12 VARSITY SPORTS

Men’s Baseball

Men’s & Women’s Basketball

Men’s & Women’s Cross Country

Men’s & Women’s Esports

Men’s Golf

Men’s Soccer

Women’s Softball

Men’s & Women’s Track & Field

Women’s Volleyball

What is Esports?

NECC’s esports program comprises multi-player video game teams that compete with colleges and universities throughout the country. All games are in an online multiplayer format and studentathletes compete as a team to defeat opposing institutions. The growing esports industry is a multi-million dollar business.

NECC Expands and Honors its Athletics Program

When three new varsity sports are added in the fall—men’s soccer, women’s basketball, and esports—Northern Essex will have one of the largest athletics programs at a Massachusetts community college, according to Dan Blair, the college’s athletic director.

Already a baseball powerhouse, with a team that has competed in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) World Series seven times in recent years, Northern Essex has been focusing on growing the number of student athletes who are participating in varsity sports and expanding opportunities available for students to compete at the varsity level. Those efforts are already producing results. Last year, 90 students were competing in varsity sports, a 110 percent increase from two years ago, when there were 43 student athletes.

While the future of athletics at Northern Essex is growing, the college also wants to pay tribute to the achievements of past Northern Essex athletes. This year the first Athletics Hall of Fame was launched, with a banquet held on February 28.

“We’re growing our athletic program, adding sports and athletes, and we felt it was a good time to honor the successes of the past,” says Blair. “The Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be an annual event, and there will be an open nomination process for future inductees.”

Inaugural inductees to the hall of fame included Noelia Figuereo, a runner from Haverhill who, less than 10 years ago, was a two-time national champion. After graduating from Northern Essex, Figuereo transferred to Merrimack College, where she ran track and earned a bachelor’s in Spanish in 2015 and a master’s in education in 2017. She is now working for a nonprofit that is under the Department of Mental Health.

The 1970/71 men’s basketball team, which captured the state title almost 50 years ago, was also inducted. With a 21-6 record, the team captured both the Massachusetts Community College Championship and the Eastern Massachusetts Small College Conference Championship.

Eight of the 13 members of the team attended the banquet including Neil Reardon, who went on to coach the Newburyport High School girls’ basketball team for 27 years until his retirement in 2010. Speaking on behalf of the team, he says “It’s almost 50 years since we played ball together and this is a special night for all of us.”

To learn more about athletics at Northern Essex, visit the website at www.neccknights.com.