High aspirations for season return
Will Harrington
Issue date: 9/16/09 Section: Sports
When the Colby College football squad trudged off Seaverns Field last November after its season-ending loss to Bowdoin College, the Mules didn't take time off to agonize over a hard fought 3-5 season. Instead, they hit the ground running on improving and solidifying the new version of the team that will take the field for their home opening scrimmage this Friday at 7 p.m. vs. Bates College.
"We had a great off-season," besixth year Head Coach Ed Mestieri believes.
"We experienced a remarkable level of growth physically and grew as a team as well." In a testament to their spring and summer workouts, every player on the roster passed a difficult conditioning test upon arrival in August. Coach Mestieri believes such an achievement is "unprecedented." Additionally, with a relatively young team- 47 of the team's 72 players are either freshmen or sophomores- it was also important for the off-season to foster a sense of team unity. Many players took part in team building activities.
"We were involved in a number of volunteer projects within the Colby and Waterville community," Mestieri said. "We did a number of team activities such as bowling, paint ball and going to see the Portland Sea Dogs."
An off-season that has set the foundations for strong team chemistry seems to have players chomping at the bit to get on the field and execute. When asked about team goals, senior co-captain and starting offensive guard Matt Quinlan '10 definitively responded, "We are going to win. We have set our minds to this and it is the only acceptable outcome in our eyes." Co-captain and fellow senior Roger Bel '10 also claimed, "everyone on our program is excited about this team."
Unfortunately, even amongst the positive rhetoric, roster turnover remains the nature of college football. Bel still believes his team is built to absorb the departure of many key fixtures from last year.
"Even though we lost a number of starters from last year, we still have a good core of guys ready to step up on both sides of the ball, and a few younger players slotted to take on an increased roll," said Bel. Colby's offense, defense and special teams all have changed dramatically from last year's versions.
"We had a great off-season," besixth year Head Coach Ed Mestieri believes.
"We experienced a remarkable level of growth physically and grew as a team as well." In a testament to their spring and summer workouts, every player on the roster passed a difficult conditioning test upon arrival in August. Coach Mestieri believes such an achievement is "unprecedented." Additionally, with a relatively young team- 47 of the team's 72 players are either freshmen or sophomores- it was also important for the off-season to foster a sense of team unity. Many players took part in team building activities.
"We were involved in a number of volunteer projects within the Colby and Waterville community," Mestieri said. "We did a number of team activities such as bowling, paint ball and going to see the Portland Sea Dogs."
An off-season that has set the foundations for strong team chemistry seems to have players chomping at the bit to get on the field and execute. When asked about team goals, senior co-captain and starting offensive guard Matt Quinlan '10 definitively responded, "We are going to win. We have set our minds to this and it is the only acceptable outcome in our eyes." Co-captain and fellow senior Roger Bel '10 also claimed, "everyone on our program is excited about this team."
Unfortunately, even amongst the positive rhetoric, roster turnover remains the nature of college football. Bel still believes his team is built to absorb the departure of many key fixtures from last year.
"Even though we lost a number of starters from last year, we still have a good core of guys ready to step up on both sides of the ball, and a few younger players slotted to take on an increased roll," said Bel. Colby's offense, defense and special teams all have changed dramatically from last year's versions.
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