Re: UNH Wildcats 2013-14 Season Thread (Part 2)
http://board.uscho.com/showthread.p...eason-Thread&p=5710372&highlight=#post5710372
http://board.uscho.com/showthread.p...eason-Thread&p=5710848&highlight=#post5710848
http://board.uscho.com/showthread.p...eason-Thread&p=5710372&highlight=#post5710372
Well, let me fill you in on something. UNH's new admissions director has changed the foreign language requirement to be accepted into UNH. You need two years of a foreign language and ZERO exceptions are made. Guess how many years of a foreign language you need to graduate in British Columbia? ONE. This means I never would have went to UNH under their current guidelines, either would have Lanny Gare, Colin Hemingway, Brett Hemingway, etc. The only way UNH can recruit kids out in British Columbia is if they commit them during their sophomore or junior year of high school and can make sure they take two years. As you know, many top players do not emerge until they are 18 or 19---which is too late for UNH.
That is alot of fantastic players off the board. You see that kid playing for Providence named Nick Saracino? He took one year of foreign language and UNH couldnt recruit him. David Pope, a top player out in BC, is another UNH probably could have got, but he did meet the foreign language requirement and is now going to UNO. So, let me make this clear--- A kid from BC could have a 4.0 GPA and done everything in his province to graduate with honors, but UNH will not accept him without two years of a foreign language. That is what they are dealing with. That makes their jobs more challenging. They need to state and the school's administrators to get behind the team. That is a fact.
http://board.uscho.com/showthread.p...eason-Thread&p=5710848&highlight=#post5710848
There are more challenges and different obstacles. Foreign language is just one issue--their (admissions) expectations have gone up in regards to the type of student they now accept. So many former great players at UNH would not be admitted now. I am trying to paint a picture of reality here, but some individuals appear very adament about finger pointing at certain people.
One more comment---someone said that the foreign language requirement is a minor issue and UNH should just "get out in front of it." Well the problem with identifying and recruiting canadian kids at 15 years old, the age required to "get out in front of it," is that they have not gone through the gaunlet of major junior. Is it really worth recruiting these kids at 15 when more often than not the best ones will head to the CHL? You can see the impact this has had on Michigan. Generally speaking, kids from BC will get recruited out of the BCHL, usually during their senior year of high school--after they have passed on major junior. This is too late for UNH in most cases. I believe that exceptions need to be made for students who dont have to take two years of a foreign language to graduate from their high schools. Do you realize how hard it is to convince a kid to go to summer school and take spanish 2 when Michigan or BU is offering the kid a full scholorship and the kid doesnt have to go to summer school?
These are real challenges. These are real obstacles. I agree the facilities are not "needed." They would REALLY help, but you can still bring in the talent with the current infrastructure. What is needed is for the admissions office to bend. And please do not think that the athletic department has not done everything to make this happen. Men's hockey is not the only program this has hurt. Women's hockey at UNH has been under .500 the last three years. Look at when the new admissions people came in and you will see the Women's teams win total decrease each year.