The Bates men’s and women’s cross country team is entering a new age, one marked by the merging of their teams and the welcoming of Head Coach Danny Feldman. After an extensive and successful career at both the high school and collegiate level, Feldman is thrilled to find himself in the great state of Maine as the new men’s and women’s head cross country coach. 

“I feel lucky as heck to be here,” Feldman expressed. “I’m super excited to get to figure out the Bates community through and through.” 

Feldman’s coaching career has brought him across the country and back. In his 10 years of coaching thus far, he has held positions at Northern Arizona University (2013-2014), Washington University in St. Louis (2014-2015), and NYC’s Covenant of the Sacred Heart (2015-2017).

The NESCAC has been lucky enough to see Feldman’s coaching on multiple occasions. From 2017-2019, he held the assistant coach position at Amherst College, where he helped lead the team to several NESCAC Championship victories as well as the 2018 New England Regional Championship. Most recently, Feldman spent three years as the head coach of Christopher Newport University’s Track and Field Team. This past year, Feldman led CNU’s Mens and Womens teams to victory in the Coast to Coast Conference Championships and sent two women to represent CNU in the NCAA National Championships. 

Coming in hot after a wildly successful couple years at CNU, Feldman is thrilled about the opportunity to be the head coach of a NESCAC team, something that has been a long-time goal of his. 

“It is a privilege and honor to be rejoining the NESCAC community as a Bobcat,” Feldman remarked. He expresses his alignment with the values that NESCAC schools emphasize, such as the prioritization of academic pursuits and the strong sense of care in the community. 

Already, Feldman is acutely aware of the way this manifests itself within the Bobcats, both in and out of the sport. “I feel so lucky,” he expressed. “We have a really great group of men and women on this team.” 

Drawing upon that, Feldman has committed both himself and his team to perpetuating this positive, collaborative and dynamic environment. Every Friday, Feldman sends the team on “community runs,” where all 60 runners begin their workout together to create bonds within the team.

 As Feldman and the team get into the swing of things for the 2022 season, they are looking forward to developing a routine as one and further expanding upon the team’s strong relationships and values. 

Feldman’s coaching philosophy is rooted in his ability to facilitate honest and interpersonal relationships with his athletes. “I wish my college track coach had given me better direction,” he remarked. Internalizing this, he works to take his coaching off of the course and support the team not only as students, but as people. 

Each day, he reminds his team of the importance of controlling the controllables. “Whether this means sleep, hydration, attitude, time management, stress management, or diet: do the best you can with what you got, where you’re at,” he said. 

For Feldman, that is what success is all about. 

As he goes throughout his first year as a Bobcat, Feldman’s main goal is quite simple: consistency. “Consistency with your training and your ability to care about one another. Consistency leads to unparalleled success and unimaginable growth,” he explained. 

Follow Feldman and the rest of the team at https://gobatesbobcats.com/sports/womens-cross-country & https://gobatesbobcats.com/sports/mcross?path=mcross