Sports are a huge part of the Eastern University community. Around 400 students on campus are currently involved in sports. Along with the recent addition of our flag football team, there are 23 different sports at Eastern. Keeping these teams competitive and engaged requires recruiting new athletes each year.
Coaches here are known for both going to high school/club tournaments and hosting their own sports clinics. Sports clinics are where high school students come and run through a set practice with the coach and other players to show their skills in the sport. Eastern University hosts many clinics throughout the school year. Most teams, including women’s lacrosse and field hockey, host one clinic in the fall and another in the spring. This gives people multiple opportunities to attend a clinic here at Eastern.
Most clinics at Eastern are run similarly. Starting with a warmup and some icebreakers, typically led by the current players on the team. Next, go into some drills that allow the coaches to see the recruit’s techniques and fundamentals. Then the coaches usually end the activity portion of the clinics with a small scrimmage. According to field hockey head coach Abbey Kemble, these mini scrimmages allow the coaches to see how girls manage to use these techniques in a game scenario. It also allows both coaches and current athletes to see the recruit’s teamwork skills. The main goal of this organization of the clinics is to show the potential recruits what regular practice is like. It can help players and their families decide if they like the way the coach handles drills and practice.
Coaches host clinics for a variety of reasons, but most coaches share a common theme. They love to see the potential players work with Eastern’s team and coaches. Working well with a team member can be a make-or-break decision for a coach. If you don’t get along well with the current team or the other recruits around, you can give the coach an inside look at how you might act on the team. Women’s lacrosse head coach Mikala Gillespe says she “loves clinics because tournaments don’t allow us to see how a girl really is as a player.” In a tournament, you only see the player in the game, not how they act with the others outside of the field. A team’s ability to do well is dependent on the interactions between the players both on and off the field. First-year field hockey player Julia Potter added that getting to know the team and interacting before committing helped solidify her decision.
Students also attend clinics for multiple reasons. Clinics here at Eastern are a popular choice to help know the campus and the team. Both Kemble and Gillespe talked about how different a tour with your team can feel compared to a regular campus tour. It allows the players to feel more comfortable with the people they might spend the next few years with. They also help to get on a coach’s radar and get an offer. Julia Potter attended two clinics here at Eastern before committing. Her decision came down to the interactions between the team and her coaches that she experienced at these clinics. Eastern University’s field hockey clinic stood out to her because of the “involvement of the girls, coaches, and players.” Julia attended a lot of different clinics for multiple schools, but Eastern’s was by far her favorite.
Sports clinics are a critical part of the athletic community here at Eastern University. Many of our own players attended clinics here and it helped solidify their decision. Kemble, Gillespe and the other coaches all put hours of effort into designing and executing these clinics. Students such as Potter attend these clinics and sometimes end up attending Eastern University as well. If you’re interested in joining a college sport for Eastern University these clinics are a great place to start!
Megan Keating 
Paul McConnell 
Daniel Finegan