Women's soccer MCAA win

SPORTS

Delta women's soccer team wins fifth consecutive MCAA Championship vs. St. Clair

Vincent Khan

With the World Cup going on at the moment, the love for soccer is felt by everyone worldwide. Soccer is a fast-paced game that tests every player's mental and physical endurance, improvising skills, and mental toughness.

Across all sports, most clubs/ franchises pray to come out on top at the end of their season. Accomplishing such a task involves building a culture, excellent team camaraderie and chemistry, and great management.

Delta's women's soccer program has won the MCAA championship for the past five years. Five years might not seem that long, but when talking about dominance, the closest comparison you could make would be the Chicago Bulls of the ’90s, who won six championships, but those were separate three-peats. Delta is genuinely in a league of its own.

Delta scored their first goal 8 minutes into the game when Kali Jimenez scored on a long-distance free kick. Kennedy Caldwell had the game-winning goal when she finished a ball from a corner kick. Delta added two additional goals in the second half. St. Clair would convert on a free kick to prevent a shutout.

Five years of dominance in a row almost always comes with a great coaching staff. Head coach Damon Amey prides himself on the culture he has curated through his years of coaching. Damon is highly respected throughout the soccer community, and he has added a tremendous amount to make the Delta Pioneer team into a feared and recognized program. He is also a great student of the game and continually educates himself on new schemes that will benefit the program. The Pioneers are blessed to have his skills and talents in a leadership role in the program.

Congrats to Carley Bolen (5 forward) and Kali Jimenez (31 Defense) were selected for NJCAA All-American selections. Bolen stood out with three game-winning goals this season with ten goals total on a .192% shooting percentage. It is said that defense wins championships, and Kali Jimenez set the tone on the defensive back for the team, which was one of the scrappiest in the region.

The women's soccer program is the top club at the school, bringing in the most achievements and accolades compared to the other school sports. If Delta can continue to carry on this success with its women's soccer program, it may be sooner than later we might see a men's soccer team start to form in the school.

women’s soccer team celebrating oct. 24, 2022; Photo courtesy Paige timPe

Delta looks to unite the school with a new mascot

Vanessa Selle

Delta College is looking for a revamped mascot!

The traditional “Peppie the Pioneer” Delta mascot is going into retirement, and the college is looking to hire something new. Delta accepted students' suggestions until last Friday to create a mascot that will increase student spirit and foster community in the college.

College personnel and students will be able to vote on the final three options for the mascot at the beginning of next semester, says Leanne Govitz, who is Delta’s Director of Marketing and Public Information.

“A good mascot should unite everyone under one name, make everyone feel included, and connect students to each other and to the school,” said Govitz.

Peppie the Pioneer has been Delta’s mascot since the school first opened in 1961. Although the pioneer insignia was widely used on sweatshirts, T-shirts, and notebooks, it was so long ago that not many people could even remember seeing it.

In the January 28, 1982 issue of the Delta Collegiate, coupons offered 10% off any item if any Delta apparel was purchased or if you were wearing Delta apparel at the time of the purchase.

In the same issue, an introductory sale featured 20% off all pioneer apparel. Both of these coupons were a limited-time offer, the sale only lasting from January 28 to February 3.

In Collegiate articles from 1982, many faculty members, some of whom had worked at the college since the beginning, reported not being able to remember a big mascot presence. They remembered seeing the pioneer on college merchandise, but not much beyond that.

However, when the mascot was lost for a short time after the 2007 gym renovation, there seemed to be a great upset about it. The Athletic Recruiter at the time, Chuck Lord, said that he was devastated when the mascot went missing. A basketball team member Ryan Praski said that the absence of the mascot affected school spirit at sports events and that getting the mascot back would probably help with fan turnout and enthusiasm. Sports fan Kyle Krause said that a mascot was a “great idea” and would help to “pump up the crowd.”

Even in 2007, Collegiate articles show that the idea of recreating the mascot was floating around. The Office of Student Engagement even tried to put together a contest to see what students could come up with but were blocked at the time due to the redesign of the Delta logo.

“Throughout the years, student-athletes and other groups have wanted to create a mascot. One that isn’t tied to local colonization or lumbering nor gender specific,” says Govitz.