Friday, March 26, 2010

Tournament Time

Inspired by (and tired from) staying up too late to watch basketball, this prompt is about college sports. Lots of discussion goes on among college administrators about the role of sports in a college community. Your own college community has thought very consciously about what it means to develop the athletics program, ow that helps build school identity, what needs to be done to balance those needs against more academic needs. This year's NCAA tournament featured the (until last night) 'Cinderella story' or Cornell, which seemed such an unlikely contender because it is an Ivy league school, one that we associate with rigorous academics, not rigorous athletics.

Respond to this prompt with a post that explores the role of athletics in a college community, and in particular at USCB. What do you want them to be here? What role do they play, what concerns or hopes do you have?

7 comments:

  1. i think that college sports play an important role in college identity. in my opinion USCB does not have very strong athletic programs. one good thing about having a strong athletic program is that it brings a better social setting, especially for those students who live on campus and do not have transportation. a lot of people also dont have any knowledge of USCB because it is a small school and on top of that not having a football team or even a basketball team, which are two popular sports, do not allow USCB to have a chance to be known about. Even though we do have sports such as crosscountry/track, golf, and baseball there is never enough information about when these events are going on alot of people dont come out and support their school. All in all i believe sports and the social part of college go hand in hand.

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  2. I fully agree with this comment. My feelings are actually very similar to that of what was just listed. I'm usually not a person for sports, but with the presence of football and basketball, i believe that more students would come out and support the school if these sports were available. Football and basketball draws crowds ,and in turn, more students to enroll in the school. I honestly don't see why they aren't placed in the school's "sports collection", but should be considered.

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  3. Another point to this post would be that along with footabll games, for instance, brings bands and along with bands, comes color guards (flag girls), majorettes, champagne girls, and then cheerleaders, all major assets to a school's attraction and desirability.I have a soft spot in my heart for bands, particularly the various dancers of the band, being that i was a color guard captain my senior year in high school. I had been a color guard from my sophmore year until my senior. The bands drew just about as many people out to the football games as the actual games themselves did. I didn't know about anyone else but the bands (if they are good) make the games, I strongly feel that USCB should create a football and basketball team.

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  4. It's me again, lol. I keep coming up with more things to say, but this will be my last time, i promise :-). But lastly, i have heard from other USCB students, not just from this particular class, these very same theories. I have heard that the games would make the school a lot more fun and would give the students an incentive to want to actually stay on campus a lot more than they are now. It would also allow the students to have more time to mingle with fellow students and meet new people outside of the school atmosphere. If the school were to add these sports, it would most likely take the team a couple years to adjust, get really good and establish a name for themselves, but once they were established, the USC Bluffton/Beaufort name could sky-rocket to heights possibly higher than USC about how good the teams are! You just never know, and to think, it could all start with just a few more sports added to the USCB sports name, can't you see it now... (sigh-lol):-)

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  5. I also think that more sports will improve our university. I do not think there is a lot of school identity in our university, at least I do not feel it. I think it is very important to love your university, and the best way to do it is when you support your sports teams. I do not really see how this could affect the academic needs. People will continue to perform the same academically, but they will also want to make their university look good. So I believe this can help in academics too. Also, it will give the USCB students more to do. Supporting your team is fun, safe, and you can meet a lot of people in these events.

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  6. I also think that having more sports in universities helps a lot. Not only does it attract more people, which would equal more money, but it also develops more student participation. For some reason, there is a sense of more pride when your team has a sports team and it bumps up the "fame" of the school. One example of this is the University of South Carolina. USC has become a pretty big school because of their sports. Everyone buys t-shirts and things that show their pride for USC and this creates the "fame" I was talking about. I also believe that sports don’t affect academics. I think sports are a great motivation for better grades. I bet there is a set GPA they have to have in order to play. So that’s why I believe it motivates students because if they don’t hit the requirements then they don’t participate. Sports make any school a fun and great place to be at. Students and staff enjoy the crazy days when their team is about to play and it just brings the whole school together. If USCB would open more sports, this would help the school, the students, and others who look for a school that has pride and that know how to have a good time.

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  7. I agree, having more sports helps not only promote the school but gives the students things to do when they are tired of studying. Having sports that can be watched besides just baseball, help students to make more friends also. Academics is very important to focus on too, but you can't just study, study, study all the time. Like at Clemson, the students have the football games to go on Saturday's when it's at home; that leaves the week for homework and other school work. Sports help a college grow and help the students interact with each other more. If USCB had more sports to watch like football or basketball then maybe more students would want to come here and also to play for a chance to play for USCB.

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