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There is a constant dispute within academic circles about the value of competitive athletics in colleges and universities. Many academics see the activity as a waste of time and resources, however that argument is not fact based. Do you have to be a student athlete to be a good doctor, lawyer, banker or anything else? The answer of course is no but, there is increasing evidence the best of each of those professions has benefited from their experience as a student athlete.

As a treasurer of a bank I always leaned to former student athletes when I hired… all other things being equal. Successful student athletes learn the skills of time management and teamwork. I couldn’t care less what team sport the applicant played but the demonstrated ability to juggle sports and academic requirements  was a valuable skill to consider in a prospective employee.

There is now additional studies available that confirm my more intuitive findings. The “Association of American Medical Colleges,” in an article published on February 8th in AAMCNEWS written by Jen A. Miller answers the question, ” Athletes are known for their drive and determination. So are doctors. But can you excel at both?”

Miller relates the story of Brian Hainline MD as he interviewed for a neurology residency  at New York Presbyterian/Wiell Cornell Medical Center. The last part of the interview focused on a perceived conflict between his obligations of a students athlete and need for study.  In the end,” he was going to be the person who teaches everyone the sense of discipline and persistence.”  Hainline is now the chief medical officer of the NCAA and wants to formalize the pathway from student athlete to a career in medicine. He is partnering with the NIH to discuss a pilot project that encourages student athletes to consider professions in the medical field and attract a more diverse group of students to medicine.

There is data to suggest that students athletes who studied medicine became very successful clinicians. A 2012 study is pointed out by Miller done at the Washington University School of Medicine that studied clinicians ranked by the faculty.  I am quoting from the article, ” those who got the highest faculty ratings were those with an established excellence in a team sport.”

The AAMC Executive Vice President writes, ” So much of medicine is really about personality, or the ability to deal with people effectively, and the ability to lead people. Those are characteristics we see in student athletes who have been successful in team or individual sports.”

However, these same attributes are valuable in most any profession. A 2015 study by espenW and EY found that 80 pct of female Fortune 500 executives played competitive sports at some time in their lives , and that 65% of those on the 2017 Fortune List of Most Powerful Women played sports competitively in either high school, college, or both. Only 1% of student athletes go on to play professional sports. They become leaders in many professions.

Hainline states, “Some people believe you can’t be pre-med or be a STEM major and be an athlete at the same time.”  Hainline would be glad to know that at Lafayette we disprove that statement every graduation. It does however, beg the question are we doing our best to provide athletic experiences equal to our academic experiences?  Are colleges in general providing the resources to hire and retain excellent “coach-mentors” and is there a cooperative effort between the academic and athletic side of the institution to make the student athlete experience a valuable one? Is care taken that coaches are the equal to ALL faculty- teacher mentors?

Strong graduates eventually make strong and generous alumni, a benefit to the entire institution. This is a lesson administrators and BOT members must take to heart.

Each year Field Hockey Corner does a statistical analysis of the records of all 77 division one schools and ranks them using variables such won loss records, strength of schedule and margin of victory. Although they have several methodologies the most used is RPI. We can use this as a proxy to look at the Patriot League in total, and to individual programs.

Here are the RPI’s of all the Patriot League Schools and their RPI by year. The Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) is calculated by .25 win/loss record + .5 strength of schedule +.25 of opponents’ SOS.

TEAM 2014   2015  2016   2017   2018    5 year average

BU         19        13.      15.     20       24          18.2

AM        37        30.      18.     39       34          31.6

BUC       22        40.      29.     38       40          33.8

Laf         38        43.     45.      53      50          45.8

HC.        77.       66.     54.      60       69          65.2

Col        62.       77.     73.      73       73.          71.6

Leh.      66.       68.     55.      65       74.          65

AVG.    45.8.    56.7    41.3.  49.7     52.          49.1

 

As can be seen, the trend for the league has not been favorable in recent years. It should also be noted that the rankings are bifurcated with a spread of approximately 53 places on average between the top and bottom teams. The rankings over the past 5 years have been fairly consistent. The bottom three teams have coaches that have been there 3 years or less. The top four team range from 38 years for BU and 6 years for Lafayette.

Does RPI matter?? If our best team wins the PL tournament and they are then seeded by RPI, it can diminish the chances of a PL team advancing. For the bottom teams the goal is to get to the league tournament, so coaches would naturally concentrate on those games between the bottom four. The top teams would like to do well in the non conference schedule to raise the league’s and it’s own RPI. Even if they lose with a small margin in tough non-conference games, their SOS can favorably effect their RPI.

It seems to me, the league can improve their RPI and their individual RPI’s by improving their results in the out of conference schedule. Losing badly to a non-conference foe can reduce  the League’s RPI and reduce other PL team’s strength of schedule once they get into the Patriot part of the season.  Another way to improve, is to search out other decent teams and take them on as associate members of the Patriot League.

All the patriot league teams are in different stages of development and one can only wonder what team has been helped by this recruiting season. I must admit I am a homer and think Lafayette has a good mix of talent ( recruits and veterans that can produce significant wins). I see no reason why Lafayette cannot get into the mid-20’s in 2019. In 2013 they finished the season in the high teens.

Lehigh has 8 recruits at the moment, seemingly with an emphasis on scoring talent. Colgate will return a significant number of veterans.  For Holy Cross this will be a crucial class. Bucknell will need to restock next year as well, and will use local talent to do it. American will rely on a lot on their veterans but they seem to always get a key foreigner to fill in the blanks. I am impressed with BU’s recruits and my sense is that they are not finished.

Spring training is approaching and that is when veteran players develop the fastest. I am looking forward to it, as I am sure the players are!!

 

Max Sports is reporting six commitments for Lehigh in 2019 but last week Lehigh added on their twitter page two more. The two they reported would certainly fill some gapping holes in this 3-15 team. Lehigh had 19 players on the roster and lost 3 to graduation, so by picking up a net of 8 , it would bring their roster to 24, a reasonable size for a division one program with 18 regular season games. However, that 24 will only include two seniors.

The Mountain Hawks and Leopards met in the first league game of the season and the game was worthy of the rivalry as  for the second time in as many years, it went to overtime. This time the Leopards prevailed 3-2. Lafayette had 20 shots and Lehigh goalkeeper was forced to make 10 saves. Regardless of the record, head coach Kaitlyn Dallmeyer appreciates the importance of the “Rivalry.” Next year if the Patriot League rotates the schedule as it has in previous years Lehigh will be the last league game and many of the underclassmen will be veterans at that point.

The two recruits announced by Lehigh and presumably signed NLIs are Maddie Kahn a goal keeper and Abbrianna Gatto an attacker. Last year Lehigh suffered several key injuries, one to their starting goalkeeper, who was lost for four games. Their only replacement was a walk on sophomore.

They also only scored 24 goals against 74 scored against then. They took 180 shots but saw 331 shots in response. Dallmeyer seems determined to improve on that record.

Maddie Kahn:

Maddie is a goalkeeper from Ocean City High School and played for WC Eagles as many good recruits have. She seems to be an intense athlete and has impressive physical assets, At 5’10″she has reach and her personal statement reflects her determination. She describes herself as “smart, physical, aggressive and vocal on the field.” She also says one v one she is ” not afraid to go to  the ball then use the body to take out someone and protect the net.” Coach Dallmeyer a former all 2007 American GK at Duke should appreciate that.

She was an all league and all American watch list player and a Junior Olympian. In 2018 she made 131 save including 29 saves in her final game in the state tournament.

Adrianna Gatto:

She is a forward with amazing statistics. She comes from Upper Perkiomen  and played for X-Calibur. If you count the goal she scored in a senior all star game she has scored 100 goals in her career. She is a 3 time all state selection  and all conference selection. At 5′ and 115 pounds she is speedy and elusive on the field. She also plays lacrosse which is alway good to see in elite athletes as they can use their athleticism in various sports.

The following were listed by Max Field Hockey as Lehigh commitments

Paige Schaefer:

 

 

Paige is an all state midfielder from Pierson High School on Long. Island. She plays club field hockey for East End. The future engineering major is one of two division one recruits on her small high school team.

 

 

 

 

 

MJ Schwab:

 

 

MJ was the top defender for Bishop Eustace in Haddenfield while also playing for South Jersey Edge. I could not find any additional stats except to say she is 5’4″ and also ran track. She will be a defender for the Mountain Hawks

 

Anna Piecuch:

Anna comes from the Selinsgrove Area HS in Pa, and played for the PA Power field hockey club. She an All state AA selection as well as all conference. She listed as M/F. Her local paper reports she has scored 41 goals and 28 assists in her career. Anna featured her search on the Patriot League schools before settling on Lehigh.

Sophia Hartman:

 

 

 

Sophia played her field hockey at Broadneck High School in Maryland and SPARK field hockey club. She was an All Met  defender, all league and multiple all state selection.

 

 

CeCe Slaughter:

 

 

 

Also hails from Maryland and the Bryn Mawr School where she was an all conference selectee. She played her club hockey at TNT. She will probably be penciled in as a defender

 

 

 

 

Sydney White;

Sydney completes the contingent from Maryland coming from the Annapolis Area Christian School as a defender. She played her club hockey at Spark. I will try to add her stats as they become known.

 

In coming days I will have a summation and impressions of these Patriot League recruits with a general comment on the status of the League. I will also first post some impressive  video of. Lafayette recruit Tara Hamilton who did not appear on the Max Hockey list.

If anyone has comments I will gladly see they are posted appropriately.