teams — which include softball, volleyball, basketball and track and field — have had trouble drawing interest.
“It’s kind of sad to see the potential talent walking all around the campus,” said Sue MacAvoy, the NECC athletic director. “If people are interested, they need to come by.”
Many students may think that joining a team is going to impact them academically. MacAvoy says this just isn’t true, pointing out that, often, teams come together to study as a group. They do this to build camaraderie and also for academic support.
The Athletic Department also works with the college to put on different workshops for student-athletes throughout the year, to help with time management and studying. MacAvoy also points out that she has all the lists of the various tutors on campus, and she is quick to point any student in the right direction the minute they feel they are having academic issues.
Transportation is another big issue among all college students, not just student athletes. Potential athletes may feel like they not be able to make it to every practice and/or game due to lack of transportation. MacAvoy says that the NECC shuttle service operates throughout both cities and travels to both campuses. It also runs into the evening, meaning athletes will still be able to get home from practice. The NECC shuttle is free for anyone with a valid NECC ID.
The main issue, according to MacAvoy, is that many athletes coming from Division 1 high school athletics in the area are burnt out. They don’t want to play sports anymore.
It’s common in highly competitive high school sports for student athletes to lose the drive to compete after graduating. MacAvoy goes on to detail how she’s spoken with many athletes who simply say they played too much between high school, AAU teams, and travel teams. The sports they played took up all their free time, and they just didn’t want to do it anymore.
There are many obstacles to building teams, but things are already beginning to turn around. The creation of the softball team shows that there are a growing number of women who want to compete, and after a one-year hiatus, the women’s basketball team appears on track to come out and compete right away. This doesn’t mean the battle is over by any means, but it’s a start. MacAvoy isn’t stopping anytime soon, constantly recruiting and spreading the word about college athletics.
When asked how she appeals to potential student-athletes, MacAvoy said, “Just like the classes are different from high school, and the school is different, so are the sports here at Northern Essex.”
The softball team plans to begin practice for their fall scrimmage season this week. The basketball team still has a tentative schedule for the time being. This doesn’t mean that students shouldn’t come try out, though. MacAvoy and all the coaches urge anyone interested in playing to contact the athletic office as soon as possible, or stop by practice any time. The Athletic Department is located in the Sport and Fitness Center on the Haverhill campus.
NECC’s baseball team did incredibly well last season. Courtesy of NECC Newsroom
The 2014-2015 sports year is ready to get underway in a couple of weeks at Northern Essex, and there is a lot of excitement surrounding the Knights this year.
After great years by all of the Knights’ teams, including the men’s basketball (runner-up in the state tournament) and men’s baseball (6th place finish at the NJCAA World Series and two All-American honorees), the excitement around campus is greater than ever.
This fall, baseball and softball will have a small season of practices and scrimmages to get prepared for the spring season. In addition, women’s volleyball begins their season September 17 at Bunker Hill Community College, with the men’s and women’s basketball seasons following at the beginning of November.
On August 19, 49 potential student athletes met with coaches and athletic director Sue MacAvoy for an orientation to the sports year.
According to MacAvoy, topics covered in the meeting included eligibility, commitment, time management, and resources at NECC.
To celebrate the opening of the sports year, the Observer is bringing readers a preview of each team, as well as information on the coaches and results from last season.
Women’s Volleyball
There is plenty of excitement surrounding the volleyball team this year with many students interested in becoming Knights.
The season is coming up quickly, with practice starting on Wednesday, September 3 and the first game two weeks later, a September 17 conference battle at Bunker Hill Community College.
The Knights’ first home game comes September 24, another conference matchup against Holyoke Community College.
The Knights will take part in several tournaments this season, including the NHTI tournament at New Hampshire Technical Institute in Concord, N.H. the weekend of September 26 through September 28, the Dig Pink tournament at Community College of Rhode Island in Providence, R.I. on Saturday, October 11, hosting the MCCAC tournament at Northern Essex on Saturday, October 18, and the NJCAA Regional tournament at Northern Essex on Saturday, October 25.
Players interested in joining the volleyball team should report to practice Friday, September 5 or see Sue MacAvoy in room D123 of the Sports and Fitness Center.
Women’s Basketball
After not being able to field a team last season due to lack of players, excitement is once again swirling around the Knights basketball team.
Over the past year, head coach Brent Bass has been recruiting players from around the region, pushing the Knights’ philosophy of good basketball and a quality education. His main goal is to see that his recruiting is taking effect.
When asked about his recruiting efforts and the possibility of getting a full squad, coach Bass said,
“There’s a ton of bodies out there, it’s just a matter of connecting with them and getting them to come out and play here.”
Bass went on to state that the message that he’s been giving to all his potential players is,
“We’re not here just to play, this is a viable collegiate option for these players.”
This season looks to be a challenging one as the Knights look to get back into the competitive swing of things, with six of their first ten divisional games on the road, including one at perennial powerhouse Roxbury Community College.
While a full season would have to be considered a successful one, the goal is still to put a competitive team out on the floor. Once that is established, coach Bass is confident that he can build on that.
All players who are interested in joining the women’s basketball team should attend the meeting with coach Bass on Monday, September 15 at noon in room D129 of the Sports and Fitness Center.
Softball
Entering their second season since reforming in early 2014, the Knights’ softball team is looking to make big improvements.
Last season, the Knights fielded their first team in decades, and the results weren’t ideal.
Despite their 0-8 record, however, the buzz has been getting louder around the building of the team.
Every player on the 16-person roster in the spring was a freshman, meaning that there is an abundance of returning players to the team, as well as the new recruits from coach Robert Gillespie.
This is the foundation coach Gillespie is building on, and the Knights look to make a real competitive leap this season.
The team will have a fall practice and scrimmage season to prepare for the upcoming spring season.
Players who are interested in playing are urged to contact coach Robert Gillespie.
Coach Gillespie is very excited about the new year and is constantly looking for new players to join the team and help make a difference. He is constantly networking, saying, “We can use as much publicity as we can get this year.”
Baseball
For the third time in three years, and the fourth time in the last eight, the Knights’ baseball team went to the NJCAA Division III World Series in Tyler, Texas.
After winning their first game in the tournament, they lost their next two, getting eliminated and finishing with a 21-14 record, good enough for sixth in the nation.
The buzz surrounding the team is as loud as ever, as the Knights look to make yet another trip to Texas next spring.
In addition to their championship-level play, the Knights also had two All-Americans on their roster.
Zack Beckwith received 2nd team All-American honors before graduating and transferring to UMass Boston, while Dan Peters received Academic All-American honors before graduating and transferring to Rivier College.
The Knights will also be having a fall practice and scrimmage season to get ready for the upcoming season. Information on scheduled games will be printed as it becomes available.
This season should prove to be an exciting one for all the Knights’ teams, with plenty of wins and celebrations in the near future.
Be sure to come out and support the Knights whenever possible and show your true team spirit. Information on teams and schedules can be found at the athletic department’s new website,
athletics.necc.mass.edu.
Important correction: In the print version, the term “lady Knights” is used. The Observer has been informed that the women’s teams should be referred to has just, “the Knights,” and we have made the correction online accordingly. Edited Sept. 4.
