college in the country, especially for female athletes. Our athletes are No. 1 on our campus every day. My team of women has its very own facility. We don’t share with the men’s soccer team, have early or late practices, or have any extra wear and tear on our field. We get the prime practice time and full use of the soccer facility at all times. Our female athletes are also cared for by certified athletic trainers who specialize in working with female college athletes. After classes, they walk into their very own training room where our trainers are ready to serve them immediately and completely. I believe we win games because our women have access to immediate, highly qualified and gender appropriate athletic training services. The same goes for strength and conditioning. My team’s strength program is conducted by staff that has incredible knowledge and experience in the appropriate strength training techniques for female college athletes. My team also conducts our strength training in our own fitness center, an environment where our athletes are comfortable and confident. In our strength program, I see gain and improved performance; my athletes see tone and feel great. We are both confident in the process and look forward to each session. Saint Benedict can also offer a four-year highly respected degree, a high percentage of job or graduate school placement, an alumnae network as strong as any college in Minnesota, and a true college community of students and staff. There really isn’t a comparison to all the unique advantages of being a studentathlete at Saint Benedict.
Bob Alpers To a generation of SJU sports fans, Bob Alpers ’82 is coach of one of the most highly successful Division III golf programs in the nation. After all, he has taken the Johnnies to 12 consecutive NCAA Division III golf tournament appearances. Saint John’s has finished in the Top 10 of the national tournament 10 times, including back-to-back national championships in 2007 and 2008, and third-place finishes in 2003 and 2011. Alpers was the 2007 Eaton Golf Pride National Coach of the Year and a 2010 inductee into the Golf Coaches Association of America Hall of Fame.
But to another, dare we say slightly older generation, his name conjures up another image as a post player for the Johnnies’ basketball team. Alpers was the Johnnies’ Most Valuable Player during the 1981-82 season, and then served as an assistant coach under Jim Smith for 20 years. Perhaps that multi-sport success accounts for his versatility within the Johnnies’ athletic department. Besides his duties as golf coach, Alpers serves as SJU’s assistant athletic director and director of intramural and club sports programs. Alpers was asked about the Johnnies’ high participation rate in varsity, intramural and recreational program. Approximately 90 percent of SJU students participate in some sort of athletic activity while on campus. Why are both varsity and intramural/recreational athletics so important to SJU students? The national average for participation in recreation — including varsity, intramural and club participation — is around 75 percent. Our participation numbers at Saint John’s are astonishing. Varsity, intramural and club sports give our students the chance to play, compete, build and strengthen relationships, be part of a team and just have fun. We have 12 varsity sports, offer over 20 different intramural activities, and a great variety of club sports to try and meet student needs. Our guys like to stay active, they like being part of a team and they love to compete. Our strong varsity programs give our students the chance to push themselves to excel and play at an elite level. Our competitive club sports often do the same, while intramurals allow students to continue competing in sports they enjoyed in high school while also giving them the opportunity to maybe try new things or play games they haven’t played since they were kids, like kickball or wiffleball. How will the new or renovated athletic facilities at SJU expand opportunities for students? The new and enhanced facilities will be amazing for our students. Bettering our students’ experience is what really drives this project. The new facilities, particularly the seasonal dome, will give us the chance to expand our offerings, give the clubs consistent practice opportunities and really enhance the student experience here. They
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will also be a terrific help in recruiting students. There will be a real “wow” factor to the dome and to the new baseball, tennis and soccer facilities. The dome can accommodate indoor soccer leagues, fullfield softball games, a golf driving range and probably Bob Alpers a ton of different activities we haven’t dreamed of yet. The baseball field will hopefully have turf and lights so we can use it for intramural games in the fall and the spring, extending our seasons. The turf and lights will give us at least two extra weeks for students to play. Our facilities are going to be unbelievable. SJU student-athletes routinely receive conference and national academic recognition. How do coaches play a role in student-athlete academic success? I think our coaches see our athletic programs as co-curricular instead of extracurricular. We are committed to being a part of our student-athletes’ educational experience. Our coaches try and establish a culture where success in the classroom and on the athletic fields and courts are not mutually exclusive. Our job as coaches at Saint John’s is to help our guys to grow and to succeed, and helping our guys do their best academically is critically important to our mission. Our golfers have earned recognition as an All-American Scholar team each of the past three years, or as long as the award has been in existence. They would have done it the previous 16 years had there been an award for it. Earning a team academic award is really important to the guys on our team. They know that it is part of our athletic culture at Saint John’s and that there is no reason you can’t combine great academics with great athletics. That’s a great reason why guys choose to attend Saint John’s — you don’t have to compromise.