Union Coach Tim Gerrish to Step Down

[ballgame]

Sorry if this was posted already but I’m surprised. He coached me at North Country and was the best coach I ever had. Does anyone know where he is going?

[nut_case]

I am also surprised at this development, although I am no longer as close to the situation as in past years. Hope to find out more specific information in the coming weeks.

[hab]

I was surprised four years ago when Fred Quistgard left this job. He seemed like a serious guy determined to make the best of the weak hand that U dealt him. It is tough to be competitive in college hockey unless you either offer athletic scholarships or you have an Ivy League name and endowment to fund lots of "need-based" aid. Somehow, Union puts enough other things together to make them reasonably successful in recruiting a respectable men's team. I suspect that both of these coaches got tired of waiting for evidence that they took the women's game as seriously. It seems that some colleges (Sacred Heart being another example) feel the (political?) need to have a D1 women's hockey team but don't have the desire and/or the resources to support one. I need to emphasize, however, that I have no specific knowledge concerning why either of these guys left.

[nut_case]

Fred Quistgard was indeed a serious guy who was making very good progress, in a short period of time, at the D3 level. The 2003 team was a few players short of being very good at that level.The move to D1 was unfortunate in my opinion, and I believe was required by whatever NCAA rules apply to this fairly unique situation. Union has a very successful overall athletic program, and I believe that the administration is committed to being as successful as possible without seriously compromising the overall standards of the school. The men's program is evidence of that in my opinion. Although this is not an Ivy league school it is nevertheless not easy to find talented players with no true athletic scholarships and average SAT requirements north of 1300. While it may not seem politically correct to make this observation,the fact is that a significant number of girls will often avoid a program that has not been successful,even if it happens to be at a school which otherwise would be a great opportunity.I believe that the program will continue to improve and,if the team can manage a breakthrough season, the process might accelerate. A good example of the other side of this situation can be seen with their women's soccer team, which has been extremely successful for the last 10 years,and each year fields a team with far too many talented players to enable all of them to get enough playing time. Much of that is obviously attributable to the coach, but I believe that a good part is also based on their constant success.Meanwhile, of course, the coach who is at the helm during the building process has quite a challenge. I think that I know why Coach Quistgard left, although I am not sure what the public record on that issue may be. I do think his efforts were appreciated, and I also think that the fact that the women's program switched from being a new D3 program to a new D1 program in a very short period of time(too short by several years in my view) made a difficult situation even more difficult. This job could still be a very attractive opportunity unless I am missing something.

[ballgame]

recruiting is an issue for every program but then add high SATs and I can see it. I doubt they would find a coach as good as Tim. I do wish them luck

[camman15]

Fred Quistgard was indeed a serious guy who was making very good progress, in a short period of time, at the D3 level. The 2003 team was a few players short of being very good at that level.The move to D1 was unfortunate in my opinion, and I believe was required by whatever NCAA rules apply to this fairly unique situation. Union has a very successful overall athletic program, and I believe that the administration is committed to being as successful as possible without seriously compromising the overall standards of the school. The men's program is evidence of that in my opinion. Although this is not an Ivy league school it is nevertheless not easy to find talented players with no true athletic scholarships and average SAT requirements north of 1300. While it may not seem politically correct to make this observation,the fact is that a significant number of girls will often avoid a program that has not been successful,even if it happens to be at a school which otherwise would be a great opportunity.I believe that the program will continue to improve and,if the team can manage a breakthrough season, the process might accelerate. A good example of the other side of this situation can be seen with their women's soccer team, which has been extremely successful for the last 10 years,and each year fields a team with far too many talented players to enable all of them to get enough playing time. Much of that is obviously attributable to the coach, but I believe that a good part is also based on their constant success.Meanwhile, of course, the coach who is at the helm during the building process has quite a challenge. I think that I know why Coach Quistgard left, although I am not sure what the public record on that issue may be. I do think his efforts were appreciated, and I also think that the fact that the women's program switched from being a new D3 program to a new D1 program in a very short period of time(too short by several years in my view) made a difficult situation even more difficult. This job could still be a very attractive opportunity unless I am missing something.

Some good points about Fred Q.,.....a class act and a very hard worker who saw the handwriting on the wall when Val Balmonte arrived on the seen as AD and basically pointed "stud man" out the door,.....not a great move, followed by overlooking some very good candidates who were really interested in the job, to hire Timmy G., a USA Hockey "buddy",.....no disrespect to Tim who knows his hockey, but there were better candidates with more recruiting/coaching experience at that level,.....then what(?), a couple of years later, Val's out the door leaving Tim with no support, which is pivotal with a program in transition from D-3 to D-1,.....

[wihobserver]

would they give the program over to an assistant coach or the rink manager guy?

[quixote]

would they give the program over to an assistant coach or the rink manager guy?

Last I checked the rink manager at Union was the former head coach at Findley (Adam ...).

[wihobserver]

Last I checked the rink manager at Union was the former head coach at Findley (Adam ...).

uh ya, not a good choice....a girl i know went to findley with the promise of making the team and then he cut her and a few other girls who were promised the same thing...he should stick to being the rink guy

[WOODY THE WOODPECKER]

uh ya, not a good choice....a girl i know went to findley with the promise of making the team and then he cut her and a few other girls who were promised the same thing...he should stick to being the rink guy

look for Adam Brinker to get his name in the pool of possibilities. he was the Women's Head Coach at Findley for a few years.

[camman15]

uh ya, not a good choice....a girl i know went to findley with the promise of making the team and then he cut her and a few other girls who were promised the same thing...he should stick to being the rink guy

So let me see, you don't consider a former head coach who did a very good job in a difficult situation (at Findlay) because somebody was cut from the team???,..... promises(?) were made and not kept and that's why he wouldn't be a good coach?,.....first, EVERY coach at this level makes promises that sometimes are not honored because of extenuating circumstances and I have to believe there's a little more to your story,.....infact, get brave and pick up the phone and call any coach who really knows Adam Brinker and they would find your statement hard to believe,.....no, let Adam do what he wants and you stick to hypothetical games and Chatham College women's hockey; that's a good place for you!!!,.....

[ballgame]

Im sure there is a lot more to this story than promises. First of all perception is reality and if these girls thought they were given promises then they were because thats what they thought. Recruiting is tough but we also dont know what kind of players they were and maybe they didnt do the right things because they had a promise and some other girls how worked their ***** off got the job. So lets drop that argument because too many variables we dont know.

Personally I was given promises too when I was looking at school but I also knew that the coaches of the schools I was looking at were known for over recruiting. So if you're even in a situation or know someone in a situation like that make sure you/they do your homework

[wihobserver]

Im sure there is a lot more to this story than promises. First of all perception is reality and if these girls thought they were given promises then they were because thats what they thought. Recruiting is tough but we also dont know what kind of players they were and maybe they didnt do the right things because they had a promise and some other girls how worked their ***** off got the job. So lets drop that argument because too many variables we dont know.

Personally I was given promises too when I was looking at school but I also knew that the coaches of the schools I was looking at were known for over recruiting. So if you're even in a situation or know someone in a situation like that make sure you/they do your homework

thank you for an intelligent post. this girl was being recruited by DIII schools and this was the only DI school recruiting her so she went for it based on being told by the coach she would make the team. it's that simple. and she wasn't the only one he did that too. when you're making a decision on which college you want to go to a promise of this nature makes all the difference. if you know anything about life you know that we females don't take kindly to being lied to in any sort of relationship. thankfully the coach that recruited me never broke a promise.

[ballgame]

well Ill take the "intelligent post" comment as you being sarcastic.

[wihobserver]

well Ill take the "intelligent post" comment as you being sarcastic.

no, not at all sarcastic. i was being genuine. i meant it in comparison to the ignorant post just before yours and i do mean ignorant in every sense of the word.

[sheba]

Here is a question for all of you out there:

What happens to any players who may have applied Early Decision based on the representations of the Head Coach who is now not there anymore..
is that a "changed circumstance" that would allow them (IF THEY WANTED TO) to reconsider and see if they could go somewhere else??? If there wasn't any NLI signed, just the Early Decision, what are the consequences to a student for changing their mind under Early Decision because of the uncertainty of the new coach??? I guess I dont really understand what "legally" is binding from the Early Decision - if there's no scholarship money involved can the college legally prevent a student from changing their mind and looking elsewhere??? Just curious.. It doesn't seem right to hold the students to a situation that has changed, but there are no guarantees in any of this...broken promises made by over zealous recruiting coaches seems to be a common issue of discontent.

[ballgame]

no, not at all sarcastic. i was being genuine. i meant it in comparison to the ignorant post just before yours and i do mean ignorant in every sense of the word.


OK was hard to tell since its just words haha :D

[futurestar]

Here is a question for all of you out there:

What happens to any players who may have applied Early Decision based on the representations of the Head Coach who is now not there anymore...

Seems to me like you roll the dice and you takes your chances. The school didn't promise you a coach, they only promised to consider your application before other candidates if you agreed to attend the school on acceptance. Would the situation be any different if the history or english professor that you expected resigned or retired?

I'm not sure what's "legal" in this situation, but you do have to consider how binding is your word and how you would feel after you broke your commitment.

[sheba]

Seems to me like you roll the dice and you takes your chances. The school didn't promise you a coach, they only promised to consider your application before other candidates if you agreed to attend the school on acceptance. Would the situation be any different if the history or english professor that you expected resigned or retired?

I'm not sure what's "legal" in this situation, but you do have to consider how binding is your word and how you would feel after you broke your commitment.

The time commitment for playing college hockey is much more exhaustive than having one professor for one class - unless that was extremely important to you and then yes I think that is a changed circumstance from your original expectation and what prompted your interest in attending a specific college.

I dont think there are many recruiting coaches out there who have any feelings at all about "how binding is their word" after what they "promised" or said they would do and then what they actually do. I think that is a real issue and it happens more often than not without any accountability.

[ADK11]

http://www.ecachockeyleague.com/news/women/union_01-24

Link to the ECAC announcement on Gerrish for those who missed it (I know I did). I'm not close to the women's side of things, but camman15's comments about the Gerrish/Belmonte connection certainly sounds more than plausible to me.

Once again, another low point for Union women's hockey on top of what has already been a disaster of a season. Whoever gets the job has a ton of work to do and most of it will be to erase the perception in most recruits minds that Union = pathetic loserville. In the past 4 years the team hasn't beaten a non-DIII team not named Sacred Heart or Robert Morris and the talent gap between U and the rest of the ECAC is only widening (evidenced by RPI whipping U in their first year in D-1).

Mostly I feel bad for the girls, who have to go play this weekend against two top 10 teams with a lame-duck coach.