After a 20 year hiatus, the MCLA Men’s Hockey team is back on the ice. The team’s return is one of the latest efforts MCLA has made in improving the college’s athletics programming. Despite the time, work, and money put in, however, the college’s athletics department has seen high turnover among coaching staff, little continuity in offered sports from year to year, and the quiet addition of the Esports team. With so much upheaval and expense tied to the college’s athletics, many students aren’t sure it is worth all the fuss and are left wondering if the school wasn’t truly ready to revive the hockey team. Could the effort it took to haul back the program after a two decade break have been better applied elsewhere?
MCLA’s ice hockey program is currently taking the lion’s share of the athletics budget. Yet, a visit to the Trailblazer’s home ice, Peter W. Foote Vietnam Veterans Memorial Skating Rink, or walk through other athletics facilities on campus makes it clear the college didn’t have the correct resources to bring this team back. The rink, affectionally known as Foote Memorial, is severely outdated, with a low capacity for fans, who sometimes number nearly 300 at home games, and no locker rooms. It’s also on the smaller side for an NCAA rink.
Despite the setbacks, Head Coach Jeremiah Ketts still led his team to the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) play-offs in only the program’s second year back on campus, a feat he attributes to his “unwavering commitment to [our] players and our culture [that] finally reared its head in our biggest moments,” and an incredibly persistent team.
While it might not have ended with a trophy, as they fell to Fitchburg State in the final game, the Trailblazers did bring home a lot of good publicity for the hockey program. “The hockey world may be big, but word travels fast within it,” said sophomore forward Addam Brunner.
Well-known hockey commentator and MCLA Alum Bryan McGonigle, class of 1997, or as he is better known on social media, “Rear Admiral,” put eyes on his alma mater when he tweeted out to over 150,000 of his followers that MCLA hockey “has lots to hang their head high about.” The Trailblazer’s post-season run was deemed a “Cinderella run ending in a game short.”
While general improvements have been promised to the players, little to no progress has been made, causing frustration among the team and coaches.
Sophomore forward Sean Schifferl points to their damaged gear as one of the biggest sticking points. “[I] can’t even count how many guys have ripped gloves, ripped pants, broken shin pads.”
Hockey is an extremely physical game; even for players at higher levels of the sport, with access to the best equipment, injuries are omnipresent. MCLA’s lack of proper equipment is worrying—not only for the safety of the college’s athletes, but for their ability to play all out in a game.
Improper equipment is just one facet of what Schifferl calls MCLA’s “revolving door of promises.” The hockey program was told they would be receiving state-of-the-art locker rooms in their rink. “After two years of a promised locker room, we still don’t have one,” said sophomore forward for the women’s team, Maggie Danchak. She described the team’s temporary locker room as a “locker room/closet”, and even that has been taken over by the rink.
While athletics staff are striving to make improvements where they can, Athletic Director Laura Mooney says the limiting issue is budgetary. In comparison to the other MASCAC colleges, MCLA is at a distinct disadvantage.
“A school like Bridgewater has 6,500 students and has an athletic budget of $4,500,000+ compared to MCLA with 1,000 students and an athletic budget less than $2,000,000,” said Mooney. Much of this funding goes towards transportation and equipment for the college’s teams. A lot of this funding goes towards transportation and equipment for all of the teams here at MCLA.
Despite their limitations, the athletics department has two large products they are working on. Their main focus, as of now is “a turf baseball field and a renovated locker room down at the rink for the hockey teams,” said Mooney. She went on to list several steps they had recently taken, including meetings with an architect for the rink project and getting estimates from turf companies for the field.
Just as the hockey program has suffered for lack of locker rooms, MCLA’s baseball program has been struggling to cope without a useable field. The team has held fewer home games and even needed to use other local fields to host games.
When these projects are finally completed, MCLA will be much more competitive, compared to other MASCAC schools.
While the rink and field are taking up a majority of the athletics department’s focus, there are other projects going in the background. Following the loss of the college’s tennis program, Mooney is hoping to add locker rooms where the tennis courts currently stand that would serve MCLA’s soccer, lacrosse, baseball, and softball teams. She is also hoping to add new scoreboards for the Amsler Campus Center gym, which would serve the volleyball and basketball programs.
For her part, Mooney has made a promise to MCLA’s athletes. “[A]s long as I am AD, I will continue to push the department every way possible to provide the best possible experience for student-athletes.” Her heart is in the cause, but with the lack of numbers and funding, there is only so much she can do.
Schifferl acknowledged the support the athletic department has provided, showing up for their teams. “They help promote the games, they come and support—as players we really see that and appreciate it from everyone that comes out.”
According to him, while the athletics department may struggle in some aspects, they do their best to bring the hype.
“It’s starting to align with other colleges who have similar facilities,” said Assistant Athletics Director Dot Houston. “So, even though I’m still funding, we are still finding ways to stay competitive with other schools.” She mentioned working to improve the Trailblazers’ health and to “anticipate our student-athletes needs in practice and games.”
It’s not just athletes who benefit, either. “Athletics is a fundamental part of any college,” said Rory DeVinuto, a sophomore theater major at MCLA. “[It] brings a sense of community, and having your entire school cheer for one thing feels really connecting.” The effects of improvements made to the college’s athletics programs ripple out to the rest of the campus community.
In many ways, MCLA’s athletics department is severely lacking. Despite it all, the staff are putting in their best efforts to put the college in a better place. The support they show for their teams, with or without the funds to back it up, is admirable, and stands as a reminder to the rest of the campus community to support our student athletes: go to their games, participate in their fundraisers, and most of all, always cheer.
