Alternate Routes
Field Hockey coach Cristy Freese is used to getting players from across the nation.
Her roster is littered with names from New York and Pennsylvania, with only three players coming from Michigan.
But Freese did not stop recruiting at the Atlantic Seaboard.
Sophomore forward Courtney Blanchard came to the club via Capetown, South Africa.
“We communicated 90 percent through e-mail,” Freese said. “She committed before ever even seeing CMU.”
Not only did Blanchard have to adjust to her new, completely foreign surroundings, she had to adjust to the style of play in the U.S.
“The way the game is played in the United States is different from the way it is played in South Africa,” she said. “The game here is more technical. You watch film and have to learn a lot of positioning on plays.”
Unlike her new surroundings, the sport of field hockey was not foreign to Blanchard.
“Field hockey is very big in South Africa. I started playing when I was eight years old” she said. “It’s not like here where you go to college to play and you are done. We play club and there are teams that you can be 50 and play on.”
While Blanchard lives across an ocean, last year’s volleyball Freshman of the Year, Meghan Moore, is from Alma, located about 15 miles south of Mount Pleasant.
“I go home whenever I need to do my laundry,” she said. “My parents come to every game no matter where it is.”
Moore said she actually didn’t want to stay close to home because she was afraid she would go home all of the time.
She had an opportunity to go to Ferris State, which is approximately an hour away from Alma, but decided against it after her visit.
“(CMU) was one of my first visits and once I had it, I knew that I wanted to come here,” Moore said.
Distance from athlete’s cities to Mount Pleasant
- Ancaster, Ontario — 291 miles
- Plymouth, N.C. — 950 miles
- Capetown, South Africa — 26 hour plane flight
- Alma, Mich. — 15 miles
Blanchard and Moore come from different backgrounds, but they now share the same zip code, along with the rest of the CMU athletic fraternity. Some of these athletes also have made a long trip to Mount Pleasant.
The soccer team has four players from Canada on its roster, including sophomore forward Alison Heydorn, who is from Ancaster, Ontario. Heydorn is third on the team with six points.
Former coach Mark Salisbury noticed Heydorn at a soccer showcase in the Hamilton, Ontario area. Unlike Blanchard, Heydorn actually made a visit to Mount Pleasant.
“Our club team played (CMU), so I really liked it and I really wanted to come here just based on what I saw,” she said.
Football coach Brian Kelly has many players from out of state, including an unusually large amount from the Southeast. This is something that can be attributed to defensive assistant coach Joe Danna, who has Georgia ties, and is in charge of recruiting out of that area.
One of Danna’s recruits is sophomore receiver Damien Linson, who recently had a break out game for the Chippewas. Linson ran back a punt, something no Chippewa has done in the last 20 years and established himself as a big play threat down the field.
Linson is from Plymouth, North Carolina, and had a chilling visit.
“I had my visit in December,” he said. “I came here with a light jacket on and I had to go to the store and buy a jacket just for the visit.”
The visit didn’t hinder Linson’s decision negatively. Now, he has the weekend off from football and said he has not decided whether or not to go home.
“I don’t like going home for two or three days,” he said. “It’s like a tease.”
Soccer coach Tony DiTucci said that recruiting locally is an ideal situation, but the team is always looking for the best players according to its needs.
He added having players from different environments is beneficial.
“We’ve certainly all learned a lot more about Canada,” he said. “It brings in people to the program and to the school community that otherwise wouldn’t be here. We want the best player that can be good for this program and Ali is a good example of that.”
