Inagural ECFC Season Kickoff Includes Two New Programs
Courtesy of the National Football Foundation and College
Hall of Fame and NCAAFootball.com
Five new college football teams are set to take the field for the
first time as the 2009 football season begins. That group includes
two ECFC members, Anna Maria College and Castleton State College.
Anna Maria College, formerly an all women's Catholic College
outside of Worcester, Mass., started varsity sports programs in the
mid-1970s but never had football. With a current enrollment of
1,400 students, the school will field its first football team this
fall, and the impending kickoff has generated tremendous buzz with
hundreds of people standing to just watch the team practice. Anna
Maria President Jack Calareso knows the benefits of football,
having previously added teams at Briar Cliff University in Sioux
City, Iowa, and Ohio Dominican College in Columbus, Ohio.
"I have done it before, and I believe it an important strategy for
small schools like Anna Maria," said Calareso. "Adding athletics
programs in general is important to enhance the experience for all
students, and it's great for our alumni and our community... For a
small college, this has been a topic that has garnered a lot of
attention, and it certainly helped with enrollment, helping us to
recruit both athletes and non- athletes alike."
Castleton and Anna Maria are scheduled to play each other during
the first game of the season September 5. The paring produces the
unique situation of having two brand new programs going
head-to-head in their first game ever.
While Anna Maria faces a multitude of options for the attention of
football fans in Eastern Massachusetts from the NFL's New England
Patriots to the ACC's Boston College Eagles, Castleton State
confronts much less competition, becoming just the third college in
Vermont to field a football team. And while Anna Maria's practices
may have attracted hundreds of spectators, Castleton State has
produced thousands with 1,200 people turning out to watch an
unadvertised green and white scrimmage. Additionally, the Castleton
Spartans have sold out their 1,600 stadium capacity for their first
two games, expecting a crowd of 4,000 to 5,000 spectators,
including the governor, for the Sept. 5 Anna Maria game.
"They can have more fans. We just want to score more points,"
quipped Calareso.
Besides Alaska, Vermont was the only state without a football
program at a public college, and the other two football-playing
colleges, Norwich University and Middlebury College, either
required an interest in the military or a steep financial
commitment. The school administrators wanted to give young
student-athletes an option to stay in state and playing
football.
"Close investigation of seven competitive football programs with
whom we would compete indicates that the sport would clearly
provide revenue enhancements for the college," wrote Castleton
State College President Dave Wolk in an email. "Aside from the
enrollment and financial enhancements provided by football,
competitor colleges all report the positive impact of football on
campus life... There is a certain intangible campus spirit that
football sometimes brings to a campus."
