School colors uniting the crowd, paint and glitter on faces, people cheering, new friends and memories made. All of these are typically found at a college’s sporting events. From football and basketball to soccer, volleyball and baseball, colleges across America thrive on their athletic teams’ abilities to build and solidify school community. The thrill of going to an event where everyone is cheering for the same team is something that I think New Schoolers fail to take advantage of.
I chose to join The New School cross country team because I missed exerting myself physically with other people, not just mentally in the classroom. This fall there almost wasn’t going to be a cross country team, due to our former coach’s scheduling conflicts. The new Recreation Director, Diane Yee, sent an email to the team members saying, “If you are interested in a new coach I can certainly start a search right away for one.” This statement seemed somewhat appalling to me, seeing as the team has been around for about three years and, without a coach, our team would cease to be an official club team. In addition, the “if” doubted not only our want, but also our need, to keep the team alive. Thankfully, our team captains worked with Diane to hire a new coach quickly before the season started.
It isn’t all about the running for me. I didn’t run cross country in high school, I played lacrosse and basketball. I joined the team because I wanted to meet people that enjoy exercising as I do. If the team didn’t exist, I wouldn’t have had the chance to meet and befriend students that go to Parsons, The New School for Social Research, and the Jazz school. Sports has the ability to bring all of our diverse schools together as the collective student body of The New School.
The sad truth that our cross country team came so close to no longer existing is something that other schools seem to never have to deal with. If one of those teams lost their coach it wouldn’t be a question of whether or not the team would continue, it would be one of who is good enough to replace them and fast. When the University of Washington fired their Defensive Coordinator Nick Holt last season, the search for a replacement was immediate and within five days Justin Wilcox was hired to replace Holt. Even the Sandusky scandal failed to shut down the Penn State football team.
According to a Free Press article written when The New School basketball team was just beginning, “NS Basketball Team Has A Shot” by Oona Kelly, 40 students signed up on the waitlist for the intramural soccer league in addition to the 100 potential spots that were filled. New Schoolers want to play sports. Since the rocky beginning of our athletic department, the basketball, cross country and intramural soccer teams are now fully established sports that any student can try out or sign up for. The need for sports in The New School community is why it is imperative for our teams to stay and continue to develop.
While living in New York offers many of our students the ability to bypass the mythological “freshman 15”, imagine how much fitter, how much less smoke-filled our lungs would be, if we had some sports to whip us into shape. Free workout classes such as Pilates, Yoga, and Dance are almost always filled at The New School. Isn’t this evidence that New Schoolers are interested in being active and working out? So why aren’t our sports teams given the same attention?
The New School was founded on the aspirations for change, both political and otherwise, as well as reinvention. This history makes our school the breeding ground for non-traditional students and ideas. The New School encourages us to be involved with whatever we’re passionate about. For me and my budding cross country team, the basketball team and other intramural sports teams, that passion revolves around athletics.
Being an urban school makes it difficult for us to have a campus. But sporting events allow those involved to feel a sense of unity with their team and school. I’m not suggesting that we become some overly peppy and horribly generic college. But the cheering, the booing, the flailing arms and emotive facial expressions that never fail to accompany a college sporting event is an experience I wish every New Schooler be able to participate in, at least once.
I think the first way for The New School to open itself to our athletic teams is to actually determine a good mascot to represent our diverse student body. The next step to addressing our lack of community is to figure out our school colors. First question: what are they? Mint green, burnt orange, apple red, stormy grey, pale purple, and charcoal black do not solidify each school together, it creates a technicolor swirl of confusion. Finally, word needs to get out about New School sports. We’re not just the stuff of urban myth and legend. We’re real, and we exist (mostly on the bottom of Student Services emails). I want New Schoolers to be excited about athletics and excited about the opportunities our school has to offer. So let’s cast off our preconceived notions of college sports, and instead, do what The New School does best. Redefine college athletics, and redefine our community.