03/08/2023
Hello Wells College women’s soccer alumnae,
My name is Patrick Arancio, current Head Coach for your Wells College women’s soccer team. I have been in this position since January ‘21, returning to the school that I myself graduated from in 2012. Yes, I am also an alum just like all of you! It’s been great having the chance to be a part of this program and I look forward to continuing to do so.
This post is overdue, though I assure you my efforts have been focused in areas that benefit the long-term success of the program (recruiting new players, student retention, travel, and hosting prospective students, to name a few). With all that being said (and at the behest of friends who are included in this group!) it is my hope that this Spring we officially bring back a time-honored tradition, the Wells College women’s soccer alumni game!
I am looking to get a rough head count to see if this will be possible. There are a few mitigating factors that must be considered. One of which is the number of players who are available to represent the current Varsity team. As Wells has evolved over the years, a large number of student-athletes are now multi-sport Varsity team members. Soccer-basketball, soccer-lacrosse, among others. Because of multiple competitive seasons, it is unlikely these players can play a Spring friendly, even if just for an alumni game. There would be roughly 5-7 players available for a potential game with you all. With this in mind I estimate that I will need 10-12 alums to make a small-sided 7v7 game possible, and closer to 15-20+ if we wanted to go ¾ or full-field.
The second factor is our date of the potential alumni game, which would be Sunday, April 23rd. This is our only available date and cannot be changed. For those of have not visited Wells in some time, our turf field complex is used by all our in-season Spring teams (who always get first dibs on dates/times) as well as our out-of-season teams vying for whatever is left over. Because of this our available windows were very limited, and that’s before considering things such as travel, children, weather etc. So in order to make a game happen, you would have to be available on this date!
In summary, I am looking for a head count for a possible alumni game on 4/23, time is variable, but I would assume mid-morning early afternoon (11a-1pm) for a kickoff time, with some sort of luncheon get-together afterwards. Details to follow there if we move forward. Please use the google doc link below to write your name on the RSVP list if you are able to make it. Anyone can edit the document, so please pass on the link (found in the comment section) as necessary. If we have the numbers, I will press forward with the planning. Should we not, we will have to table the idea until Spring ‘24 when the date is more flexible and there are more “soccer-only” players on campus.
I encourage you all to try and work this into your schedules. The athletes who are here are dedicated players who would immensely benefit from the opportunity to compete with their fellow Wellsians. Gone are the days of the NEAC (now known as the United East), Wells will be joining a new conference starting the 2023-24 academic year. The Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC). New teams, new competition. We do not have enough players to play a formal Spring game against another institution. Getting creative and including you all in the process would be a great way to supplement our numbers as the group looks towards their next competitive season, as well as the ability for all of us to get together and share the traditional good tidings of an alumni game, during peak Spring beauty on campus! Please share this with those who may not be on Facebook and let’s get the word out to as many alums as possible! If you’d like to pass on this whole message, I have attached photo versions of this post that can be screenshot and maneuvered through whatever means of communication is necessary. Once I have feel for numbers there will be a formal announcement in this facebook group if we will be moving forward. I am appreciative of everyone’s time and consideration into making this happen!
Sincerely,
Patrick Arancio, Head Women’s Soccer Coach, Wells College
