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A class project of CMA 304

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Coaches look to build on young Blazer team

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blazers basketbball

By: Brandon Green

Even though the Hood College men’s basketball team lost three seniors last year, the coaches believe that five new freshman and 10 returning players strikes the balance between youth and experience.

“We have plenty of guys to fill those guy’s shoes,” head coach Chad Dickman said. “They’re big shoes to fill, but we have so many good players that we should be able to fill it by quality and quantity.”

This recruiting class is a little smaller than in years past, according to Dickman. The Blazer’s usually bring in about five to eight freshman players.

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New lights illuminate Hood athletics

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lightsBy Mason Cavalier//

You may have noticed a new figure protruding from the Rosemont Avenue skyline this fall, courtesy of Hood College. Those figures, especially after dark, reveal themselves to be the new floodlights that surround Hood College’s Thomas Athletic Field. The lights obviously offer illumination for those on the field, but according to Hood’s Associate Director of Athletics Jack “Coach” Mehl, they also offer much more than that.

The lights, which were installed in June last summer, had been a wish list item for the athletic department ever since the turf arrived in 2009, so what was the hold up? “Well it was expensive,” Said Mehl. “President Chapdelaine made a commitment to get the lights up and worked with the Athletic Department, her office, and [the Office of] Institutional Advancement, and they did some fundraising for the lights.”

The lights have given Hood’s Athletic Department more flexibility than ever, allowing practices to be held past sundown, and letting teams play “under the lights.” According to Mehl, “It’s been nice because we have some part-time coaches, so the best time for them to practice would be early in the morning, and it used to be that at 6 o’clock it’s light for a little while, but in the middle of September its darker.”

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Men’s lacrosse team struggles with weather, opponents

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By Amir Abdelrady//The Hood College Men’s lacrosse team experienced a rough start to their 2016 season due to snow, but now enter the third week with one win and two losses.

“Working around the snow was difficult,” said Brad Barber, head coach of the team. “With limited field time, it’s hard to implement a full-field, game scenario during practices, and it’s even harder to work the players’ with such little space.”

Along with multiple practices being cancelled or rescheduled before the season had begun, Hood’s season opener against Southern Virginia was cancelled on February 13th, due to inclement weather.

Junior captain, Nick Masucci felt very strongly about the cancellation of the season opener against Southern Virginia.

“The snow at the beginning of the season was really frustrating because it caused us to miss a lot of practices on the field, and even our first game,” said Masucci. “We didn’t get a chance to practice what we planned to execute during the season.”

“Having an extra game to play during the beginning of the season is always a good thing,” Barber adds. “It gives the players a chance to get out any butterflies and really get a feel for the field as it was in fact some of the players first collegiate level game.”

Lacrosse team

Members of the Hood lacrosse team.

The following week, the Blazers faced off against Rosemont on February 21st, but lost in the last few seconds 10-9.

“We could have won that game, and we should have,” said senior defensive captain, Tucker Palmer.  “We were up five to two at the half, but we just couldn’t hold the lead. Everyone was too tense.”

The Blazers were able to overcome their rough start as they clenched their first victory over Immaculata University ten to six on February 25th.

“The guys didn’t fold at all after the half, they came out knowing what they wanted, and followed through with the game plan,” Barber said. Palmer would seem to agree as he said “, the team went in with more of a game plan. We got ourselves ahead early in the game, and we simply stayed up.”

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Student athletes challenged to find balance

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By James Brown\\
Colleges want their students to be well rounded. In addition to academics, schools like their students tobe engaged in extracurricular activities, such as community service, playing an instrument, or playingsports.Students who choose to participate in collegiate athletics face different challenges than narps (non-athletic regular people).
Athletics forces students to use their time wisely. Between practice and travel it is not uncommon for student athletes to fall behind. Freshman athletes often struggle the most because they have not beenthrough a collegiate athletic season. They aren’t aware of the time commitment that comes with being a student athlete.
There are a number of ways for freshman athletes to ensure they do not fall behind. All freshman arerequired to attend at least 4 hours of study hall a week. Freshman athletes who don’t achieve a cumulative 2.3 GPA must continue going to study hall until they have met the requirements. Students believe that study hall helps give them a way to stay organized.

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Is Football in Hood’s Future?

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By James Brown//Hood College may soon be welcoming its own football program in the near future. Hood athletic director Tom Dickman says there has been conversations of their being a football team as early as the fall of 2016. Dickman noted that there are many factors that will influence the start of a football program.

The beginning of starting team would consist of finding a coach. Dickman would like to have a coach selected a year before playing. The process of finding a coach would be “advertised but we would possibly look for a local high school coach with connections within the area for recruiting purposes.” After finding a coach, the Blazers would need to find players willing to play in a brand new program. The players recruited to play football would potentially impact campus life by increasing class size and the amount of space in the dining hall and dormitories would decrease. The athletic facilities would need expanded as well. The Hodson Fitness Center would need to be bigger to accommodate an entire football team. BB&T arena would also need to add an additional locker room to the facility.

Dickman isn’t sure exactly where the team would play but said that the Blazers could rent a local football field to play its games. Dickman believes that the team could practice on the turf field if football lines are painted on it. However, it would be difficult for the team to find field time due to the schedules of other fall sports like field hockey and soccer. The lack of day light could also be an obstacle to work around.

The biggest obstacle would be the start up fees. The team would need a minimum of three full time coaches, a locker room, and equipment. The effects on campus life would also require money to be spent. Dickman believes the fees to start a program would build up quickly and be expensive but couldn’t give an estimate.

Dickman believes that the community, student population, and alumni would embrace the football team. Football offers an athletic event as well as a social event due to traditional tailgating which could lure in more fans. In order for that to be possible more parking would have to be put in place which is yet another expense.

Around campus, students believe that a football team would benefit the school. Sophomore Alex Villegas believes that a football team would be a great addition to Hood athletics. Villegas said “it would be nice to see a football team at hood. I would definitely go to games and tailgate if that would be allowed. That’s something I think a lot of students would be interested in.” Sophomore Nick Druelinger is in favor of a football team as well saying “”I think a football team energizes a campus. Games are an event everyone can look forward to. People from all circles go and interact and have a good time.”

Hood would play in the Division III Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC). There are currently 10 teams within the conference with football programs. Stevenson University and Misericordia University are the last two teams within the conference to add a football program within the last 10 years. Misericordia struggled this season ending the year with a record of 1-9. Stevenson was successful this past season finishing 8-3 while winning the ECAC Southeast Bowl.

A class project of CMA 304.