BANGOR – Three seasons ago Eastern Maine Technical College had a women’s club basketball team – mostly of non-EMTC players. This season is different.

“This is the first ever women’s intercollegiate basketball team,” said coach Will Aldrich of EMTC’s Golden Eagles, now enjoying their first season.

Hired last winter after the season started, Aldrich was directed to start up a women’s intercollegiate basketball program at EMTC.

He described the recruiting business as “very intense.” During the first three months of last year, and working through the tournament period, Aldrich, who works days at a local car dealership, said he attended 51 high school basketball games and talked to coaches, athletic directors, the media and many players, and “put 2,500 miles on my vehicle.”

He traveled up to two hours one way to attend a game, going to places such as Houlton, Mount Desert Island, Augusta and Farmington.

Aldrich also contacted all female applicants to EMTC for the 2002-2003 school year. He attended the orientation program in August and talked with students during meal times to generate interest.

One of the challenges Aldrich faced in recruiting was that some players are leery if no basketball program is in place.

Another aspect in recruiting, Aldrich said, involves selling the college – Aldrich noted that most courses at EMTC are transferable to other colleges in state. He also pointed out that the school offers a much broader range of courses than did the traditional vocational college.

EMTC has a high percentage of nontraditional students, those who attend college later rather than right out of high school, Aldrich said. More than 50 percent of the student body is female. The college has broadened to fit both employer and student needs, including offering courses that appeal to women, Aldrich stated.

Five players are needed for a basketball team. Aldrich said he had five at the beginning of the summer, and by the first practice of the season five more had been added. An 11th player joined three or four weeks later.

Team members are: third-year student Jessica Trundy; second-year students Angie Haverlock, Natalie Foster, Joyce Shorey and Roni Haverlock; and first-year students Sarah Stewart, Emily Rush, Sarah Dickinson, Ashley Hichborn, Lindsey Mason and Kelli Leighton.

The players come from a several towns and are enrolled in diverse college programs. Their previous basketball experience ranges from virtually none to high school varsity. Their heights range from 5 feet 4 inches to 5 feet 7 inches. They do not have specifically assigned positions. Aldrich said he finds offenses and defenses that fit the players.

Aldrich said the practice program is flexible. Individual students are not always able to make practice due to work and class schedules.

“We fit the practices in where we can,” he said.

Aldrich stated that it is important for the team members to do well academically. He works with faculty to monitor the players’ academic progress.

“I tell [team members], academics first,” he said.

For the fall semester five players were on the dean’s list and one was an honorable mention. The team GPA average is 3.09.

Sixteen games were scheduled for the season, but three had to be canceled for various reasons. Of the 12 games that have been played Aldrich said he was “very pleased with the fact that we’ve won three games.”

“First year programs typically struggle,” Aldrich said, and he is very pleased with the Golden Eagles’ first season.

“We’ve done real well keeping the original 11 players together,” he said.

Aldrich spoke of the support, encouragement, interest and enthusiasm of team members for him, the program and each other.

“I couldn’t ask for a nicer group,” he said.

While all of this season’s players are 21 or under, there are no age limits to participate. Because the college is comparatively small and most programs are two years, Aldrich said, women interested in the basketball program would have opportunity to play.

Aldrich said that some of the current team members will be graduating, so one goal for next season includes bringing in more players. Another goal is to expand the schedule to more games. A third goal is to spread the word that there is a basketball team at EMTC, and that the first team is successful.

The basketball season runs from mid-October to the first of March. Those interested in learning more about EMTC’s Women’s Intercollegiate Basketball Team may e-mail Aldrich at CoachAldrich@aol.com. For information about EMTC, call 974-4600 or e-mail www.emtc.org.