For many athletic squads, from junior levels to the pros, teams identify themselves as a 'family.' This classification is certainly the case of the Southern Vermont College men's basketball team, a crew of self-proclaimed "WRECKAGE" that bonded well as it formed into the dominate force on the court that it proved to be by winning the 2016 New England Collegiate Conference Championship and moving on to play under the bright lights in the NCAA Division III tournament.

But there is a particularly special aspect of this team that incorporates the truer, more traditional form of the term. This would be the Bromirski clan-- a trio of basketball fanatics from Cambridge, N.Y. who all embarked on the journey to dance together.

David, an assistant coach for SVC and father of the two others, rode the same charter bus to the Boston area as his youngest of three children, William- a senior shooting guard for Southern Vermont, and his eldest child Shea who had been helping the team with workouts in the College's Mountaineer Athletic Center all season. Bridget, David's wife and mother to William and Shea, would also not be far behind to support the team after sending off the Mountaineers Thursday morning with her customary batch of homemade cookies.

The family has taken many a trip together in the past, including annual excursions to Upstate New York during the summer. They had been to plenty of basketball games over the years, mostly to high school gymnasiums to watch one another, or their sister Amelia, exhibit exceptional shooting skills. They had been to an NCAA tournament recently, David and William as spectators when Shea participated in the Division II playoff as a member of the College of Saint Rose in 2011. This trip, however, to this game, would be different-- as all three were together, collectively helping a small college try to win its first NCAA contest of any sport in over a decade.

Walking into a game-day team breakfast as the Mountaineers prepared for their NCAA first round matchup, David commented that, "To get to the dance alone is special. But to be here with my two boys—to watch Shea live the dream again and see Will experience it for the first time— it's a bonus to being a dad and a coach."

The Bromirski name first appeared in the Mountaineers' history in 2008 when David, a middle school teacher and Athletic Director at nearby St. Mary's Academy inHoosick Falls, N.Y., came to the SVC campus as an assistant for then-head coach Michael McDonough. Since then, David has stayed on staff through a change at the helm of the team, as well as its ups and downs. In his second year with the program, he helped Southern Vermont get to its first New England Collegiate Conference tournament; the following season, he was with the squad when it went back to the playoffs with its first above-.500 record in seven years.

David remained with the Mountaineers over the next two seasons as the team fell from the ranks of the Conference; he then decided that a change at the top wouldn't stop him from staying on the SVC sidelines after the 2012-13 campaign. Newly-appointed head coach Dan Engelstad chose not to clean house after taking the job at Southern Vermont, instead retaining David as an assistant.

"I remember our first initial conversation," said Engelstad back at the team's hotel on the day of its NCAA first rounder. "Immediately, I could just tell how much he cared about Southern Vermont College athletics and basketball in particular. After that conversation, I understood how much knowledge he had on the game, and I knew how much of an asset he could be for our program. It's the best thing that I've done—keeping him on board. He's been terrific with the guys; he's one of the hardest-working coaches that I've seen in regards to preparation for the opponent. He loves watching film and breaking it down, and there's no doubt about the fact that he's one of the best X's and O's guys I've ever been around."

Engelstad and Bromirski, along with the rest of the SVC staff, would coach the Mountaineers back to the playoffs in the ensuing season (2013-14), that being the first of three straight trips to the NECC tournament for the program. down, and there's no doubt about the fact that he's one of the best X's and O's guys I've ever been around." 

In the second of that three-year run, William transferred to Southern Vermont from Division II Roberts Wesleyan College. At RWC, he was a two-year player who averaged 9.5 points per game on 35.6 percent shooting from three-point range. He then elected to study criminal justice at SVC, bringing a spark of electricity to the Mountaineer faithful with his display of downtown abilities, some of those long-range buckets coming from over five feet behind the arc.

"After year one, we looked at the biggest needs and holes in our program," Engelstad continued. "One of them was the ability to shoot the three-ball. Immediately, once Will arrived on campus, we had a solution to that."

"When I was at Roberts," said William after the game-day meal, "I was playing pretty well, but we weren't winning a lot of games. Then I decided I was going to go somewhere else. I visited a bunch of schools in New York, and then I got to talking with [Coach] Dan. Obviously Dad and being at home had an influence, and growing up around Southern Vermont Basketball— I just knew. And I knew Dan was on the right track to winning a lot of games, so I figured it would be the best fit."

David relished in the chance to have William transfer to SVC, adding that, "When he was out in Rochester [at RWC], because of the conflict of the schedules, I really never got to see him play. Having him here has been really nice. I wanted to be able to coach him, watch him grow up a little bit, and have him around all the time."

Since joining the Mountaineers, William started in all 57 of their games played since November of 2014, averaging 10.4 points per game on 38 percent shooting from the outside. His hot hand from the perimeter led to 139 made triples in his time wearing the SVC jersey, ranking him second all-time in program history after just the two seasons.

"Just the threat of him on the floor opens up a lot for our guys, because he's on everyone's scout and they're trying to take him away," Engelstad offered. "It's been fun to see Will develop an all-around game, and there's no doubt in my mind that we would not have accomplished what we have without him being a part of this program."

William not only assisted in Southern Vermont registering back-to-back undefeated NECC regular seasons, but also helped the Mountaineers win their first-ever Eastern College Athletic Conference Championship in 2015 as he was named the DIII New England Tournament's Most Valuable Player after scoring 17.5 points per game on four treys per contest in the playoff.

Asked about what it's like to be on the trip with his father and brother, William said that, "It's a dream come true. I didn't ever think I'd be playing in an NCAA tournament; but now we are, so it's just really special."

It might be safe to say that William's strong distance shooting can be attributed to growing up with an older brother who also had quite the knack for knocking down shots from deep. Shea played three seasons at Saint Rose (2008-11), starting in 76 of his 86 appearances as a Golden Knight. In that time, he tallied 201 baskets on 39.8 percent shooting from three-point land to average 14 points per game. In 2011, he aided in Saint Rose collecting an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where the Golden Knights defeated UMass Lowell in the first round before getting knocked out by Bentley University.

When asked if William grew up in his shadow, Shea said that, "I think he did in a way, but he shouldn't have. I look to Will in the same light as he looks to me in. Every day I try to be more like my brother in some ways. We lean on each other for support. He's a special guy, and it's the same way with my dad as well."

Shea made a trip back to the national tourney with his father and brother this year, getting a ride with Southern Vermont after helping the Mountaineers work on their perimeter game and shooting skills during the course of the 2015-16 campaign.

"It's so cool; it's so much fun," Shea said of being with the team on their trip to the NCAA's. "I'm a basketball junkie, so March is the best time of year. And I'm so happy and proud of both Will and my dad. I know it's something they've always worked for, and it hasn't come easy. Especially for Will; it never came easy for him, and he's always really worked for it. He's always kept grinding and sticking with it, and I know he's excited. He's one of my best friends, and I'm just so proud of him. It's just a really cool time for our family."

"I love working with [this team]," Shea continued. "I love these guys—they're some of my good friends. Dan and the staff are awesome people that I love working with. These kids have bought into something that's way bigger than themselves, and I think the fans are seeing that. I was lucky enough to play for a college that was like that, too, so I feel like I was able to bring some of that experience, that winning culture."

It was a unique aspect for the Mountaineer crew: having a pair of brothers and their father work together for the first time as they took on different roles for the betterment of the team, none of those being too small to achieve the group's next goal of winning on the national stage.

"A lot of programs do it, and we like to talk about our program and team as a family," Engelstad finished with. "So to have people who are legitimately family all take part in it— and not just the three of them, but their mother as well who bakes the cookies— it's really a family affair. They're all so talented in their own right: Shea's unbelievable in his ability to train, Dave as we mentioned in the X's and O's, and Will's tough warrior spirit and ability to shoot the ball. They've all really helped our program tremendously."

Unfortunately, the outcome of SVC's first round game against Tufts University was not what the Bromirskis had dreamed as the Mountaineers lost a hard-fought game to the Jumbos by two. But the scoreboard will never be able to take away the memories that were formed and the experiences that they were able to share with one another in thanks to the game of basketball and the NCAA tournament.