With the Fall of the 2017 Semester, starts the first ever season of Nor’easter Football! Since we are in our first season, the team plays a junior varsity schedule and only plays away games. We currently do not have a home field for football but plans are underway to have a home field for the 2018/2019 season. Going into the fourth week of the season, the team currently holds a 1 win and 2 loss record with their first win this past weekend on the 17th of September against Norwich University

I sat down with Haelin Roberts, a wide receiver, for an interview to get a better picture on the current mentality of the team. What I learned was their team is based on the foundation of growth. With the very first season ahead of them, they can only look forward to growing as individuals and as a team. Also as Haelin put, “we expect to win, that’s what we are striving for as a team.” They want to prove to the university, the 3rd division, and to themselves that a first-year team can compete at a high level, despite lack of team history.

I also was curious about how the team felt about its 1-2 record and how the team responds to that. Haelin explained, “we are upset about first 2 loses because they are game we should have won and we just beat ourselves with stupid mistakes.” Off the back of their first win, they hope to turn that win into momentum that brings UNE its 2nd football victory. The team has been vigorously improving at practices to overcome and better prepare to make less mistakes and put those first 2 loses behind them. There next game which will be over by the time this article is published is scheduled for the 24th against Bates University. Healin told me that for this upcoming game, the team looks at it as an 0-0, meaning they don’t think about their previous loses or wins, they just want to play their hardest and leave it all out on the field.

Joel Page

Injuries, we as many of us on campus have noticed, the football team has quite a lot of them. When I brought this up to Haelin, he had the perfect response, “it forces guys to step up and take on a bigger role, and we just kinda go at it as next man up, and just keeps working.” That’s all a team can do really, is not let injuries slow it down. The team is working through the problem, not around it by having guys step up and take on new roles and responsibilities.

I also felt it was necessary to bring up the question of, why nor’easter football? As opposed to as pre-established football team. In Haelin’s eyes, UNE provided a great opportunity to play and, “I believe in the coaches, and their ability to bring the team to a position where they can win a lot of football games.” Great coaches make great teams, and great teams make even greater coaches. So, with this, UNE still have plenty of season game to look forward to, especially the one played in Portland because it will bring a lot of UNE fans and give us more of a home field advantage!