This week we introduce you to one of our 13 club sports at Bates: rugby! The rugby squad plays the University of Maine this Friday night at 7pm on Garcelon Field.
Plus, our recap of the week that was in varsity athletics, including interviews with standouts from the Bates field hockey, volleyball and men’s tennis and golf programs. All that and more, on the Bates Bobcast!
Interviews this episode:
0:57 — Ed Argast, Interim Head Coach, Football.
5:07 — Alyssa Lowther ’25, Volleyball. (Female Bobcat of the Week)
10:09 — Nick Forester ’23, Men’s Tennis captain. (Male Bobcat of the Week)
17:23 — Bridget Thompson ’22, Field Hockey.
24:36 — Jack Howard ’22, Men’s Golf captain.
33:33 — George Schouten ’22 and Tim Hunter ’22, Club Rugby.
This is the Bates bobcast our weekly podcast where we take a look at the week that was in Bates Athletics my name is Aon Morris and this week we introduce you to one of our 13 club sports at Bates rugby plus our recap of the week that was in Varsity Athletics including
Interviews with standouts from the bats field hockey volleyball and men’s tennis and golf programs all that and more coming up on the fat bobcast The bats football team fell 24 nothing on the road to Nez caco Middlebury on Saturday the Bobcat offense could not find the end zone but the Bates defense recovered from some early struggles to hold the Panthers to just seven points in the second half interim head coach Ed
Argas gives his take on the game coach obviously middleburry always a tough opponent uh for the Bobcats a road trip to middleberry seemed like after the opening drive the defense held up fairly well throughout the rest of the game but couldn’t get much going on offense what
Were your kind of impressions of what you saw out there well the defense made quite a few mistakes in the beginning of the game and then got it together and I thought played pretty well I thought they put together a good second half offensively we couldn’t get anything
Going uh it was one guy here one guy there one guy here you know the typical story so um you know we we watched the film we pointed out the mistakes and we got to get them corrected and you know and show up we didn’t show up that was
The disappointing thing and obviously Road games is it a little bit tougher than home just because it’s somewhat unfamiliar surroundings and the long trip or how is that going it was the length of the trip that was tough on us you know when we left we left fairly
Fairly early in the afternoon and it was it was it was tough it was a tough tough road well were some major Impressions from you know watching film on what the offense needs to do to kind of get going again because they look good against Amhurst and then struggle to score there
Against middle well they forgot their one they forgot their physicality you know but aside from that it’s as simple as them doing what they’re supposed to do and they didn’t do that and and it was wasn’t one particular group it was each position group you know our quarterback our offensive line our
Running back you know our wide receiver who just couldn’t put anything together and then defensively you mentioned the mistakes early but what adjustments did you see them make to kind of you know they forced a few mistakes on middlebury’s part right yeah the defense started doing what they were coached to
Do and they weren’t doing that in the beginning of the game and and that was pretty obvious so uh I was happy to see that turn around that bodess well for the Future Tony hooks uh leads the NZ kak and tackles right now through two games even though he didn’t get to play
The whole Amer game what do you seeing from him specifically no he’s for one he’s a great leader no doubt um he’s very vocal and he’s very pointed in in his his his mission you know he he understands the bigger picture points of empasis this week in practice you think
Well we going to put the pads back on this week you know I taken them off cuz our numbers are thin but you know it’s a double- eded sword and we got it cut by the other Edge again so we’re going to put it on suck it up and let’s go that’s
A good point right practicing in pads uh you you risk you know there’s a higher injury risk but also it’s better preparation right no no doubt no doubt just just if you watch a a non-p paded practice for an offensive linan comes down to assignments
Um but when you put the pads on you go up and touch somebody they’re not going to disintegrate you know they’re going to fight back and you don’t get that without pads you know Brendon you know he’s an experienced guy it’s a quarterback for bats I saw him out there
Right now watching film and everything uh what does he need to do to maybe avoid some of those hits he took there on Saturday well he needs to play Within the system he he thinks that he has to be the hero all the time and he doesn’t
You know he’s got good players around them and when you go outside on your own like that you know that’s the result we got zero points out of it and then we should have you know Middlebury was a good team but you know we we made him a
Lot look a lot better than they do than they really are gotcha well were there any other players who kind of stood out to you you know when you’re watching tape on Saturday you wanted to point out defensively you know the linebackers played well and secondary did a good job
At defending the pass and looked like we had a pass rush and then so for this Saturday against Wesley and um what do you know about the Cardinals have you looked at them yet we looked I looked at a half this morning and they’re they’re physical and they’re athletic and
They’re big and fast and strong so we got our hands cut out for us any other thoughts you wanted to share about you know last Saturday and what maybe you hope the team learned well I you know I talk with the leadership group and and this group’s not going to quit you know
In the past they’ve gone a tank and then it’s all wo is me here we go again this this group isn’t going to get it we’re going to learn from it and try and build on it and bounce back you know I don’t know if we bounce back this week or in
Three weeks but we’re going to bounce back and they’re not going to quit all right and our guys thank you so much for joining us on the bobcast really appreciate it thank you sir the volleyball team won its home opener by a count of 3 to one Wednesday over Maine
Maritime the Bobcats fell at Colby on Friday but bounced back to sweep St Joseph’s and Alberta Magnus on Saturday going 3- one overall on the week and improving the team’s record so far this season to 4- six first year Alyssa lather stood out for baates leading the
Team in kills in each match she leads the team with 2.8 kills per second analysa lather is our female Bobcat of the week I wanted something that was really like academically challenging along with athletically challenging so Bates kind of like met all those boxes and I really like the nescac league so I
Was kind of looking at all these nescac schools and Bates really just was the perfect fit for me so growing up in New Jersey when did you start getting into volleyball I actually didn’t grow up in New Jersey I did grew up in New York um
I had driven 45 minutes to school just to play at like the best New Jersey school in high school so so I was always super into volleyball and super competitive and I think that’s kind of like what formed me into the player I am today cuz I was like really high driven
Into wanting to be most successful at my sport where in New York Upstate so Rockland County okay okay and so um you mention you were really driven but how did volleyball first kind of appeal to you I was always like this tall awkward girl and everyone was always like you
Should try out volleyball you should try out volleyball so in the eighth grade I like went out for like the team and I ended up actually being good at it so then I started club and got into it in volleyball and then started becoming competitive about it and dropped every
Other sport for volleyball so kind of going 45 minutes away for high school was that a weird experience because you probably weren’t going to high school with people you grew up with right no I was the only girl from my town to go to this high school so it was a complete
Culture change but I wouldn’t trade it for the world and then I know you have a previous connection with Emma ID you said her on the Bobcat tell us about that um Emma’s a great person I had known her through club and as soon as I
Heard she was going to bats like that’s kind of when the nescs kind of got on my radar so I was just like oh I want to look into that and I was new Emma was a really good volleyball player so I was like so there must be competitive there
And um she was always like someone I kind of looked up to so that was really great to to come and play with her yeah it’s uh must be exciting to finally actually get to be on the same actual team on the court together right yeah I would say like our connection works
Really well too especially because like we have the same fundamentals and we were taught the same volleyball great and then college volleyball compared to club or High School what’s the biggest similarities maybe differences also um in New Jersey we played best two out of three and in college we B best three out
Of five so I kind of get a little bit more tired but I’m finally getting used to it with the conditioning that coach Emily has made us do um I would say college volleyball girls show no mercy they hit pound balls at you but it kind
Of just makes you a better player at the end of the day yeah you haven’t had any five Setters yet are you looking forward to the first one I’m actually really excited excited I’ve always wanted to go to a five set excellent and then um you know you mentioned coach Emily Hayes
What have you been learning from her she capitalizes on the mental aspect of the game which I think is something I really need to work on and I think it’s really great because she kind of just shows the importance of hey we made it to college volleyball let’s play to have fun and
Let’s be there for each other that’s what our feo stands for and um I think that’s a great way to like lift up your teammates because volleyball is a team sport and we could not do it without the rest of the girls on the team Emily mentioned I think you’re playing a
Different role than you played in high school also right you’re a middle hitter now instead of outside what’s that adjustment been like I actually did play middle but I never played defense in my life so now when I go in the back row that’s kind of like a new setting but
The girls have been so helpful to for me especially Meg and Kate they’ve been showing me kind of the ropes and I think that’s super helpful that all the girls are supportive so that extra so now you’re getting digs for the first time in your life yes yeah okay are you
Looking more almost at your like your dig totals after a match than the kills um not really I kind of like I love getting blocks in kills like that’s kind of my favorite thing to do but now looking at the defense I feel like when I’m in the game I’m thinking more about
Capitalizing and being perfect on defense rather than like middle and I think that kind of makes it me better when I do get to the front row because I’m not thinking about it as much great and then this past week a three in one week for the volleyball team uh how do
You see things kind of coming together right now um it kind of feels like we’re kind of jelling together as a team we had went through like a little bit of a rut but I think we kind of needed that to push us in order to be a better team
Together and you played two matches back to back on Saturday right what was that like um those were actually thank God we only went to three sets with each team and we got the job done um but that was super helpful with conditioning too because that will prepare us for when we
Do have to go to a five set great well any other thoughts you wanted to share about you know the season going forward and some of your goals perhaps um my goal is to win always that’s always my first priority but um growing as a team
We do have a really young team so I think this will be really interesting in a growth period especially with our new coach and I think it’s a really exciting future for the volleyball program sounds good let’s allow there our female bobc the week thanks so much thank you men’s
Tennis traveled to the ITA New England championships at Bowden last Friday and Saturday Junior Captain Nick Forester won both his singles batches on Friday advancing to the round of 16 where he eventually fell to the tournament’s runner-up he also teamed with Nikes deide to win a first round doubles match
At itas and Nick Forester is our male Bobcat of the week it was great we had eight guys that went CU we got four doubles teams in and then it was two singles players rain pushed it inside on Friday so half some of us were at a
Nearby club half of us were in the Fieldhouse at Bowden so it was kind of split up we had two coaches Nikki and I were the only ones that advanced in in doubles but there was a lot of close matches it was a lot of some people were
Coming back off injuries so it was tough timing for some teams but um no it was great well tell me a little about I mean you’re Junior but I feel like this did you play at itas in the fall of your first year I played I played freshman
Year but it was um it was new so um it was okay but yeah uh it’s nice knowing more people knowing kind of what to expect getting there I mean it’s a big tournament it’s means a lot to to compete in it so and then tell me a
Little bit about the matches uh let’s start with singles your first two singles matches there I played really really really good tennis um I’ve been working hard with our new assistant and coach on kind of more changing my game style being more aggressive um so I felt
Like that was the first time I really put it into action where it’s easier inside being I mean there’s less variables with wind and but um yeah I feel like I put kind of put everything together and was a long day but I had two really good wins and singles beat
Two really good players um so I was happy to advance to the second day which was round of 16 so and in the round of 16 tell me about that match so I played Stanley Morris Who’s the who was plays at middleberry he’s a senior I think um
And it was close really close um lost 64 63 in a really really tight match um no but it was really fun a lot of the guys came back to that played Friday and had lost but came back to support on Saturday which was great um it’s great
To see so many of them there and I played really well again just not didn’t get the win but no it was great experience I mean he had some really tough competition right yep he ended up losing in the final okay um so he won pretty easily in his next match that day
So tell me about um you and your doubles partner on nickes deide yeah I we’ve been playing together since beginning since last year we played last year in season together so um and we actually did some stuff this summer he came up and we played tournament together um
Which was good to get some extra practice and we played a tough Amherst team first round we started start off really strong and then we ended up winning 86 was was close it was really competitive and really felt really good to get that win uh cuz he’s been working
Really hard on his game too and we feel like we finally put some pieces together and then we lost a tough match to a Wesleyan team in the second match 84 but you know it was good tennis we like playing together and yeah was it all indoors or did you play Outdoors second
Night so Friday was all indoors they tried to Move It Outdoors at one point then it just started pouring so like scra that um but Saturday ended up being really nice so Saturday was outside at Bowden at the at their outdoor facility which was which was really nice cuz it
Also allows people like teammates to be closer to the court as opposed to behind glass inside it felt more like more like a Junior tournament inside where like a USA where you’re kind of on your own cuz it’s just coach and I had Teddy who was another Captain out there with me but
Other than that it was everyone was kind of pushed back so it’s great having everyone to be able to be closer on Saturday so you’re won of the captains this year yep what’s that like so far it’s great so it’s it’s me Teddy quy and cam Kia and all Juniors we have no
Seniors on this team right um we have a great great group of guys The Freshman have come in and worked really hard we knew what we were getting with the sophomores they were really strong last year and they’re a tight group too so we’ve been working extremely hard trying
To get ready for I mean cuz we feel like we’ve lost so much time in the past two years that we kind of decided as a group that’s like we can’t waste any more time we’ve lost too much to so we’ve been doing a lot of workouts a lot of
Practice and kind of becoming close as a team which has been great and it’s great to be kind of leading that charge cuz I think we have a really strong team this year that we could do really well well yeah just for those I mean who have
Maybe not been following as closely your first year you had a fall season spring gets wiped out right spring we went to Florida and then and then got back and it was kind of like Co starting to yeah so then it got cancelled and then your
Fall you get wiped out but you come back a little bit last spr but not we had four matches last spring we were which is in two weeks cuz we had the the lockdown for Co on campus so that was tough it’s like so I don’t know it’s
Just great I mean you can never be too sure if it’s like you have to kind of be grateful that we’re able to play again cuz CO’s still around it’s like you never know any day could get worse again and so we’re just kind of taking it one
Day at a time trying to get better and better each day and you mentioned no seniors and as Junior captains now you can kind of look at kind of big picture not just this year building for next year as well right yeah we’ve talked
About it as a group we have this is the group for two years this is what we have We’ll add to it obviously next year with recruits but this will be the core group for the next two years which is awesome um to kind of think about cuz a lot of
Years you’re coming in you’re reshuffling you don’t really know what to expect because I mean even last year we only lost one starter yeah so it’s almost like we had the same team for three years which is great because it gives us a chance to build together and
Find doubles teams that work and so it’s I don’t know it’s great having a core group of guys that you you can expect and count on for each year we have the walk invitation for the men coming up um tell me a little bit about what you’re
Most looking forward to hosting a bunch of competitors here right well this is this is one of the best facilities in our conference and in the country so it’s great having teams come here to play us obviously we were at middleberry last weekend it’s a little little far
Yeah so it’s nice having teams like that come here to play play us and try to represent Bates well at home instead of away certainly well any other thoughts you wanted to share on you know the how the Fall’s gone so far and what you’re most looking forward to looking ahead to
Spring perhaps um it’s going great I mean it’s awesome having the entire team back and we gain one we have some one that’s taking a semester off that’ll be back in for the spring and we know he’s working hard so it’ll be great to add
Him to to the mix and have a very strong team for the spring and I mean just trying to get better day by day it’s like just got to take it one day at a time all right Nick Forester thanks so much thank you the soccer and field
Hockey teams got a week off from nescac action with the women’s soccer team playing to a nil-nil draw Wednesday at the University of New England before falling 1 nil in overtime to St Joseph’s on Sunday meanwhile the men blanked Eastern Nazarene 2-n on Tuesday before falling 2-n at brandise on Saturday the
Field hockey team defeated un one nothing on Tuesday and lost a 3 to1 Road contest in nationally ranked bson on Friday senior Bridget Thompson scored the team’s goal against the Beavers she joins the bobcast to chat about the season so far and the plethora of extracurricular activities she
Participates in on campus BR you had some uh non-conference games this past uh this past week one on Tuesday and one there Friday at Babson how’d they go from your perspective yeah so the first game that you’re speaking of was UN um we have a little bit of difficulty for
Some reason on their field cuz I remember we played Babson two years ago on un East Turf and it didn’t go as well as we would have liked and so we we gutted it and we pulled out the one zero win but it should not have been that
Close um I don’t think we were connecting very well something about the nor Easter’s blue Turf that I kind of think is quite cursed for us um but then when come Friday with Babson I mean I think we really executed pretty much everything correct except we’re having
Trouble putting the ball in the back of the net so I think we just got to keep up our intensity and our passing sequences and and all of our structures are looking good but we just need to have that extra to really like put it in
The back of the net and that’ll be the difference with these close games and you were able to score yourself right against Babson take us through that goal I was able to score not to like toot my own horn um but yeah it was if I remember correctly it wasn’t in live
Play it was off a corner um the ball rebounded off of I think maybe a shot of Emily janio I’m not entirely sure and then I came off to me on like the right side not quite the Baseline and everyone was like hit it hit it I just I drove it
I slammed it in it went into the the the left corner of the the go and there we go but um that tied it up but then they they came back another two goals later in the game well you mentioned you know putting the ball in the back of the net
I mean when everything’s going right except for the very end that can be a little frustrating I imagine it can be a little frustrating and it’s not though the thing is like it’s not necessarily like a fault of just one specific like position on the team I mean like there’s
So many different things that culminate in scoring opportunities versus just like finishing on that scoring opportunity like the more scoring opportunities that we create I mean the higher like hood that will put the ball in the back of the net so it’s not strictly like a offensive or forward-
Minded issue I think it’s an entire team issue that we’re going to need to work through in this this this long stretch of games coming up um to kind of have some more success in the rest of the season yeah you’ve played what three NZ
Cat games so far and now you have yeah we have a huge stretch coming up so I mean I mean tomorrow is a home game versus Thomas but then we play toughs and Trinity this weekend and I think we have middleberry at some point coming up
And then ammer that next weekend so I think a couple weekends of double headers so we got to keep our head on straight keep grinding but this is a really important long stretch for us at this moment in the season and you scrimmage toughs before the year right
Yes we we do that every year um and it’s usually a good indicator of where both of our teams are at but I mean I can tell you every year toughs is a strong team like it’s never a surprise when you go to scrimmage them because they’re
Always they’re always a tough team we’re playing away on their Turf um they have an astro turf though so it’s not like we’re going to be playing on field Turf they’re a strong team I mean but I think we’re definitely we’re definitely in it
If we play the way that I know that we can play um and so I’m excited to see how the game goes I think it’ll be a good close game as all NZ gag games are and hopefully we have a bit more um luck with the scoring end of things you
Mentioned Thomas which is Tuesday um I know the SE hockey team is collecting food for the good sh for food break and money as well right yeah it’s a hockey for Hunger Game 7M um home on our field against Thomas and we’ll be collecting both monetary donations I think
Particularly in the form of checks as well as non-p perishable food donations to go to Good Shepard food bank which service the services the entire state of Maine and actually in the past team has actually donated time at the good sheeper food bank besides just goods and money we’ve actually spent time helping
Out there so it’s definitely a cause that means a lot to us and um something that will be well represented at tomorrow’s game and you do a lot on campus talk about the Special Olympics Club how’s that going yeah know it’s good we’ve definitely gotten the membership up considerably and a lot of
Interest um The Navigators were actually supposed to come to a um women’s soccer game a couple weeks ago but they had a bit of a covid scare and had to just make sure everyone was good on their end but um I think you’ll be seeing them um
On campus for a in really the the near future and then probably keep I’ll tell you guys to keep on the lookout for an event we’ll probably be hosting sometime in like mid to late October so yeah we’re just getting things together the events we’ve been doing right now have
Kind of been virtual but hopefully as things kind of lighten up a bit Co wise um we can kind of try to do a bit more um outside and in person you back on the radio or is that not a thing not yet um I do it every winter semester I’m glad
To know that Aaron is quite anticipating my radio return as is my family um but yeah yeah I will I will be back uh come winter semester with wrbc so very excited for that great and and what else are you up to this fall here yeah I am
Um co-president of sack with Gabby misel on the swim team and then um I also work in admissions as a senior fellow helping attract perspective students to our wonderful school so those are a couple other things I do besides field hockey and so student athlete advisory committee how’s that going what are some
Of your goals this year yeah we’re really trying to I think Define what people’s roles are and and like I guess kind of give the organization or committee a sense of identity I think like in the past we’ve kind of it’s been a kind of a bit like back and forth at
As to exactly what sack does so I think we’re really trying to like establish some like kind of Instone things about what we want to get accomplished and what is expected of members and so they can have a bit of Pride when it comes to being like a Sac representative of your
Team um so that has actually resulted in us coming up with three different committees that all members will be split into with various different um roles on campus so one is the events committee which um has to do with sack putting on our own fundraising and
Events then we have a community um and social oriented committee where we’ll actually be kind of keeping our ear to the ground as to what’s already happening on campus and finding ways in which sack can kind of amplify um the existing clubs and voices on campus and
Then we have our social media committee which Gabby can tell you a lot about it’s actually grown I think we’re up to almost 700 followers now so if you can follow at bait sack that would be much appreciated so all those different things um kind of just trying to come up
With Kong create like goals and responsibilities I think move the committee forward a lot yeah I love the post on Instagram live from bit sping events that’s cool yeah yeah so that’s something that Gabby and I been really trying to put an emphasis on is like I
We’ve always talked about it in sack and I think we’ve done it but I think we’re just trying to put more and more awareness about it like showing up and supporting your fellow teammates because it really means a lot when I noticed a couple weeks ago one of our first home
Games like we had a lot of bait students come to watch us play and it means like the world when you look in the crowd and you have like other student athletes at school like supporting you um I I think it goes a long way so we’re really
Trying to increase that for all sack members and just all sports teams in general to support us fall athletes right now and then winter and spring ter what other thoughts you wanted to share about the Fieldy team maybe here going forward we haven’t got to talk about yet
Um I just wanted to say I’m incredibly grateful to be a member of this team and I can’t believe that I am a senior so I’m definitely getting a little bit sad talking about all this with you but I think we’re all just so happy and grateful to be playing um normally
Pretty much this year and I love this team I love everyone on it I think that we’re capable of good things we just need to execute like I know we can and keep up the positivity and intensity so go Bobcats all right brid Thompson thanks so much awesome thanks Aaron the
Men’s golf team played one round at the bow and Invitational on Saturday before Sunday’s action got washed away by rain senior Captain Jack Howard made that one round count shooting one over par and tying for fifth place out of 83 competitors yeah it was a fun round uh
Played well it was funny uh my family came which is awesome so my grandma dad and mom were there um and my dad joked he was like go bury the first Hole uh I buried the first hole and uh after that it was kind of smooth sailing so uh it
Was my best career tournament round actually so uh it was really cool to do with the family there so I had a great time out there so the first hole have you birdied when did you know you had a shot the approach probably or yeah it
Was uh it was kind of a bad Drive I was a little nervous I thought I kind of missed it almost but uh it was a par five and then I put a wedge on the green and uh and made a putt so uh it worked
Out so I didn’t hit the best shots but on a par five you can you know you can afford to do that a little bit more so right right some time for Recovery um senior Captain this year so what’s it like being kind of one of the leaders
Here uh it’s been great it’s funny we have a a lot of sophomores in the team a lot of really good players actually so uh I’m joking that uh you know uh in years past uh we had a pretty good team but we have a lot of talent this year so
It’s actually been hard to even play uh some of these you know sophomores are really good players um but it’s been great it’s been really a privilege to lead these guys team chemistry has been really good and uh obviously Brendan will probably get to that um but uh he’s
Been awesome so uh it’s been pretty easy I feel like cuz everyone gets along well and um I feel like I don’t have to do too much well it’s funny I think we did a photo shoot at marale the other day and Phyllis our photographer mentioned
That folks were competing for a spot at Bowden right yeah so was funny actually we did a three hole playoff uh it was it was really fun the whole team was watching philis was there snapping pictures uh felt like I was in the tour or something it was it was really cool
Uh I went against uh actually my roommate uh and and good friend uh Patrick Bergen uh which uh I’m excited actually I’m going to play in the kobby classic with him so we’re teaming up again after sophomore year obviously canceled with co uh but uh we
Had a great duel there so I came out and top uh but uh it was he made a great comeback and it was really fun so I think we’ve done a good job kind of bridging that gap between you know golf’s so weird as an individual sport
You know you you really want to beat the other one everyone’s competitive but at the same time we are a team so kind of you know playing against Patrick wine to win but also you know at the end once the putts hold being happy for whoever
Wins and stuff because cuz after all we are teammates so it’s been competitive but uh it’s definitely prepared me well for tournaments cuz I’ve experienced the pressure in practice so yeah and then right after that obviously you went there and played it B and unfortunately the next day got canceled because of
Rain right but I mean you Mitchell was your best round yet as a colate golfer so how how’ it feel walking off the course yeah I mean uh it it’s actually really funny cuz my dad joked I was I was playing really well and I tried to
Make a few birdies and uh he was laughing because I think deep down he’s like hey go go make a few birdies and hope for a rain out like laughing uh but uh but obviously I you know I don’t have that many Collegiate rounds left and I
Do really want to play so I was I was bummed when it rained out but I was happy for the Finish but again I kind of I feel like you have to believe as a player as an athlete that you can go out and do it again and and I kind of
Thought you know I could go out and do it again not not being arrogant or not but if you don’t have that mentality you know you you just need to have that so um yeah it was a bummer to have it cancelled but um I’m lucky I played well
Saturday certainly and then Brendon Coto new head coach uh for the program kind of almost straight out of college there at Southern Maine what’s he like like Brendan’s great he’s been awesome for the program um it was I feel like I’ve really got to know him in the fall the
Spring was a bit funky uh with Co and everything uh but Brendan’s great it’s been a pleasure to work with him um we’ve been in contact a lot um nothing but good things about Brenan it’s it’s really good to have him on the course I feel like sometimes I get a little my
Own head so uh he’ll kind of settle me down and and you know when I’m about to hit a shot and uh he he probably saves me one or two shots around just kind of you know calming me down and stuff so it’s great to have him walking out there
I feel like it’s just uh he’s great for the team nothing but good things he been awesome take us back to Growing Up when did you start golfing yeah so it’s funny um my grandma was actually at the tournament um and my uh Grandpa got me
Into the like her husband uh got me into the game uh when I was about 8 years old but at that point I was playing maybe three holes a year I’d make like a 12 a 10 and an 18 and go get a Snickers bar or something so wasn’t really golf but
He’s the first one who kind of taught me how to swing um and then probably around 1213 I really I kind of got the golf bug as they say I kind of got a obsessed with it and uh I’d say 12 13 and maybe by 15 I was playing tournaments so e8th
Grade I’d say was when my golf career started but I was you know first swing at Club at like eight years old so what’s been the biggest challenge developing as a golfer kind of Through The Years so so golf is tough because when you first start out you you drop a
Lot of shots you know and when you’re F you’re not good you it’s really fun because you see your score going down and down and down then eventually you hit a level where you start to plateau and that’s when it gets a little bit frustrating I feel like for every
Athlete it’s like that you know maybe you you get bigger and taller and then every other kid catches up to you or or something to the likes of that uh but uh golf is you know you can hit the ball far farther you can do all that but you
Know it’s funny because I’ll play a course and shoot the same score I did in ninth grade if I had a great round just cuz it’s the same course you know that’s what you measure yourself off of so I say it gets tougher because the short game gets you know it’s it’s imperative
To practice short game and I feel like it’s tempting to go to the range and hit drivers and stuff so uh that that might be the toughest part uh is is probably discipline with practice honestly and dividing that time up well tell me how you first decided you wanted to come to
Baat for college yeah it’s I was kind of uh I I did want to play golf in college um and I looked around at uh as Bates and uh actually T Kobe I thought I’d really like Kobe and I really didn’t like Kobe at all which is kind of funny
Um but went to baits uh kind of stepped in the campus and loved it and uh I I kind of talked to it was coach upam at the time uh who’s the assistant ski coach now uh and you know he was he was a great guy so I talked to him a little
Bit and uh at that point I don’t really wasn’t recruited I think he said hey if you can get in you can play um I went early decision I got in and the rest was history so I don’t I don’t have any regrets there yeah I know coach upam was
S of the steward of the program there for a few years then you had Henry fall now Brendon Cotto so what’s been like kind of having different instructors I guess yeah no coach upam that was that was awesome for him to come in especially that you know wasn’t his
Expertise obviously and uh you know he he took a step out of his comfort zone so he was always great to me and I’ll always have have a lot of respect for him and then Henry obviously coming in started to recruit and kind of you know grow the program Henry was a good
Collegiate golfer and stuff um and then I feel like the transition with Henry leaving everyone was kind of like where’s it going to go but Brendan’s picked up right where it’s left off and uh you know I feel like it was a very smooth transition so kudos to Brandon
Henry for for good communication stuff uh but the program is on the up I’d say we’re just getting better every single year so yeah yeah you mentioned all the sophomores and as a senior Captain it must be nice to see the future of the program in good hands it looks like yeah
I mean give it two years and those guys are seniors like I think we have like maybe six sophomores in the team it’s really competitive some good freshman players um it’s great we have one senior and then Patrick’s a junior and then that’s it so uh yeah Bates golf is
Definitely on the up uh couple good recruits I’m sure Brendan will get coming in uh it’s really excited to see the programs gr great what any other thoughts you want to share about the past weekend there bden what you’re looking forward to here the rest of the
Fall uh yeah so uh next week is the Colby classic uh really Patrick and I uh we’re second place sophomore year we we played really well there so that that’s uh honestly one of the most fun tournaments of the year just cuz it’s a team event uh which you know Eng golf
You don’t get to do that as much so it’s always a lot of fun having another guy there to kind of pick you up when you’re down and and just to you know we chest bumping and stuff it was it was a great time um and then we also have the the
CBB which we beat Bowden by only three shots so um I think uh our team is good I think we can put better numbers in tournaments uh to be honest uh but uh Bowden and Colby I think uh it would be a good it would be a good match so
Obviously we always want to bring home the hardware back to loose and Bowden Bowden I won we won freshman year bow WN sophomore year so uh everyone come out to the CBB at at uh Waterville Country Club that that’s the big tournament to end the year so just those two but uh
Exciting exciting tournaments and then n cacks in the spring if I’m not mistaken right yeah yeah so it’s funny um we didn’t even have a spring season before I was here my freshman year was the first year we started a spring season which was which was great um and so
Hopefully uh pending Co will be able to do the spring trip obviously that was like a couple days before last year um or two years ago actually um but uh Nez cak’s going to be awesome so that that’s the big tournament so you know again having the simulator room and stuff is
Going to be great um you know kind of started with the past teams mentioned Preston HW Nick biotti Jim Stevens all those uh all those guys uh in the past kind of really that was I feel like the root of when Bates golf started to pick
Up with Henry and stuff and to be able to have that facility in the winter to work on our game is going to be key for preparing for nzca I’d say sounds good thanks so much thank you so much for having me I appreciate it this week
We’re excited to feature one of our 13 club sports at Bates the rugby team has its home opener this Friday at garcelon field against the University of Maine the action gets underway at 7 pm. and we are joined by seniors George scouton and Tim Hunter to preview the game and teach
Me and perhaps our listeners a little about rugby George we’ll start with you I believe you’re the President right of B rugby and tell me how you first got involved with rugby kind of growing up I’d never played at all before Bates um I just happened to find the team at the
Club fair and I’ve been uh playing ever since it’s a joy it’s a lot of fun what was it like learning the sport um you know after you found them at the at the fair oh it was it was really tough it was uh at first there was a lot of guys
Who really knew what they were doing we had a couple guys from England who’d been playing it since they you know learned how to write and write a bicycle um but but they did a lot to help us younger guys learn what to do and and
Now uh you know Tim and I both we’ never played before and now we sort of have a good feel for the game and good feel for what’s going on did you play sports growing up and just wanted to find something here at bats or uh I ran track
That’s it not a big uh contact or organized Sports guy myself so this was a little bit different then a little bit different a little bit different for sure and Tim how about for you how how did it first kind of it sounds like you ALS started when you got here at base
Right yeah yeah I was uh so I didn’t have a team coming into to college and I’d always grown up playing on sports teams played soccer played basketball um I never played any contact sports but I like the idea of it you know I had I had
Like a a birthday party where we play tackle football in the snow and that’s one of those that made me love tackle sports but um i’ never played so I got to college um one of the captains uh when I was a freshman hit up the Facebook group chat or Facebook group
For our class said if if you’re looking for a team you’re a retired athlete and I said yeah that’s that’s me I need a team I need I need people to hang out with that was always my Social Circle um so yeah I picked it up freshman year um
Definitely first few weeks are hard for sure I I’ve never watched before but I think a lot of people come in with that with that um lack of training and so you know once I kept doing it I I think I started fell in love with it and um yeah
I’ve been doing it ever since yeah you have to learn how to play but you also have to learn just like the rules right I imagine oh yeah I still don’t know all the rules yet either but you know I I just keep going and I I don’t don’t stop
But when when he Blows the Whistle I I go back and figure it out and yeah yeah no I’m still figuring out but I’d say once you get the gist of it it’s it’s a lot of fun and it’s one of the the best adrenaline rushes or or feelings and
Togetherness I’ve ever had on a team so I believe you guys work closely with Mike milikin right yeah Mike Mike’s our full-time coach um and he does a lot to teach us you know what’s going on especially with rules and everything and and one of the things that people don’t
You know sort of realize about being a club sport is we have sort of like a two we or two and a half week turnaround from when we meet new freshman to start the club to join the club the first time until we play our very first full
Contact game so it’s a really quick turnaround we have intense practices where we we focus a lot on game prep and learning and Mike does a great job in teaching us that and George I I see you guys practicing on the grass there by Russell Street Feld by Russell Stree I
Should say right yeah Paige Paige is usually our home um it’s it’s an absolute joy we have uh to two posts up there we have a couple potholes and manholes we have to be wary of but it’s it’s just a little obstacle course for
Us we love it and then Tim you had your uh opener against at Bowen right and and um bat R Victoria tell us about that game yeah I mean it was great I was really proud of our underclassman um they really stepped up as George was
Saying you know they’ve only had a few weeks of of practice um and while we try to work them hard we also try to have fun and keep it a little bit light um so Bowden was was kind of our reward for that those three weeks of practice and
We went out there and and we punched him in the mouth and we came out with a victory and I was very proud of that um that being said got a lot to work on and uh this week’s going to be tough especially with Oro um but it was it was a good
Development is very positive and a lot of our freshman really stepped up so only four games so a short season is it normally like this so we had one team drop out of the League this year it’s usually five um main Maritime uh drop from the league uh but other than that
That we usually have five games during this semester and if we end up coming out in the top two we’ll make the playoffs play more and after all that we have a spring season as well where we play scrimmages we play sevens which is a different form of rugby um and we we
Go and enter various tournaments so there’s a lot of rugby throughout the year that we end up playing and speaking of that in terms of forms of rugby or what rugby is for people who don’t know I I feel like is similar to what they call Australian Rules Football but it’s
Not right yeah it’s it’s very very different very different okay in in Australian Rules Football there’s a lot of like kicking and setting marks and and the field is actually an oval and not a square it’s it’s there’s a lot going on um but rugby is is like one of
The few sports that I know there are a lot of like you know more nuanced and complicated rules but a lot of the basics make sense is that you can only pass the ball backwards in order to get the ball you got to be standing behind
The guy in front of you and once guys get the basics of of what’s going on everything else sort of comes naturally you just add in a new thing every day a new little rule a new little aspect of the game but the time we hit hit game
Time everyone sort of knows what what they’re what they’re about what’s going on and so but there is still kicking though right yeah they’re still kicking yeah they’re still kicking um yeah I’m not the best at it Tim Tim that’s more Tim’s Forte um we had a one of our new
Uh freshmen he was incredible Eli Eli Kushner sophomore Eli Kushner class of uh 24 yeah he he hit a majority of his his penalty kicks in the pouring rain against Bowden with the wind blowing and everything it was it’s a there’s a lot of kicking in the game and and and some
Guys really really know what they’re doing about it yeah kicking aspect is you kick for field position like punts um but you can go and Chase and and take the ball from them on a kick and then if you score a try which is basically like
A touchdown uh you can get a extra point or extra two points um if you kick it through the uprights and yeah that’s that’s kicking so 29 24 gets bow is that an average score or is that about high or low perhaps that’s like yeah it’s it’s a little bit bit above average
Maybe but that’s that’s around they’re they’re definitely similar to football scores uh they don’t tend to get up um into the 40s or 50s unless it’s a real blowout um but that was a close game hard fought and and we scored uh four or five tries and so George uh if fans come
Out here because you guys are playing right here on garcelon Friday night what can they expect to see from Bates rugby uh they can expect especially our game against Orno they can expect a lot of contact a lot of physicality everything you you would love about football or
Other sports but a lot of the the really cool finesse plays you’d see in soccer with kicks um and just we have a couple really talented ball handlers on the team so you’re going to see a couple serious like sports CER top 10 worthy highlights I’ll be
Honest excellent and what what do you say about that in terms of what fans can expect yeah we’re a hard-nosed team we’re going to go out and fight and we’re going to punch them in the mouth and we got a we got a senior class full
Of strong uh back play so we’ll get out in open space and we’ll have some good attacking threat you made Orono the biggest school in terms of number of students are they normally the biggest challenge yeah they’re they’re a they’re really challenging team and they’re also
A big team they’re they’re a lot you know there’s there’s a lot of uh former football players that they have they also have just a lot of size generally um that we really have to contend against and we have to work really hard all this past week and the week before
To be really technically proficient with our tackles to know you know it’s not the easiest task to bring down a guy that’s twice your size but it can be done if you know how to do your form correctly um and you practice that so great well any other thoughts uh both of
You wanted to share about um you know the Rugby Club here at bat in case there any listeners out there who might want to join perhaps yeah um so well two things I mean we’re we’re starting a woman’s team so we have a few loyal members that have come around um to
Practices um so we practice every day at 4:30 everyone is welcome to come no matter skill level um yeah and we we’re trying to start up women’s rugby team but it’s kind of hard to do without uh women on the team so but other than that
Um yeah we’re we’re a fun group very International very diverse um we’re very accepting of all shapes and sizes um and most of all I want to say that it’s just a great group group of guys um and I really love going out there and and
Fighting with my team and you two are proof there’s no prior experience necessary right yep that’s true and and with what Tim said all practices are co-ed so you know we don’t we don’t you know separate practices or anything like that so if you’re feeling rugby um just
Come out we’d love to have you we have a great culture great family we got um and if not if you’re feeling like you don’t want to play rugby come see us on Friday we got a a seriously fun game coming up yeah come see the Rugby Club on Friday
And then maybe you’ll see something you like and might want to join right yeah yeah yeah there you have it George and Tim thank you so much for joining us on the bobcast and uh sort of previewing the home opener here for the rugby Squad thank you Aaron next time on the baits
Bobcast we’ll recap the main state meet as the nationally ranked women’s and men’s cross country teams look to defend their state titles on their home course at pinland farms plus the football team is home this Saturday at 1: p.m. against Wesley and for back to baates Family Day
The rest of the Fall sports teams are on the road but we’ll have the full recap of all the action next time on the baits Bobcast Right
