Football returning to New England College
Jun. 15—HENNIKER — Football is returning to New England College, and it's coming back soon.
The school announced Thursday that it plans to field its first football team since 1972 in the fall of 2024. NEC had football for two seasons — 1971 and 1972 — before the sport was eliminated by budget cuts.
"I am very pleased to announce that the gridiron is next for NEC athletics," NEC President Wayne Lesperance said during a news conference at NEC's Don Melander Field. "I look forward to seeing you all at our first game, practices and all the awesome tailgating opportunities that will come."
NEC has already begun advertising for a head coach. NEC athletic director Dave DeCew said the Pilgrims will likely play an abbreviated junior varsity schedule in 2024 before they embark on a full Division III schedule in 2025. It's still unclear what conference NEC will join.
Plymouth State is the state's other Division III football program. The Panthers play in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference.
Last summer, DeCew said, is when Leverance asked him to begin exploring the possibility of adding a football program.
"It seemed like this was not only plausible, but could be a real benefit for our school," DeCew said. "There's two main factors here: One is campus culture and making sure we continue to build around what's been successful for us, which is athletics, the energy that it brings and everything else that comes with that. The second piece would be enrollment factors. We want to make sure that we can sustain ourselves and bring in folks who want to be here, (are) connected to the school and we continue to grow and evolve with that.
"As far as conference affiliation, we've had conversations with a couple different options, and we're going to continue to evaluate as we move forward to make sure we find the best place for our student-athletes to have the best experience and find success."
DeCew said the team will play its games on campus, but the site has yet to be determined. NEC's previous football teams played on what is now the school's rugby field.
"We're pretty fortunate that we have a fieldhouse we can utilize more for strength and conditioning," he said. "There are some projects in the works to enhance our fitness center. We have a couple different areas where we can play. We're just deciding where we want to invest to make sure that's the right spot for us.
"So yes, there are still some questions we have to answer, but we feel the tools and all the things that we need are in place so that we can finalize some of those details and make sure we're set up appropriately."
Tom Farmen, NEC's starting quarterback in the 1971 and 1972 seasons, was among those who attended Thursday's press conference. He said the team went winless both seasons, but applauded NEC's decision to add football.
"We're again launching this ambitious undertaking. Bravo," Farmen said. "Football was successful all those years ago not because of our dismal won-loss record, but because it reinforced the idea that nothing comes easy — that intangible results are almost always more valuable. That the only true failure is the failure to try."
