When it comes to college athletics, most of the attention goes to division 1 sports teams. Those squads get the publicity, events and even the NIL programs, but what deserves more recognition is our club teams.
The University of Maine’s club sports have been around for decades and have always held a place for our non-division one athletes to call home. The president of the men’s club lacrosse team, Benjamin Pierce, sat down with the Maine Campus for an interview to talk about his team.
“I think I started playing lacrosse in 4th or 5th grade. It wasn’t a big thing in the town I grew up in, but it slowly became a bigger thing, and I’ve been playing year-round since middle school.”
Pierce and the men’s lacrosse team have been consistently making noise in the Men’s College Lacrosse Association (MCLA). Last season, the Black Bears reached the Coastal Lacrosse Conference (CLC) Semifinals as the third seed. Pierce himself has had a big role in the team’s success, acting as not only President, but also as a coach and player.
“I’m also a player. I’m a midfielder, so I play midfield and play just as much as all the other guys. Trying to find the balance between the two, you know between being a player and an administrator. The biggest thing is thinking about what’s best for the team, if they need a leader in that moment, then you step out and bring yourself out of the player realm and become that leader.”
Pierce has brought that leadership in more than just one way. Not only does he coach on the sidelines of games but he organizes practice, as well as taking care of the early season preparations.
“So in the MCLA, we play in the CLC, which is our conference. So there’s a league meeting in October, and at that meeting we go over the rules and regulations, and we also have time set aside for scheduling.”
The travel can be quite a trip too, Pierce told stories about drives down to Southern
Connecticut State University, which is about 6 hours south.
With a club team, recruitment is more casual than it is at the D1 level, but it still takes work. “We hold a tryout in the fall, after some of our recruiting events, and then we get our 30 guys, that’s kind of the number we shoot for, that’s our travel roster. We practice all through the fall, as much as the university will let us, and then right when we get back here in the spring we start practicing as well.”
When asked about methods of recruitment, Pierce said “We usually put flyers out, and another big one is just word of mouth, that’s how I heard of the team … We also participate in the student involvement fair every fall, we’ll have a table out there, we bring a couple jerseys and a couple sticks and just talk to people as they come through, we get a lot of recruitment that way.”
When it comes to the game itself, that’s where Pierce and his team feel most at home. Last season, the Black Bears surged to the playoffs and hope to see that success grow this season. Pierce had a lot of credit to give to his team as well, noting that he couldn’t do what he does without the help of his team.
As for Pierce, he says he would love to stick with Lacrosse beyond college.
“I would love to either coach high school or see what level opens up, but I definitely intend to stick with lacrosse, whether that be pickup ball or if I can find a coaching role somewhere. I would love to keep my hand on the stick and contribute to the next generation.”
The Lacrosse team kicks off their season this spring, looking to make their way back to the playoffs and hopefully find themselves in contention for a championship.
