Recruiting in Vermont: Not Just for the National Guard

Recruiting in Vermont: Not Just for the National Guard

Most people, when they hear "recruiting", will think of joining the army -- unless you're the coach of a smallish sports team in East Von Queek, then you understand the difficult process of soliciting good athletes to join your relatively unheard of team.

In the little town of Lyndon, Vermont, nothing much happens. There's one infamous hang out spot affectionately referred to as The Packer; there's an overflow of ridiculously large old buildings; and there's Lyndon State College, home of the Hornets. Oh, and yes, I mean the sports team, not the tiny and angry entities that invade the classroms in ACT all summer. So what is it that can bring some wicked good athletes to the this bit of the boondocks?
Money, you might say. Nope -- LSC basketball is Division Three, which means scholarships just don't happen. Fame? Don't make me laugh, I tend to snort. The beauty and serenity of an evening in the hills of New England, where you'll get mosquito bites in places where no mosquitos have dared to go before?
Not likely.
So what brings athletes to quaint little Lyndon State College?Recruiting.
Basically, the coaches of the teams go out and shamelessly beg for anyone with talent to camp out with us rednecks for four(ish) years. Well, maybe not shamelessly beg ... and we're not all rednecks. Regardless, the coaches launch themselves into cyberspace (after dialing up) or simply make phone calls (thankfully not on a party line) in an attempt to find suitable players for their teams. They showcase the beauty of the area and how size does matter when it comes to how small one's class is; meanwhile downplaying the lack of entertainment, frigid winters, and abundance of biting insects.
Regardless of the odds, coaches do manage to bring in players for their up-and-coming teams. They find time in the conflicting schedules of college and high school sports to go and check out their prospective new talent. They e-mail, they call, they harass and harangue, but in the end, some athletes of relatively swell talent find themselves in our neck of the woods. Some of them even like it here.
Props to those coaches' mad recruiting skills.
For more on redNEK sports, visit this site:
http://www.NEKsports.com
(Yes, we even have a website. How quaint!)