This year, for some reason, I've been very drawn to Panther Athletics. You could say I have various ties to this great institution's athlectic department.
I guess it would've started in the recreation department, when I decided that intramurals were going to be a thing for me this year.
Then I joined the Panther Pep Crew, and look where that got me: dressing in purple and gold bibs and a gaudy flower crown four days a week for athletic events.
As I watched and followed these athletic events, I would get ideas for Odyssey articles that I would post. Then opportunities arose.
Sports have always been a big part of any institution at any level. Most times I think that sports are a bit excessive and get too much attention. Any art, music, speech pathology, psychology, etc., major has to work just as hard in their field but never get as much recognition for it as the athletes. But it didn't stop me from learning lessons small and silly to large and life changing from these athletes and the athletic department.
1. I am capable of waking up at 5 a.m.
I RISE WITH THE SUN. Yes, as much of a night owl I am, I am capable of waking up at 5 a.m. relatively alive, awake, alert, and enthusiastic. Granted, if I wake up this early it means I want lunch around 9 a.m. and I absolutely HAVE to take a nap in order to get through the remainder of the afternoon. I've learned this on not one, but four occasions: the 7 a.m. UNI vs. Stephen F. Austin basketball game, the 6 a.m. Football Winter Workout, the 6 a.m. departure time for the Arch Madness tournament in St. Louis, and the 6 a.m. departure time for the NCAA tournament in Oklahoma City.
2. I'm actually not as short next the basketball players than I thought I was.
Yes, the first time I interviewed members of the basketball team I was a little...intimidated by their height. Well, actually I was first intimidated by the graduate coach's height (because I went to the basketball office to ask how to get to the court since all the doors I was used to going through were locked) then got intimidated by the actual team's height. I mean, I had to stand, shake their hand, then ask them to sit so I wasn't standing there with my arm fully extended and voice recorder shoved in their face. But as I encountered them a little more I accepted that I wasn't entirely as short as I originally felt I was.
3. Hearing the fans actually helps the team play.
Small and mighty. That's how we are at away games (and, unfortunately, sometimes at home games). But the noise we make- no matter how few or many of us there are- helps create the atmosphere in which the teams play. And when they know that we're there to cheer them on, and that we believe in them, it helps them believe in themselves.
4. You become part of a family.
The team that plays together, stays together. The students that cheer together, stay together too. I learned this though the Panther Pep Crew. If there were big games within traveling distance, we'd ask around and see about carpooling. We had strength in numbers at the Missouri Valley Conference tournament and traveled as a pack around St. Louis.
5. Each game is a display of hard work, dedication, and family.
The court or field is an athlete's stage. It is where they showcase the hours of weightlifting, running plays, and hours spent with their team, living and breathing their sport. You can see it in how they play, you can see it in how they encourage each other when they sub in or when they celebrate a win or console a loss.
6. You'll never know if you don't try, and you'll never succeed if you give up.
I learned this though applying for two of the biggest opportunities in my life. The first was when I applied for my graphic design internship with UNI Football. The second was when I applied for NCAA media credentials to cover the Panthers at the NCAA tournament. Now, I know that I'm good at my craft, but I also have incredible self-doubt. I'm always comparing my work with the work of others, but when I got the internship and credentials, I knew that I would be capable of doing an excellent job.
7. Your position is not given, it is earned.
Most interview processes go: hand in your resume, have an interview, find out if you got the job or not. For my line of study (graphic design) people usually throw in a project to see the proficiency in certain programs and your "style." Well, during the interview process for my design internship with the football team, they wanted us to come to winter workout to get photos for our project. Winter Workout is basically a 6 am practice in the UNI Dome. This was to test our dedication. And those of us who got the internship earned it impart via showing up to this practice.
8. All sorts of skills are valued.
Even though, on the surface, it looks like sports are all about firstly, the athletes, and secondly, the coaches, there are all sorts of people and positions that make sports the sports we know and love. Being on Pep Crew and having to be at games an hour early, you really get to see what goes into the production of a basketball game. Before the game starts the media people are trying to get participants for the time out and half time games. Also, being in the front row makes you attuned to all of the sports videographers and photographers that record and photograph the game. But also, in my internship, I'm getting attuned to how my writing and editing skills are valued even though it's technically a graphic design internship. Really, there is a wealth of opportunities for a variety of jobs within the sports world.
9. Sometimes you get to touch the trophy too.
Sometimes even the fans get to touch the trophy too. Granted, we didn't put in all the hard work the athletes did. We didn't work our bodies to the point of exhaustion in practice or stay late to work on free throws. We followed the team and we cheered. So the most gracious thing a team can do to acknowledge their fans and show appreciation for the fans' support and dedication, is to let the fans touch the trophy. And I feel like only the most special teams, the ones that truly appreciate their fans, do this.
10. There is no "off season."
What? It's winter and the college football season is over? NOPE. YOU ARE WRONG. There is work that goes into sports year-round. As a football intern I'm seeing this first-hand. Just because the season is over doesn't mean there isn't work to be done. When the regular and post seasons end, recruitment season starts. There's visits and updates and newsletters and weight training and workouts. It never really ends.
11. You have to love what you do and it has to bring you joy.
Quoted in the article "The Road to Arch Madness," Ted Friedman, a UNI basketball player said about basketball, "It brings me joy and I just love going out and competing on the court." I've thought a lot about this quote since I got it way back in January, but shouldn't we all be doing that? Well, not competing on the court, but shouldn't we all be doing what we love because it brings us joy? Because we love what we do?
So, even though athletics get a lot of attention, it's not like there aren't life lessons to be learned from them. I'm very fortunate to say that I've been very blessed this semester in getting the opportunity to become familiar with UNI Athletics and learn these lessons first hand.
