Re: Union College Dutchwomen 2015-16 thread
There’s a lot of recent talk here from several longtime contributors, who have revealed they get it—youth hockey develops girls who can move into competitive travel girls hockey, and who know how ‘mentoring participants’ (coaches and/or friends of coaches) recognize and develop talent. Union may not offer scholarships, but a degree from Union has impact in a post-college athlete’s life, where employment is more likely outside hockey than in it. Getting a chance to compete at a D-1 level, with a great degree at the end, can recruit talent to the team, especially if a good turn-around coach is leading it.
We have a situation at Union where either/both the college and the coach know that this embarrassment cannot continue. If the coach will leave voluntarily before her contract is up, that would give the AD perhaps a year to recruit with imagination and reward: are there any coaches out there who could see the enticement of turning a program around, of taking a three year contract in a Northeast city that is relatively small and affordable, but is still accessible to Boston, NY, Montreal, even Buffalo and Toronto, in a city that has an AHL franchise, and at a college that has a high level mens program? Can anyone suggest names with whom the AD might initiate conversations? Three years to recruit, train and lead a team to a transformation—maybe not, probably not to the top of the league, but would ‘winning’ be demonstrating the pure talent as a coach who could lead a Union team to mid-level performance in three years?
There’s a lot of recent talk here from several longtime contributors, who have revealed they get it—youth hockey develops girls who can move into competitive travel girls hockey, and who know how ‘mentoring participants’ (coaches and/or friends of coaches) recognize and develop talent. Union may not offer scholarships, but a degree from Union has impact in a post-college athlete’s life, where employment is more likely outside hockey than in it. Getting a chance to compete at a D-1 level, with a great degree at the end, can recruit talent to the team, especially if a good turn-around coach is leading it.
We have a situation at Union where either/both the college and the coach know that this embarrassment cannot continue. If the coach will leave voluntarily before her contract is up, that would give the AD perhaps a year to recruit with imagination and reward: are there any coaches out there who could see the enticement of turning a program around, of taking a three year contract in a Northeast city that is relatively small and affordable, but is still accessible to Boston, NY, Montreal, even Buffalo and Toronto, in a city that has an AHL franchise, and at a college that has a high level mens program? Can anyone suggest names with whom the AD might initiate conversations? Three years to recruit, train and lead a team to a transformation—maybe not, probably not to the top of the league, but would ‘winning’ be demonstrating the pure talent as a coach who could lead a Union team to mid-level performance in three years?
