Ask anyone in the Austin Prep athletics department about the decision to compete in the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council this fall, and the word challenge keeps popping up.
There’s no denying that making the leap to the prep level is a massive adjustment. Yet Cougars girls coach Stephanie Wood said her team is excited for the opportunity to battle with some of the top programs in the region.
“Not only have we been able to be a recurring top team in the state for several years now, I’m excited for the challenge to now do the same thing across New England,” Wood said on New England Hockey Journal’s ‘RinkWise’ podcast in April. “In this area we’re so fortunate, the hockey’s just so good, there’s so many great programs, so many great players that come out of that. It’s something that we’re definitely really looking forward to.”
In January, Austin Prep announced its plans to join NEPSAC starting in the 2022-23 school year. The independent coed Catholic school located in Reading, Mass., will compete as an independent school for the first year before joining a league. Austin Prep does not plan to develop an academy-model program for hockey.
Cougars athletic director Patrick Driscoll said conversations regarding NEPSAC started more than two years ago. The school reviewed data and trends of conference schools and conducted focus groups with Austin Prep students, parents and alumni before making a decision.
“The general feedback is one of excitement,” Driscoll said. “To have the opportunity to be part of the NEPSAC, to be able to compete against the teams … really just a lot of excitement from alumni, from current families, to faculty and staff.”
Both of Austin Prep’s hockey teams have enjoyed success at the high school level and aim to carry that over to NEPSAC. The girls team is coming off an undefeated 27-win season and an MIAA Division 1 state title. The boys squad won a Catholic Central League title and advanced to the Division 1 quarterfinal round.
The Cougars also will have a new bench boss, as Austin Prep named John McLean their boys head coach in April. A former state champion skater at Arlington Catholic and captain at Boston College, McLean has more than three decades of coaching experience, having led Malden Catholic to four MIAA Super 8 state titles.
Driscoll, who previously worked with McLean as Malden Catholic’s athletic director, said McLean is a top-end coach who prepares tirelessly to get the most out of his players.
“He’s very organized, he’s paid attention to all the little details,” Driscoll said. “He runs practices as hard as he can so when it’s game time, games are a little easier and kids can actually just kind of respond to what’s coming at them as opposed to thinking and just reacting.”
Preparation will be even more important for the kids moving up to the prep level, where the style of play is noticeably different. Austin Prep plans to compete against hockey heavyweights like Belmont Hill, Governor’s Academy and Dexter Southfield next season.
Excelling in NEPSAC requires student-athletes to train year-round to become stronger and faster. Yet, according to McLean, the biggest difference from MIAA and NEPSAC is deep rosters.
“They’re older, they’re more skilled, deeper,” McLean said. “I watched a bunch of games this year. I noticed that it’s just deeper teams. Most teams I used to coach against, they might have had one or two, they didn’t have three or four strong, deep, talented lines.”
With other programs boasting impressive depth, recruiting becomes crucial for the Cougars. Though it’s currently late in the recruiting period, Driscoll said there’s been a buzz about the jump to NEPSAC, and plenty of student-athletes have reached out to learn more about the hockey teams.
With Massachusetts being a hockey hotbed, Wood believes Austin Prep soon will have depth that rivals the top NEPSAC teams.
“I think ultimately now, we will attract almost a different level of student-athlete,” Wood said. “Not only do I think we will attract top local kids, but I think it’s an opportunity, too, for players to come across North America and join the school and join the program.”
In his initial meetings with the Cougars’ boys program, McLean stressed to his returning players that things would be different moving forward. McLean also warned that they won’t be able to just lace up the skates and compete in November without having spent months preparing, both on the ice and in the weight room.
From an on-ice and off-ice perspective, Austin Prep faces a difficult challenge entering its inaugural NEPSAC season. McLean believes his guys are up for it.
“It’s going to be a lot of work, and they understand it,” McLean said. “It’s going to be a challenge. I told them we have our work cut out for us.”
