Calling all recruits
Photo Aris Aristorenas. Trent Offereins and the rest of the Mount Royal Cougars men's basketball team recently claimed the ACAC Championship.
With Mount Royal playoffs wrapping up, thoughts are starting to turn from ACAC Championships to recruiting new players for next season.
“Recruiting is absolutely crucial to developing your program,” said Jean LaForest, head coach of the Cougars men’s hockey team.
While recruiting is important LaForest said he wouldn’t trade it for the opportunity to compete and go deep in the playoffs.
“As far as the athletics department role in recruiting, we are looking to provide our coaches with all the tools necessary to ensure their potential student-athletes can make an informed decision,” said Kyle Henry, events and communications coordinator for Cougar Athletics.
“We have one of the top programs in the country, so ensuring we market ourselves as such is important.”
The most recent acquisition for the Cougars men’s volleyball team came in the form of 6’5 Central Memorial setter Jarron Mueller.
Last summer Mueller won gold with Alberta’s provincial team at the National Team Challenge Cup. Two years ago the setter was named the Alberta Volleyball Under-16 Player of the Year.
“We have been watching Jarron develop through high school and club for a number of years now,” men’s volleyball head coach Shawn Sky said in a press release for Cougar Athletics.
“We are very impressed with his leadership abilities and his intelligence on and off the floor. His character and work ethic are exactly what we are looking for in a student-athlete.
“He is a tremendous addition to our program, and is arguably the best high school setter in the country. We couldn’t be happier with his decision to join our program at Mount Royal.”
Cougars men’s basketball head coach Marc Dobell says the recruiting process is a group effort.
“The whole staff is involved in our recruiting, we have all our coaches go out and watch games, talk to kids, and provide input into who we look at and talk to.”
He said the team has a few players in mind to recruit but aren’t sure yet how many spots will be open for incoming recruits.
“We really hope to have most of our players back next year … we will know more in a week or two.”
Henry said that Cougar Athletics has created an “Experience Cougar Athletics” brochure, which outlines Mount Royal’s “history, facilities, scholarships and much more.
It will be a great resource for our department moving forward, to provide potential student-athletes with an overview of who we are, and what we have to offer.”
He added that the athletics department is also updating the website to provide more information to recruits.
LaForest said that from a hockey perspective a lot of high school level players the team talks to are in playoffs as well and because of that recruitment communication can, “sometimes takes a little longer.”
