Photo Courtesy of Stonehill Athletics
Seniors Madison Seymour and Jennifer Worden pose with Head Coach Trisha Brown and assistant coaches Kara Kelly and Shelby Buck on Senior Night.
By Rachel Galatis
EASTON- Campus sports teams modified their recruitment processes to adhere to Coronavirus regulations in order to prepare for the upcoming fall season.
Normally, teams spend both their “on” and “off” seasons recruiting potential players. Coaches will attend high school and club-related games, prospects will attend team practices, followed by an overnight stay with players in their dorms to get a grasp of what a day in the life of a Stonehill athlete is like. This year, recruits are not allowed on campus, forcing teams to strategize.
Noah Lucier, a junior on the baseball team, said that the recruitment process has been difficult due to restrictions since coaches are not allowed to go watch games.
“This year has made it harder to truly evaluate a player on their skills without seeing them play and only being able to go off a video they sent the coaches,” Lucier said.
The team currently stands with an 11-12 overall record and a 6-10 conference record. The season started about a month late, as the first part of their season was canceled.
Lucier said that the freshmen are lucky to be on a sports team because this has helped them make friends despite all the restrictions on campus.
"It was hard for a freshman to make friends with classes mostly online and no social gatherings, so with being on a team you automatically have 30+ friends who will be there for you for anything you may need regarding school or just life, which is important especially this year with everything that is going on,” he said.
In-person social activities and gatherings are now limited, making it harder for students to make friends. Recruiting offers the chance for potential student-athletes to get to know the team before they move onto campus.
Patrick Boen, the head baseball coach, said that recruiting was hard last summer because no one was allowed on campus.
“With Stonehill being closed to visitors most of the year and indoor access being limited, that has had a major impact on prospective student athletes seeing our campus. That is a huge selling point for us,” he said.
Baseball isn’t the only team trying to maintain some sort of recruitment process.
The men’s rugby team started recruiting at the beginning of the season last fall; they want to make sure they will have enough replacements for when the seniors leave since they make up most of the team, according to Tye Skeldon, a sophomore.
“We try to keep an open-door policy for the team, as we believe that everyone has something they can bring to the table and will definitely be making a stronger push in the fall once things are a little more normal again and we can reach more people on campus,” he said.
Another way teams spread the word about what is going on is through social media. Each team has their own variety of social media platforms to help recruit players by sharing game footage, statistics, and team announcements.
The most popular accounts used are Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
Skeldon said he encourages anyone who might be interested to follow their social media accounts “@hillmensrugby” and looks forward to having a normal season in the fall.
“I am looking forward to getting back to more traditional practices and having to worry less about the rules associated with the pandemic, assuming we are in a better place by the time we return,” he said.
Experts say they are still uncertain as to what the world will look like in terms of college sports and how seasons will be conducted.
If sports are forced to modify their seasons in accordance with guidelines yet again in the fall, this will be the fifth season affected by the pandemic.
Victoria Lombardi, a sophomore on the women’s cross-country team, said that she hopes the incoming freshman will be able to compete in the fall and experience a normal team dynamic, since her and the rest of the team were not able to this season.
“Running is often seen as a very individual sport, but what a lot of people don’t realize is how truly important it is to have teammates that hold you accountable when training gets tough,” she said.
Cross-country isn’t the only team that didn’t get the chance to compete. Other teams include men’s hockey, men’s and women’s basketball, women’s swimming, women’s equestrian, and men’s and women’s indoor track and field.
Springs sports have been given the “green light” to resume competition by the NCAA division board.
Lombardi said that as stressful as this pandemic has been, she hopes high school athletes enjoy the recruitment process and use it to look forward to a “normal” season in the future.
“My best advice to student-athletes searching for a program that’s the right fit for them is to just relax and try to enjoy the process, because finding your people and having an outlet through sport makes it all worth it,” she said.
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