The Knights have struggled coming out of the winter break this year, going 1-3 over the first four games of the new year. The Knights opened with double-digit losses at Southern Maine
Community College and at home against Lincoln College of New England before netting a tight
57-53 win over Vermont
Technical College last Sunday. Hoping to get a winning streak started, the Knights suffered a tough overtime loss on the road at
Bristol Community College Tuesday night.
The loss at Southern Maine was mainly caused by poor ball handling. The Knights committed 14 turnovers in the game
compared to only ten assists. Any game where the turnovers
outnumber the assists is more than likely going to end up in a loss, and a team like NECC just isn’t talented enough to make up for mistakes like that.
Matthew Jameson and Elijah Mukiibi struggled offensively, combining to shoot 4-25 from the field (16 percent) and only
netting 11 points. The backcourt duo of Edwin Gonzalez and Bryan Morales did most of the scoring for the Knights. Morales finished with ten points and only one turnover while Gonzalez scored 24. Gonzalez added five rebounds and five steals to round out his numbers.
It was much of the same when the Knights returned home to face off with
Lincoln College of New
England. NECC was outrebounded by 28 (65-37) and committed 15 turnovers. Despite another poor team shooting performance (33 percent from the field, 29
percent from three), the scoring was a little more evenly distributed.
Jameson and Mukiibi got back on track, scoring 17 and 13 points, respectively. Mukiibi also had eight rebounds. Forward Jonathan Paulino had a big day in the paint with a double-double (11 points, 16 rebounds) and Gonzalez came through with 13 points and a few assists. Kevin Brito contributed 12 points and two rebounds off the bench, while Chris Corey scored seven.
The win over Vermont Technical College exemplifies just what has to happen for the Knights to be successful. While they still committed 12 turnovers, the Knights shot the ball extremely well from three-point range (53.3 percent) and from the field in general (39.2 percent). With an undersized roster that has some trouble with rebounding, the number one remedy is to put the ball in the hoop.
Morales had another good game with 13 points including four three-pointers. Jameson was right behind with ten points, and Gonzalez added seven. Mukiibi and Paulino did their job down low, coming down with nine and eight rebounds, respectively. Each added a handful of points as well.
The Knights came out in the next game against Bristol with a bit of momentum from the previous win. They played well during much of the game, even out-rebounding Bristol 49-35. But they struggled to shoot the ball again, only hitting 31.7 percent of their shots and 19.2 percent from the field. Although they forced 14 turnovers, NECC committed 12 on their end, continuing the trend of bad ball handling. The defense faltered in the overtime period and Bristol was able to take a commanding lead.
The big men in the middle were the stars of this one. Mukiibi and Paulino both recorded double-doubles, with Mukiibi scoring 18 points and pulling down 14 rebounds and Paulino netting 14 points and 18 rebounds. The two of them combined for more rebounds than the entire starting five for Bristol. Gonzalez and Jameson also came to play, with Gonzalez scoring 14 points and Jameson scoring 11.
The Knights now stand at 6-11 on the season. With only ten games left to go, it’s going to be a fairly tough road to register even a .500 record. NECC still faces tough tests against teams like Roxbury Community College, Holyoke Community College and the University of Connecticut at Avery Point.
The one thing going for the Knights is that most of the remaining games are at home, but that is of little comfort to a team that is still struggling to put the ball in the net.
Tag Archives: Sports
NECC baseball players talk sports and school
Have you ever thought of joining a sports team here at Northern Essex? Think you wouldn’t have time to juggle classes, work and a sport? Wrong! The students on the NECC baseball team beg to differ.
Baseball is an all American sport. Here’s some of the NECC baseball players giving their opinion on college sports:
Ryan Mcauliffe:
#19
Playing baseball since the age of 5
2 year pitcher at NECC
“Gets you in the right direction for college , it has a nice set schedule but is strict.”
Harrison Smoske:
#6
Playing baseball since the age of 1
1 year center at NECC
“Gets you involved , it’s somewhat strict although sometimes it is tough with work.”
Jake Rogers:
#16
Playing baseball since the age of 1
3 year 1st basemen at NECC
“Helps with school, and you got to keep your grades up because its strict.”
Zarif Pajazetovic
# 28
Playing baseball since the age of 7
2 year pitcher at NECC
“It gives you something to do through the semester.”
Ryley Wannock
#5
Playing baseball since the age of 3
2 year shortstop at NECC
“You have to keep your grades up and be responsible.”
Mac Singleton
#8
Playing baseball since the age of 3
2 year 2nd basemen at NECC
“You get a great experience being on the team.”
Coach Jeff Mejia, who has been coaching the team for 3 years now, said the advantage of students playing in a college atmosphere rather than in high school is that “many students tend to be more focused in the classroom when playing a college sport, as their time is limited, so they tend to get their assignments and studying done sooner than later.”
NECC is a great segue for the players to move on to four-year schools.
A lot of the players mentioned how it can be strict being on a college team.
“We as an athletic department work very well with the registration and advising center to help all our athletes excel in and out of the classroom,” said Mejia.
The team is alike a family. The way the coaches and the players interact with each other really shows their love for the game.
Taylor Robin has her eyes on the prize
By Nicholas Mazzone
People hate working out, and can never keep up with it. They start working out and then quit a week after. What if the key to working out was social media? One fitness fanatic who uses social media to push her to keep working out and keep her eyes on the prize is Taylor Robin, a student at NECC. Taylor is fitness fanatic. She loves to working out and helping inspire people to do the same.
Robin grew up in Massachusetts her whole life. She was born on June 23, 1994 in Lawrence General with her two parents, Charlene and Tim Traynor from Methuen, Mass. She attended Timony Grammar School in Methuen, Mass.
While she was in middle school, she played softball, basketball, cross country, and she was also a cheerleader. She also did many other activities in middle school such as chorus and theater.
Robin graduated from middle school in 2008 and then attended Central Catholic High School in Lawrence, Mass. While she was there, she enjoyed making new friends and also played multiple sports. She was a three year varsity cheerleader for the Raiders. She then graduated from there in 2012 and started her transition from high school to college.
After high school, Robin decided to attend NECC to help her figure out what she wanted to do in life. She is currently a student studying multimedia and hoping one day to become a big time movie producer.
While attending NECC, Robin became a fitness fanatic and has fallen in love with working out. Working out makes her feel good and helps her motivate herself to become a better person.
“I work out to become a better person, and make myself grow and become a better individual,” said Robin.
Robin looks to friends and social media for motivation. The biggest part that helps her go to the gym every day is social media. Social media plays in a big role for Robin. She has been following fitness blogs for pretty much her whole life and has always thought it would be cool to have one of her own. So one day she decided to create one, to help her achieve her workout goals.
Robin started her blog to help her motivate herself and push her to workout. She posts pictures of her daily workout, the calories she burned and her time. She does this every day to help her motivate herself and show that people can do it if they put the work into it.
Chelsea Flanagan, a student at NECC, is Taylor’s best friend and always pushes Robin to go the gym. Robin works out every day with her friends Flanagan and Nodine Webster, another student at NECC. They run and do all their workouts together.
Flanagan loves how Robin posts her workouts to social media all the time. She feels inspired by her. Flanagan said, “by posting pictures on social media it helps inspire others and also helps you stay on track and finish your workout every day, social media is great for the fitness world.”
Social media has been benefiting fitness world for many years now. Many people now have blogs to help motivate people and push them to work out. Many people struggle with trying to work out every day, but if you log onto a social media site, there is plenty of inspiration all around.
“Seeing others post pictures helped me motivate myself to do the same,” said Robin.
Robin saw all her social media friends posting work out videos and pictures of all of them getting into shape and she thought, that can be her one day. She then decided to create an account on Instagram, in which people can follow her progress, and watch her workout.
Students can follow her progress on Instagram at @trobinfitness.
NECC student Connor Emo is impressed with Robin’s progress. He sees her in the gym an said, “she’s a hard worker, and she’s in the gym all the time.”
Social media is key to working out, according to Robin.
Women’s basketball gearing up for season
NECC women’s basketball coach Brent Bass has been working since last winter to bring a competitive women’s basketball team to the floor for the 2014-2015 season. Coach Bass, in his first year as the head coach, has been recruiting at high schools all over the area over the past year in hopes of bringing in new talent.
Bass spent a lot of time speaking with local high school coaches and asking about players they have who are interested in attending NECC. High schools in Lawrence, Lowell, Methuen, Haverhill and southern New Hampshire were all contacted. Bass also attended various summer leagues and camps for high school players, hoping to scout recruits for this year and possibly the 2015-2016 season. Over this past summer, Bass has spent time following up with many of these recruits and gauging their interest in the program.
In addition, Bass has taken advantage of the many open houses that NECC offers, and he has gotten plenty of exposure for the program, which has been an issue in the past. Coach Bass’s goal is to make the program more visible not only around campus but also in the community. He understands that there are other programs for these players to choose. Bass even admits that he has lost a few recruits to nearby Middlesex Community College and other Division III basketball programs, which he says is “just a part of the game.”
“There’s a lot of options out there, so you really have to sell the NECC product to these girls. That means education and basketball,” said Bass.
Coach Bass has plenty of work still to do with his team. Once he has a satisfactory amount of players to commit, which he hopes will be 10-12, he has to make sure that those commitments are kept. Bass knows that, as community college students, there are many other commitments, such as a job or a family, that can take priority over basketball.
In response to this, Bass is making an effort to make the team much more accessible for the players. One way he is doing this is with the flexibility of practice times. On Mondays and Wednesdays, which are known to be heavier schoolwork days, Bass runs practice later in the day at 7 p.m. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, the lighter workload days, practice begins at 3 p.m. In addition, the will be practice on Saturday mornings.
Bass hopes that this staggered practice schedule will help those players who may have work after class some days during the week, or have one day where classes run until the evening. This way, all of the players will be able to make it to some practice over the course of the week, even if they can’t make it to every single one.
As far as the way practices are run, coach Bass has a system that he’s been using in his years as an AAU coach in the area. He has a simple playing philosophy that he is always repeating: “defense, rebound, and run.” In order to play this style well, Bass focuses on many different skill work drills, such as dribbling and passing, in order to help ensure ball control. Ball control is a large part of Bass’s game plan, as well as a tight, clamp-down defense.
Bass is a big proponent of playing smart basketball. His practices are very regimented, focused on building up players’ fundamentals and learning to execute plays. He also knows that basketball is a game of running and jumping, so conditioning is a big part of his preparation.
“I think it’s one of the more physically taxing sports out there, and you need to be able to run,” said Bass.
Practices are fast-paced, changing between drills with little rest, and consist of various cardio-workouts and team drills.
Practice begins on Monday, Oct. 6 in the Sport and Fitness Center. This gives the Knights just over a month to prepare for their first game against Lincoln Technical Institute on November 8. This season, the schedule is heaviest in the months of November and January. The Knights kick off the season with six games before Thanksgiving break, and there are 10 games in January once winter break is over.
Coach Bass uses his past experiences as a coach and instructor to help him lead the Knights this year. Bass has been an AAU instructor and coach since 1999. In those 15 years of experience, he has been a coach for the Bay State Blizzards programs and has also coached various ages from both genders. Bass came to NECC in 2012 as an assistant coach, and took over the head coaching position in the summer of 2013. He knows that the key to getting good players is selling the school as well as the program, and he’s already been doing so.
“I would love to build a program here. It’s going to be a quality program that will represent the school well,” Bass said.
The test begins on October 6, when Bass and his new recruits begin their preparations for a great 2014-2015 season. With a tough schedule on the horizon, the hard work is going to have to begin right away.
NECC Knights softball preparing for Spring 2015
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.
Fall 2014 Basketball Preview
The NECC Knights men’s basketball team begins their season in a few weeks, and excitement is building around the program this year. Although the Knights lost several players last year, a solid core of returning sophomores plan to anchor a young team with plenty of athleticism.
Ryan Grant, Parker Rogers, and Chris Corey plan to bring some veteran leadership to the relatively young Knights squad.
Chris Corey, a Knights captain this season, is excited to get the year started.
“I just want to start playing. I’ve been waiting all summer,” Corey said.
When asked about his summer preparations, Corey made it clear he is looking to make a splash this year.
“I’ve been playing more than ever this summer, anywhere I can get on the court. I’ve been really dedicated, I’m finally taking it seriously.”
Head Coach Darren Stratton says, because of the youth, the team will strive more for chemistry than anything else this year.
“I like the recruiting class we’ve brought in, we’re just looking to take things one game at a time and improve every day,” Stratton said.
The new Knights lack size, with their tallest player at roughly 6’5″. Because of that, Stratton plans to take a more up-tempo approach to the offense this season. He plans on playing an open post scheme, which focuses more on perimeter play and will showcase the Knights’ athletic ability and the open up many three-point opportunities.
With the abundance of wing players at Stratton’s disposal, the opportunities for slashing to the basket and getting points in the paint will be plentiful. If the Knights can also show the ability to team rebound, the Knights will be in it until the end.
In addition to running a wide-open offensive scheme, the Knights will be looking to do a lot of full and half court press defense. With a good press defense, the Knights would be able to put pressure on the opposing teams all the way up the floor, causing disruptions in the passing game and slowing down potential fast breaks.
The Knights will open their season Saturday, Nov. 1, 2014 at New Hampshire Technical Institute in Concord, N.H. After that, the Knights will play nine of their next 14 games on the road, including trips to the University of Connecticut at Avery Point in Groton, Conn. and Vermont Tech in Randolph Center, Vt.
The Knights’ first home game will be 10 days later, on Nov. 11, against Gateway Community College of New Haven, Conn.
Other home games of note are a showdown with Roxbury Community College of Roxbury, Mass., whom the Knights swept in two meetings last season, on Thursday, Jan. 15, and a conference matchup with Massasoit Community College on Thursday, Feb. 5.
Practice hasn’t started yet, but the Knights had a meeting to begin the year on Monday, Sept. 9 at 4 p.m. in room D129 of the Sport and Fitness Center of the Haverhill campus. Twenty prospective players attended the meeting along with Stratton and Assistant Coach Joe Tardif.
The meeting was mainly an orientation to the program, with the coaches collecting physicals for players and handing out the rules for eligibility and the NJCAA Code of Conduct.
“We’re all looking for a productive, winning season and trying to build on last year,” said Chris Corey, the team captain.
Come to the Sport and Fitness Center
There are plenty of activities at the Sport and Fitness Center on Haverhill for students to participate in and to help get their blood flowing while dealing with classes and heavy workloads this semester. The school year can be stressful, and the Sport and Fitness Center can be a great place to unwind.
The Sport and Fitness Center offers programs for all kinds of students, no matter their physical or schedule limitations.
There are group programs available during the week throughout the semester, including functional movement, cardio-boxing, and bootcamp.
The functional movement class uses stretching and bodyweight exercises to help create strength and mobility throughout the whole body, helping to prevent injury and improve general wellbeing.
Cardio-boxing is an intense 30-minute interval workout, implementing boxing techniques with three-minute rounds of workouts with one-minute rest periods in between. Utilizing a circuit training program, bootcamp offers a quick, high intensity, full body workout that tones muscle and burns calories.
Each of these group programs have already begun their classes for the semester on Sept. 15, but there is no registration necessary, and new students are welcome anytime.
Classes are offered at different points during the week in order to try to accommodate student schedules, with functional movement being held on Thursdays at 11 a.m. in room D133, cardio-boxing on Tuesdays at 12 p.m. in room D133, and bootcamp on Wednesdays at 4:30 p.m. in room D133.
The Sport and Fitness Center also offers a student personal training program where students can meet one on one with a student personal trainer. The trainers are usually movement science majors, although sometimes they include recent graduates as well.
The program consists of meeting with a student personal trainer for one hour a week for 10 weeks. With their trainers, students will create and work to meet specific personal fitness goals. These programs are generally for beginners, but all skill levels are accepted. All programs are supervised by Rob Parker, MS CSCS NSCA PT.
Parker says that they are always looking for new participants at the Fitness Center, and welcome anyone to come in and use the equipment with a valid school ID.
In order to draw some of these new members in, the program offers small incentives for achieving various workout goals through the 10 weeks. Students can win prizes such as headphones, a backpack or a Northern Essex sweatshirt. Parker hopes that these small incentives at the beginning will entice exercisers to stick with the program, and the fitness improvements will then speak for themselves.
Students who are interested in the student personal training program are encouraged to contact Rob Parker at (978) 556-3823 or stop by the Sport and Fitness Center in room D133 on the Haverhill campus.
One professor at the college has found an interesting way to get students involved with the Sports and Fitness Center. Professor Liliana Brand is a math professor who offers bonus points to students in her classes if they go and utilize the Sport and Fitness Center. This includes group programs, the student personal training programs, or just using the gym and the facilities at leisure. Twenty five visits to the gym in the semester will earn a student the bonus points from Brand.
One student in one of Professor Brand’s calculus II classes, Chienell Coleman, is certainly enthused by the prospect of getting bonus points simply for getting exercise.
Coleman said, “Not only is she strengthening our minds in class, she is encouraging us to strengthen our bodies as well.”
Rob Parker is also a fan of Brand’s plan to get students to use the Sport and Fitness Center.
When asked about the bonus points opportunity, Parker said, “S=she really values the health benefits, and also getting students involved on campus, which is great for us.”
Regular open gym hours for the fall semester are 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Mon. through Thurs., and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Friday.
Students who may be interested in being active on campus but don’t want to use the actual gym can participate in intramural sports. Sports such as soccer, flag football, volleyball and others are played throughout the week on the field in the courtyard outside of the Sport and Fitness Center and Spurk Building. Just last Friday, a group of 16 students of all backgrounds and genders organized themselves, picked teams, and had an hour-long soccer match on the field.
Students interested in playing or signing up for intramural sports should visit the recreation/intramurals bulletin board in the main lobby of the Sport and Fitness Center on Haverhill campus. All students are encouraged to participate.
Women’s sports teams struggle with membership
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.
Upcoming NECC varsity meetings and tryouts
Following are the upcoming NECC varsity meetings and tryouts available to all enrolled NECC students.
Volleyball: currently running practices Mon. through Fri. from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Stop by practice on the Haverhill campus by the Sport and Fitness Center if interested
Baseball: tryouts are Saturday, Sept. 6 at 9 a.m. on the baseball field on Haverhill campus
Softball: meeting on Monday, Sept. 8 at 3 p.m. in the lobby of the Sport and Fitness Center on Haverhill campus
Men’s basketball: meeting on Monday, Sept. 8 at 4 p.m. in D129 (Sport and Fitness Center) on Haverhill campus
Women’s basketball: meeting on Monday, Sept. 15 at noon in D129 (Sport and Fitness Center) on Haverhill campus
Track & field: Meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 8 at 5 p.m. in the lobby of the Sport and Fitness Center on Haverhill Campus
NECC Sport’s Preview Fall 2014
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.
