Recruit Oswego? Oswego who?
There is a time all athletes wait their whole life for, recruitment. Looking for a recruit is tough, you are looking for a unique individual that fits in with your program. It takes coaches months to scout and find someone with talent and academic drive to move their team forward. They travel to showcases, and watch regular season games of all the incredible players out there ready to join a college team. It’s not only a challenge for the coaches but also the athlete. They must do what’s in their best interest for their future and move forward in their career.
Hockey in the United States is unique, when in the states, you get players from all over the world looking to move out of university hockey and into college hockey. This way they can go to college full time while playing the sport they love. Each college in the states can offer different things.
Oswego State hockey would be no different, but what they must offer the players is more than most schools can in their division.
Head Coach Ed Gosek, of the men’s hockey team would say, “This team has been nothing but consistent for eight years. With seven out of the eight years going to the championship and five out of those seven going to the final four. This is more than many other teams in division three can say for themselves”. He is a proud coach that takes pride in their consistency and the program they offer at OSU and picking the right guys to represent that is a process.
Ed would go on to tell me how it’s important to look for the guys that stand out the most. They need to show their determination and pride because this is their last shot until the next season. Hockey is unlike other sports in the sense that you can play at an older age. This can include a 24-year-old freshman starting on a team. Although a lot of the players will choose to go with a D1 school, Ed and his team of scouts will mention to them that Oswego has much to offer if they decide to choose Oswego. Including their past 10 years of consistency which includes a national championship in 2007. Oswego is in a location where they can get players from all over, and the Canadian players play a big part in this because their location is just hours from Oswego. Plus, the cost was cheaper and aided.
Coach said that at the end of the day even if their skills are great they worry about their academics because it’s a reflection on how seriously they take their responsibilities and the program. This will determine how far the boys will go not only in their career but the teams career. Ed says that “time management is key, everything you do from over 100 practices to taking 12 credits of school has to be managed perfectly”.
When player Cedrick Hansen would talk about his venture to Oswego State for a visit he mentioned a couple things that caught his eye with the campus and the team. Hansen said, “When you walk into the rink you see that big yellow banner of championships, that with the combination of terrific atmosphere and community support along with great arena makes Oswego such an attractive place to play.” He saw the consistency of team right away and that is something many players mentioned they loved about looking into Oswego’s program. For the coaches that was a great sign because it didn’t take much for a recruit to be sold.
For Hansen, many schools reached out with interest but not many would have engineering major and that was one of the biggest decisions on where he was to play hockey. Oswego can recruit much easier due to it having such a huge range of majors from zoology to communications. Not many schools offer as many and are able to accommodate each person’s needs for the future.
When recruiting students like Mitch Herlihey from Canada, Oswego is unique in the sense that they have a huge range of international programs and aids. The university is very diverse they are able offer international student’s scholarships which makes it an easy pick for international players. Players that are from outside the country can get scholarships if they stay on campus which was a good fit for many coming into the states for the first time living on their own.
Herlihey one of Oswego’s now star players told me that one of the reasons he was influenced other than the international program to come to OSU was after meeting the coach and the team he had a good feeling about the program. His friends were already on the team, with the help of luck and networking he could get the coach to reach out. The coach had given him a call and talked hockey and he was able to pay a visit to show some of his skills. He was already a great player, playing in juniors and some travel teams in Canada but Oswego offered more than university ever could. He could go to school full time and play for a great program at an incredible price.
Both players could get into their major and grow academically. Coach has imbedded in their minds that hockey is important but your grades need to show your work ethic. Currently the Oswego men’s hockey team has the number one team GPA at Oswego. They can keep the best GPA while making it into championships. This makes it a great pick for players coming in because they see they can benefit in both school and hockey career.
Oswego, being a little town just shy of Syracuse it is often looked by but when you are talking hockey it should be one of the first schools that comes to mind. Players from all over have started to notice and are becoming more interested in the program. With leading in facilities in division 3 and having one of the most amazing fan basis, Oswego is the hockey town.
