Now that fall sports have finished out their seasons, the season of recruitment for coaches has begun as they look for new talent to join their teams.
For the Baker University men’s soccer team, the loss of seniors played a significant role in the coaches’ outlook on recruiting this year.
“I think when you lose a lot of seniors, it’s always very, very difficult,” head coach Alan Koch said. “You have some transitional problems losing the seniors, obviously, and bringing guys in that have to come take their places, but we’ve been recruiting big time, and I feel very, very confident that between myself and my assistant coaches, we’ll bring in a group of guys that will be able to replace those seniors.”
Koch’s biggest recruiting trip thus far was to the National Junior College Athletic Association Championship in Tyler, Texas. The tournament showcased the top eight junior colleges in the nation, which is where Koch discovered and signed a current Baker soccer player.
“This last year we actually brought in Ryan McAloon from Louisburg College to come play for us here at Baker, and his college was there again so hopefully we can get a couple guys from this tournament to come to Baker for next year,” Koch said.
Coaches of fall sports teams spend a lot of time in the winter recruiting. Koch said winter is an advantageous time to look for new players.
“This is the best time to go watch the kids play because this is when the most tournaments are happening; they’re all over the place so we’ve got to travel a lot, obviously, to go watch these games,” Koch said. “… My assistant coaches went up to Chicago and Minneapolis last weekend while I was down in Texas. They went up for the Illinois state high school all-star games.”
However, recruiting is notrestricted to the soccer field, as head football coach Mike Grossner has done his fair share of traveling, as well.
“We had an off-week this year. I went to Arizona and really looked at junior colleges, but at that time (I was) just trying to get a head start because with junior college kids, you got to try to get them in here at semester,” Grossner said.
This early recruiting gave some Baker football prospects a chance to experience a game in the new stadium.
“We had 12 recruits in at the Lindenwood game, which was nice to have. They were able to stand on the sideline and then celebrate with us in the locker room afterward, and it was a good victory against a very good team,” Grossner said. “We got some good responses back from those guys that were in that weekend.”
Although Grossner started his recruiting earlier this year, he still has plenty more to do. Grossner said he would be making trips to San Diego, Calif., Phoenix, Ariz. and Tampa, Fla.
He said he is looking for not only talent but how well prospective players fit at Baker, as well.
“Character is important,” Grossner said. “I really think the fit academically, socially and then football has got to be big for that person. You don’t want people leaving your program. We believe in retention.”