Goslant may not return to coach women's hockey

By Candace Bushey
Norwich Guidon Staff Writer

Kenny Goslant, the owner of a busy granite company, the father of two children, and an avid racing fan, always seems to find time to volunteer within his community.

Goslant is currently the head coach of the Norwich women's hockey team as well as assistant coach of the Northfield girl's hockey team. During the summer months, Goslant said he volunteers as a t-ball coach for little league baseball teams and umpires high school JV baseball games.

"He's very much a giving person, " said Goslant's best friend Dana Bean, the athletic equipment manager at Norwich University, "not only for this community and Norwich but for anybody that has ever come into contact with him."

Bean was the first coach of the Norwich women's hockey team and had asked Goslant to be an assistant coach. After Bean's resignation in the middle of the first season, Goslant volunteered to take over.

"He's not going to do something halfway and say 'the hell with it, I'm not going to do it anymore,'" Bean said, "If he starts something, he's going to finish it."

However, despite his love for the game and for the team, Kenny Goslant, the head coach of the Norwich women's hockey team, may call it quits after this year. Goslant started when the team first began four years ago and since then has helped build the program by volunteering his time, effort and energy.

Goslant said that the biggest reason he stayed all four years is that he, "didn't want the program to die. The women deserve to be there, they deserve a team and I want to see this program grow."

"I enjoyed working with the women and I wanted to try and make a difference," Goslant said. "I wanted to build something for the future of women's hockey."

Chan Stowell, the director of Student Activities, said that Goslant has accomplished building a women's program at Norwich. "He's done a really good job on bringing the program along and developing the fundamentals that are necessary."

"He has the interest of the program at heart," Stowell said, "and he is trying to do the best job he possibly can to get the women to where they are now."

Goslant said that he has personally put a lot of time and effort into the program and would like to see it continue to grow. "Nobody else has ever wanted to be involved with the program, which is why I always return," Goslant said.

"If there's somebody out there that wants to take over the program and has got the best interests of the girls and the program in mind, then I'm all for it," Goslant said.

Stowell said Goslant is the first person to admit that he's taken the women's team about as far as he can take them ability-wise. "He realizes that the next level is going to take someone with a little more, not that he doesn't have the dedication, but he has a business to run; time and energy are important to him."

Goslant said he has "very mixed emotions" about the idea of coaching one more year. "The two biggest reasons why I'm having a hard time deciding is the question of whether or not I could take the team to the next level. I don't want to hold the program back."

The second reason Goslant said is that it takes so much time away from his own family. "I can't and won't give up watching my own kids play hockey. My kids come first."

"A new coach might have more hockey skills, but they certainly won't have the personality and understanding that Kenny has, and that is so essential to this still new program," said Liz Kennedy, 21, a communications and English double major from Ashland, Mass.

"He knows what a tough road it has been and has established an understanding between the players," Kennedy said, "I respect his decision to leave, but I certainly don't like it."

Stowell has recently had a conversation with Goslant, which led him to believe that he is 99% sure he would not be returning. "But if by chance he said he wanted to do it one more year, then I would recommend him highly," Stowell commented.

However, Bean confidently said, "He may say he does not want to coach, that he's discouraged, but he'll be there again next year."

Goslant would not give a straight answer on whether he would be resigning this year but said, "He would have to sit down with the university and discuss the future of the Norwich hockey program, and the time and effort that is involved."

"Time is money in my business, and I've taken a lot of my time," Goslant said, "However, a guy can't work all the time, and the women for the most part have been really enjoyable; I consider it my recreation time."

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