TURF

Fall 2019

Photo by Isha Sheth

Welcome to Turf!

We are a group of five freshmen that go to the Liberal Arts and Science Academy in Austin, Texas. A common interest in sports inspired us to create our magazine. We ended up covering rowing, volleyball, soccer, football, and an assemblage of misunderstood sports. We then chose to connect the magazine to our city’s university, the University of

We began by expanding our love of sports into a theme for our magazine. We thought of a color scheme, a brief outline, and each of our individual infographic and story ideas. We created a spreadsheet where we decided the font size and type of our headlines, body copy, and subheadlines. We created an overall spread draft that included many design

a draft and edited it before starting our feature story draft and finally our layout drafts.

We are extremely proud of the effort and time everyone put into making this magazine come together. We went from not even knowing each other or how to use the programs to creating a whole magazine together. We sorted out all of the issues we ran into and created

Texas in Austin.

At the start of our magazine, we didn’t know how to use any of the Adobe programs essential to Ezine. We spent months learning how to use each individual tool. But after weeks of tutorials, drafts, and practice files, the magazine began to take shape.

elements, such as our endsign and pull quote. These were kept consistent throughout all of our parts. We started to come up with other design elements such as the orange bars around each photo to make our magazine look more complete. We began each of our sections by making our infographics. We then made

this magazine that we are very happy with. Thank you so much for taking the time to read our magazine! We hope you enjoy it!

Lucie Young, Caylee Rincon, Isha Sheth, John LaMair, and Neel Kumar

Photo by Geetika Polavarapu

TURF | 01

Meet The Editors Photo courtesy of Lucie Young

Lucie Young is a rower, cat person, author, and freshman at LASA. She is on the water five days a week, so it makes sense that she wrote an article on the sport she loves to play. She is proud of her work in Illustrator and Indesign for this assignment, as she is notoriously bad at working with any type of electronic technology. During this project, Lucie was also able to interview a rower on the UT women’s rowers in person, a rowing team that she adores.

She hopes to continue to learn more about rowing and row in college.

Photo by Caylee Rincon

Isha Sheth plays soccer for Lonestar Soccer Club. Her section is about the life of a student athlete that plays soccer at the University of Texas.

She wants to play division 1 soccer in college, so she wanted to know more about a model university. She is proud of her feature story because it was the first feature story she had ever written, and she thinks it came together well in the end.

Photo by Lucie Young Neel Kumar wrote the section about football.

His section is about how football works and operates as well as how college football compares to the NFL. He is very passionate about watching his team play football and understanding the game so he wanted to talk about football more in depth. He was very proud of his feature story and the interviews he got. He plans to continue learning more about football and the safety factors with it.

Photo by Caylee Rincon

John LaMair is a Freshman at LASA. He lifts recreationally, but has had trouble finding a sport that entertains him. His section is about misunderstood sports. Many complex culturally rich sports are mistaken to be simple and bland.

He felt that people only have a basic understanding of some great sports. In the future, he would like to try all of the sports covered in his article. He’s proud of his work on his feature story, because he had almost no experience writing features.

Photo by Isha Sheth Caylee Rincon plays volleyball for TCS volleyball club, and she is an amazing baker.

She wrote her feature story about Texas volleyball. She wanted to know more about the program from the players point of view. She is proud of her feature story and her infographic, because she had no experience in any of the programs. This was her first time writing a feature article. She hopes to learn more about the University of Texas at Austin, and even play for the school one day.

Table Of Contents Volleyball

Soccer

Rowing

Photo courtesy of Texas Athletics

Photo courtesy of Khat Bell Photo courtesy of Paige Hooper

05

You Will Find 05...Double Trouble 09...Taking the Field

11

You Will Find 11...Texas Volleyball 15...Setting It Up

Misunderstood Sports

Photo courtesy of Michael Norton

23

You Will Find 23...Off the Mark 27...Misunderstood vs Reality

17

You Will Find 17...UT Rowing 21...Anatomy of an Oar

Football

Photo courtesy of Michael Griffin

29 You Will Find 29...A Goal New World 33...How Football Works

TURF | 03

Izzy Kerr lines up for a pass to a teammate. It was easier for Kerr to find a pass after training with the same team for years.

Photo courtesy of Izzy Kerr

Double Trouble

An inside look into UT Austin’s student athletes Story by Isha Sheth ight in the heart of Texas, surrounded by the beauty and uniqueness of Austin, the University of Texas (UT) women’s soccer team began to get ready to start their season and begin the challenge and honor of attending the university.

The University of Texas women’s soccer program has continued to win in their conference since 2004. They were ranked third in the Big 12 against schools like Baylor University and the University of Kansas in the early stages of the 2019 season. The team has also played and beaten many schools with strong soccer teams outside of their conference, such as UCLA and Gonzaga, consistently through the seasons. Coach Angela Kelly has lead the team with a very successful past at Tennessee. All of the talented players and coaching staff, along with the academic prowess

of the university, all contribute to the honor of attending and representing the burnt orange, according to Brinkley Field, a defender for UT soccer who graduated in 2015.

A talented athlete receives many offers to represent a university, but when choosing a school, some had amazing academics, incredible athletics, and a great community, but having it all was very rare according to Field.

“UT is special because we have the best fans, the greatest athletics, great professors, and a great atmosphere,” Field said.

Many Texas athletes also grew up here in Austin, and some of them even grew up Longhorns from day one. Izzy Kerr, a defender who also graduated from UT with Field in 2015, was one of those students who got to live out their childhood dream.

“I’d grown up a die hard Longhorn fan. I’d been going to Texas Longhorn football games since I was a baby and had the whole football

roster memorized by the time I was six,” Kerr said. “It had been my dream to play in the burnt orange, so when I got the offer, it was a dream come true!”

Some players were not expecting an offer and were going to invest their time in something else since college soccer takes up so much of the student’s time. Not everyone was planning on juggling sports with academics for another tough four years. For Paige Hooper, a center defender who was a part of the 2018 graduating class of UT, playing college soccer was not planned.

“Texas soccer was far off and an unspoken dream,” Hooper said. “I went to Texas soccer camp before my senior year of high school, and got seen and recruited as a walk on. I did not think I was going to play college soccer. I had just about decided to skip playing college soccer to focus on academics. Texas soccer appeared, and I jumped in.”

According to Field, the preparation for playing division one soccer was much different than the actual thing. Most college athletes played their sport throughout their whole childhood, but once they got into college, no matter how much other soccer they played, everything was different.

“Club soccer definitely prepared me for college soccer, but college is 10 times more intense,” Field said.

The players were tougher physically and

technically and had very different playing styles than what someone might have been used to, Kerr said.

“Everything was much faster, from the players to the speed of play,” Kerr said. “Everyone was technically solid.”

The games also mattered more, Kerr explained, and every mistake made were more costly than at the lower levels. Many more things were at stake since there were people who had jobs that depended on the team’s success.

Everyone was under a lot more pressure.

“Winning and losing matter way more,” Hooper said. “The coach’s career depends on the team’s success.”

In order for a team to be successful, the players’ relationship with their coach must be very good. The coaches of the team influenced all of their recruitments’ decision, so the coaching staff of the team was very important. Hooper believes the coach could make or break an entire team.

“The head coach really sets the team’s culture,” Hooper said.

Sometimes a coach had to make a tough decision during a hard game which might not have been what the players wanted, but they always wanted the best for their players regardless of their playing ability or the score of the game. The whole team became a family and only wanted the best for each other.

Brinkley Field recieves the bal from a pass.

Photo courtesy of Brinkley Field

Paige Hooper controls the ball before looking up.

Photo courtesy of Paige Hooper

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Izzy Kerr battles to keep the ball for her team.

Photo Courtesy of Izzy Kerr

“There were of course times I didn’t agree with some of their decisions, but at the end of the day, I knew they would do anything for me,” Kerr said.

There were reasons behind their choices because the outcome of the team determines the coach’s reputation and career. This can be very stressful when making an in the moment decision.

“Everything is amplified by representing your college on LHN [Longhorn Network] and against all other colleges,” Field said.

On a team that stuck together for so long, there were bound to be some friendships that last even after graduation. Field explained having teammates made the challenge of playing at such a high level and going to one of the best schools in the nation much easier and more enjoyable.

“My teammates became my sisters and made getting up super early for all those tough practices much better,” Field said.

Even though teammates may have disagreed on the field, off the field everything went away since to perform on the field, teammates have to get along off the field. For Kerr, each teammate had to be a good person in order for the team to form the strong bond that was needed to play.

“Everyone was super passionate about not only soccer players, but also being good human beings which is huge,” Kerr said.

Paige Hooper plays the ball down the field.

Photo Courtesy of Paige Hooper

Choosing to play at a university is an honor in itself, but getting to represent Texas was an even bigger one. According to Field, the school had so much more to offer than many other schools in the state and even country.

“Having the honor to wear that burnt orange was so special,” Field said.

Going to a school that along with very competitive athletics, also has fantastic academics was a difficult task that changed its student athletes in some way, Hooper explained. To her, each student athlete had more on their plate and more to juggle especially since these four years determined their future.

“College soccer was the best of times and the worst of times! It was challenging, physically and mentally,” Hooper said. “I grew a lot and learned a lot about myself and what I value.”

After coming out of four years of having no free time, everyone has changed and learned something. Throughout the experience, Kerr learned many valuable lessons, and she returned to her hometown a grown person.

“I think going to Texas, specifically playing soccer there, made me much tougher,” Kerr said.

“I now know I can get through anything and have an entire support system to do it.”

For Field, playing a sport while going through the player’s college years was very challenging

especially when figuring out how to manage her school and soccer, but I also prioritized school,” school life with her athletic life. School life was Hooper said. what was going to determine the player’s future, With the hard work of balancing academics so they had to make sure they balanced everything and athletics came recognition. Hooper was in the very well.

2017 and 2018 Academic All Big 12 First Team “Balancing was all about prioritization, and won the Gerald Lage Academic achievement making sure to schedule your award. day to get “I didn’t everything even know done,” Field what the award said. “It was was or that it hard as you’re existed before I tired from received it, but practice, but it was cool to you make sure get recognized to get plenty of for the time sleep and it’s I put into my doable.” school work,” The four Hooper said.

-Paige Hooper, UT alumni years can be Field completely believes the different University of depending on what the player prioritized first.

Texas has a lot to offer and continues to stand out Some student athletes prioritized soccer while from other schools, drawing in the best players others prioritized school work. For Hooper, and students. prioritization along with other things made the “Texas has the best combination of athletics years much easier. and academics,” Hooper said. “It is the tradition, “I didn’t think it was too difficult to balance the eyes of Texas, the family, and the name.”

Texas has the best combination of athletics and academics. It is the tradition, the eyes of Texas, the family, and the name.

Brinkley Field looked up to find a teammate.

Photo Courtesy of Brinkley Field

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Taking The Field The 3 applies pressure to the 7 that has the ball.

They position their body side on, so they can turn quickly if the 7 starts sprinting.

7

3

5 The center backs are supposed to defend the striker and keep the ball from getting to the goalkeeper.

1 Goalkeepers are the last line of defense and can use their hands.

4

9

8 6 The 6 and the 8 will clean things up when the ball gets past the 10.

They also will switch the point of attack.

8

The 5 drops below the 3, and the 4 drops below the 5 and marks the other team’s 9.

10

2

The 2 gives balance to the defensive shape.

They don’t mark the 11, but they are the first to step if the 11 gets the ball.

11 Orange Goalkeeper: 1 Outside back: 2 and 3 Center back: 4 and 5 Center mids: 6 and 8

Grey Outside mid: 7 and 11 Center mid: 8 and 10 Forward: 9

Defensive

Offensive 11 The 11 could be crossing the ball, but when the 7 is crossing the ball, the 11 makes the back post run.

Orange Outside mid: 7 and 11 Center mid: 8 and 10 Forward: 9

Grey Goalkeeper: 1 Outside back: 2 and 3 Center back: 4 and 5 Center mids: 6 and 8

2

The 9 always makes a run into the box on every cross.

Sometimes the 10 might have been caught defending, but the 9 should always be in the box when a cross comes in.

The 10 makes the near post run or the run to the middle of the box when trying to get on the end of a cross, depending on where the 9 goes and what side the 10 is on.

10

4

9 6 1 5

The 7 has to try and get a cross off. Usually they will do a skill move to beat the 3 and run down the wing before crossing it.

Sometimes, when given enough space, they can dribble inside and get a shot off on goal.

7

3

Graphic by Isha Sheth

TURF | 09

2014 Texas volleyball team huddling before game.

Photo courtsey of Kat Brooks

Smack Down

An inside look into the UT volleyball program Story by Caylee Rincon

hen going to a D1 college, the transition is very difficult due to the competition level rising and trying to balance an already busy schedule for school with sports.

The University of Texas has a D1 volleyball program which is the highest level of athletes, with larger budgets, and more athletic scholarships. Volleyball is one of the most popular girl sports and can get really competitive at higher levels, college being one.

High school volleyball is not as intense as

college volleyball is. Many girls play volleyball in highschool for social reasons. ¨You’re competing with girls that are the same level as you and the game is just so much faster.̈ said Khat Bell.

As you progress into college level sports you will see that everyone is really good at the sport and the games are faster in speed. This also means that the sports are more competitive. ̈Everyone is good in college so you have to bring your A-Game every single night.̈ said Juliann Johnson.

All the teams have the same mindset, which also has many fans that go to the games to cheer is to win. All schools are going to be good in on the teams, which allows the teams to be more their own way, especially when you play for a motivated and ready to fight to win the match.

D1 school, so you have to put your all into the ̈The first visit I took to UT I was so matches. impressed with how large everything felt. I always ̈College volleyball, especially at the D1 level, thought I would end up at a big school with a takes up majority of your time and is a huge great athletic commitment, program.̈ almost like a fullsaid Juliann time job.̈ said Johnson.

Kat Brooks. ̈UT takes The pride in our University sports and of Texas at every team has Austin has an its own fans̈ amazing athletic said Juliann and academic Johnson, ̈I felt programs. at home there ¨I really and I wanted

liked the to be apart

Juliann Johnson, UT alumni combination of something of a worldbigger than class academic myself.¨ institution with a Like I top volleyball program.̈ said Kat Brooks. mentioned before Austin has a lot of diversity UT is a very large campus that is about 437 from the small shops in downtown to the many acres. Many of its students feel at home due to different music festivals throughout the the diversity of the city that it is in. The school

I felt at home there and I wanted to be apart of something bigger than myself.

Khat Bell in ready position at the net during a game Photo courtsey of Khat Bell

Juliann Johnson attcking the ball to the opposite side Photo courtsey of Juliann Johnson

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2014 Texas volleyball team gathering around to take a silly team photo Photo courtsey of Kat Brooks

year. There are so many things to do in Austin and thats why so many people love it! ¨I particularly loved being in Austin. The city really sells the school.̈ said Chloe Collins.

Jeritt Elliott has been the head coach of UT volleyball for 18 years. He works along side with his 2 associate head coach Erik Sullivan and Tonya Johnson. ¨I love how the head coach let’s his player play. ̈ said Khat Bell ̈He doesn’t over coach and lets us just do our thing at the best way we can.¨ In order for a team to cohesively play together they have to be able to bond and get along with each other. When you have a team that works well together it better improves verbal communication on the court, which is key to success in volleyball. ¨we do a lot of unique things to prepare for games and right before like rituals and cheers.̈

said Kat Brooks.

Each team has their own way of bonding and just having fun together as a team. Even if it is the smallest things like telling each other about your day will help with bonding. ̈Taping our finger before every game and practice is something I don’t think I have seen any other schools do.̈ said Juliann.

When you are a student- athlete there is a lot of stress trying to maintain good grades so you can be able to play. ̈As a student athlete, you really learn time management and how to prioritize.¨ said Juliann ̈If you don’t have good grades , you don’t get to play.¨ When you cannot keep your grades up this affects your whole team once you don’t get to play due to school. If you keep up with school work and prioritize your time you will be less worried about

school and completely focused on volleyball. ̈School work always came first so that we could be 100% focused on volleyball once we stepped on the court.̈ said Juliann Lucky the athletes have some help from the staff if they might be struggling. They also have a very tight schedule between practice and school to also help them keep the balance between volleyball and school. ¨We had resources and a strict schedule to help us maintain that balance. I.e mentors, study hours, etc.̈ said Chloe Collins Knowing that they don’t have much time to study because of their schedule, a lot of the athletes have to use any chance they get to get some studying in whether it is between classes or after practice. ¨We luckily had a lot of help from our academic advisors and tutors, but I really tried to make school work a priority and whenever I had down time, I would get some studying in,̈ said Kat Brooks During the season the athletes have to go out of state for half of their matches and this is might be more difficult to keep up with school work and finding time to study. ̈Going out of state is always more difficult but they prepare us with our class work and whatever else we may need,̈ said Khat Bell.

Even though it might have made it harder for the athletes to do school work they still find ways to complete their work so they can stay on top of things. It is not that much different to them having a tight schedule at home and studying at any moment of free time they had. ¨It was hard because there were times we had to stay up late to study while traveling or studying in airports just finding whatever time we could find outside of our study hall hours. ̈ said Chloe Collins.

Having people help you keep up with work is always a big help especially when your mind has so many things going on from school to being ready to fight and win matches! ̈our staff always made sure to prioritize study time on the road. I never felt like I fell behind.̈ said Juliann Johnson.

Having access to different ways of transportation allows for the team to spend less time flying or on the road which helps with how much school is being missed. ¨We are fortunate at Texas we travel by charter plane quite a bit, especially for weekday games, which allows us to minimize the amount of school we miss,̈ said Kat Brooks.

Juliann Johnson celebrating because they got the point.

Photo courtsey of Juliann Johnson

TURF | 13

Setting It Up Graphic by Caylee Rincon

Setter (S) How to play Each team is allowed three touches to get the ball over the net.

This is usually a pass, set, hit in this order. The ball has to land on the other side of the court in order for the team that sent the ball to get the point.

Serve Ball hit from the opposing side of the court from behind the baseline

Over head passes the ball to set up the hitters

Matches Each match is best out of five. Every singlar set goes to 25 points and the teams have to win by two points. If the two teams go to a fifth set then it goes to 15 points still winning by 2 clear points.

Hitters (OH, MB, OPP) Attacking shot to make the ball harder to recive

Libero (L, DS) Defensive Specialist and can only play on the back court, usually goes in for the middles 2019 Roster

Hitter Discription

1- Micaya White (OH) 2- Jhenna Gabriel (S) 3- Riley Fisbeck (S) 4- Claire Hahn (L) 5- Skylar Fields (OPP) 7- Asjia O’Neal (MB) 8- Sydney Petersen (L) 9- Ashlely Shook (S) 10- Brioone Butler (MB) 13- Autumn Rounsaville (L) 15- Molly Philllips (MB) 33- Logan Eggleston (OH) 34- Orie Agbaji (MB)

OH- Outside hitter On the left side of front row MB- Middle Blocker In the middle of front row, usually the tallest player OPP- Right side Opposite of the setter on the right side of front row

TURF | 15

UT Texas Rowing Texas rowers slide into new season

Story by Lucie Young

The team lifts a boat up over heads to put it in the water at the Longhorn Invitational, a regatta hosted by UT. Photo courtesy of Texas Athletics.

ntil about five years ago, the women’s rowing program University of Texas at Austin was not well-known in the nation-wide championships,

but it has since become the biggest sport at UT, and brought with its growth a rowing team full of strong and determined women. The grit and tenacity of the women’s rowing team has put their boats high on the podium before, and the team

will continue to climb higher on the national board because of that perseverance.

“I started rowing the summer before my freshman year...at a learn-to-row camp,” Francesca Raggi said, a sophomore who is often

threeseat in the boat. “I just got 45 pounds less. As they do not Obviously the more you work lucky. Like, just picked the right contribute to the physical work out the more you’re gonna eat.” one.” in the boat, coxes are required As Raggi said, rowing is

Maisie Sajbel, a senior to be short and small. Sitting in an incredibly intense sport, and at UT and a coxswain on the team, the front of the boat, she gives to be a student rower with UT shares that luck. She began rowing commands to the rowers and classes to handle as well requires her freshman year in college. helps to steer the boat. equilibrium. Rowing and

“Quite a few of my The athletes’ lives are schooling at UT are both very friends in high school rowed or dictated by practices on Ladybird challenging. Time management coxed and one of them suggested Lake and the subsequent regattas, is everything to the athletes, and that I try out for UT’s rowing team races against other teams, around they plan out their schedules because they have a pretty intense the country. Many rowers on the meticulously. The regimen is

The UT rowing team poses with their trophies after coming in overall second at the NCAAs, an annual competition in Inndeapolis, IN. Photo courtesy of Texas Athletics. walk-on process,” Sajbel said. “I tried it out and never got cut so here I am, still doing it my senior year!”

As a coxswain, Sajbel is at least six inches shorter than the team’s shortest rower and weighs

team go to bed very early, and eat not easy, but the team gets used at the Texas Athletic Nutrition to it. They are surrounded by Center on campus. “We have our athletic and academic help that Athletic Nutrition Center, which they are free to utilize if things fuels us really well,” Raggi said. begin to feel like too much.

“There’s always so many options to eat, and they’re all very healthy.

TURF | 17

The rowers say it can get athlete uses per stroke. It is often a very brutal workout. A overwhelming, but the high standards typical practice on the water is about 22k. The rowers shove pay off. To help with it, Maisie Sajbel off from the dock, then go down to Redbud Isle, turn, and makes a to-do list for her week, then go up to Longhorn Dam. They then go back to Redbud, turn, plans things out based on the rowing and go back in to the dock. practices and if they are travelling for “The fall is all about increasing fitness and so we row any regatta. quite a bit but don’t do any sort of high-rate sprinting until “Having to plan classes and time spring season rolls around,” Sajbel said. to do homework around a set practice Spring season holds most of the team’s regattas. Many schedule really helps me think about are out of town, so the team gets to see other schools and things in a quantifiable way,” Sajbel other places to row. Regattas themselves are similar, no said. “Sometimes it can get tough... matter where they take place. There are two parts: the but I...am so thankful to have this semi-final race and then the finals. They are usually on two experience because I believe it is different days, but sometimes the races occur in one day. helping me build skills that will benefit “Your first regatta is kind of stressful,” Sajbel said, me enormously in the long run.” “because you have to know the warm-up schedule and have your watch running exactly on time... so you don’t miss or go late to your race time.”

Coxes like Sajbel and rowers of the UT team prepare for races in very different ways, but they share their focus on being meticulous during the regatta.

“I think the way Texas does races...is that everyone’s super A UT boat celebrates triumphantly at the end of a race. Photo courtesy of Texas Athletics. focused; just gearedThe practices take place on in from the get-go,” Raggi said. “We’ll meet right before we Ladybird Lake, when the team is out launch and just breathe through the race plans, off the start. on the water and not in the erg room Breathe through everything, taking our moves…” on campus. Erging is a common The team, during regattas, practices, and general land workout for rowing teams. The student life, is very close knit. Everything they do on the ergometer, commonly shortened to water is for their teammates, and it is a mindset that is hard erg, measures the amount of energy the to find in any other team.

The rowers work hard in the boat as they race in the NCAAs, a championship race they placed second in June 2019 Photo courtesy of Texas Athletics. and the athletes on it.

“Everyone We work really is super effing hard. We have individual—so a lot of grit and many people tenacity. from different -Maragret Dail, UT rower walks of life,” Raggi said.

“They’ve had different experiences and “We work really effing it’s super nice to have a close hard. We have a lot of grit and group. They all just support you tenacity. I have never been on and want to hear from you and a team where everyone really get your opinion on things.” cares about each other but are Rowing, for coxswains, also super competitive,” Dail coaches, and athletes, is a sport said. that they love because it is hard The students on the team to find a sport like it anywhere lead very different lives from else. Being the fastest in the each other, but they have boat only matters if the boat is many things in common, the fastest on the water. And including valuing the team even so, the entire boat needs to

work together to win.

“There was this one moment I’ll never forget when the sky was burnt orange and there was a light foggy mist over the water. It was so beautiful. I love moments like that,” Maragret Dail said. “But even more than that I love the others where you’re rowing so hard you feel like your heart is going to explode and your legs hurt so much you don’t think they can work anymore.”

TURF | 19

blade

ANATOMY OF AN OAR

LEXICON: The slide is the act of taking a stroke, moving forward and pushing the hands out and knees down to the catch, or the beginning of taking a stroke.

sleeve

collar

shaft

Graphic by Lucie Young

LEXICON: The shaft of the oar ends in the blade. Continuing up the shaft, the sleeve is about 2/3 of the way up in normal sweeping oars and the collar is at the top of the oar, where the rower holds on.

Graphic by Lucie Young

Coxswain (Cox)

Stroke

St ro

Po rt

7

at

se

r

a St

ke

(8

Lexicon: A coxwsain (cox) directs the rowers and contributes to boat steering. Starboards are the side of the boat that uses their left hand on the inside of the oar.

The opposite goes for portside. The seats are numbered with bow as oneseat and stroke as eightseat.

The pairs (8 and 7 seat and 1 and 2 seat) are usually more technical compared to the “engine room� in the middle of the boat where the most powerful athletes row.

se

at )

rd

a bo

6s

Po rt

ea t

Stern pair: stroke and 7 seat Bow pair: bow and 2 seat

OUTLINE OF A ROWING SCULL

t ea s 5 ard o b r Sta

4s

ea t Po rt

at se 3 ard o rb Sta 2s

Po rt

LEXICON: The catch takes place at the top of the stroke, blade in the water and hips leaning forward with the back straight. From this, the rower pushes back into the drive, or the actual stroke.

ea t

) at se (1 rd w boa o B tar S

Bow

TURF | 21

The team “Austin Blacks” group in celebration after their win in the 2019 National Rugby Championship. Photo courtsey of Michael Norton.

Off The Mark

Sometimes a sport isn’t as it seems

Story by John LaMair

I

n the modern culture of celebrities, many athletes have been pushed into the spotlight. However, many great athletes, and their sports, don’t receive the recognition they deserve.

Many sports are so popular, the idea behind them has become present in the public’s knowledge. It’s been ingrained into Western culture from years of participation.

However, not all sports have that privilege.

Some, due in part to a confusing exterior, are doomed to a life of obscurity and misconception. These sports may be misunderstood, but that doesn’t make them less enjoyable.

Curling One of the most commonly misconstrued sports is curling, according to Dave Norman, a curler in the Potomac Curling Club. Because of its presence in the Olympics, many are familiar

with the idea, but few have enough fleshed out knowledge to fully understand the game.

Because of curling’s appearance, some view it to be an “easy” sport. All a player has to do is move the stone into a zone on the ice. Upon first glance, many fail to see the nuances and complexities of the sport.

“Well, delivering the curling stone requires a lot of practice just to avoid falling on your butt,” Norman said “Because it requires a lot of balance when you push off of the hack (foothold).”

The positions of curling are typically not known. For example, someone may believe that one person slides the stone, or “throws a rock” every time.

“A team consists of four people, and in curling, an inning is called an end, and during an end, each member of the team throws two rocks,” Norman said.

The stone can curl around another stone. So, that changes the game completely. That takes a simple game like shuffleboard and makes it incredibly complex, more like chess on ice.

-Dave Norman, club curler

Every person on a curling team needs to have an understanding of throwing the rock, along with sweeping. The skill set required for this is actually quite diverse. The player balances, cardiovascular strength, along with flexibility for throwing the rock.

Norman believes that fitness is very helpful for a curler.

“It helps to have some cardial fitness,” Norman said. “Sweeping a stone properly requires a lot of exertion. And if you sweep a stone end to end, that’s basically 15 seconds of sprint.”

Upon first glance, the thing that stands out to people is the usage of brooms. Although most people have a brief understanding of the game, the purpose of the brooms become

hazy. In reality, they’re used to melt the ice, causing the stone to travel further. The player can use this to move the stone in different directions.

“So, the stone can curl around another stone,” Norman said. “That changes the game completely. That takes a simple game like shuffleboard and makes it incredibly complex, more like chess on ice,” The player can position the stone in front of the “house”, or zone, then curl stones around those. This allows for several layers of outplaying. The player can block the other teams throw, or knock their throw out of the way.

The combination of these factors makes curling a rich, complex game that can be played

(Left) Dave Norman prepares to throw a rock. (Right) Finalists are “piped” onto the ice before the final round. Photos courtesy of of Dave Norman.

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by people of any age.

Powerlifting Since powerlifting came into the public eye, it has been known, but not understood. it has a very simple exterior. The lifter picks up as much weight as possible.

Additionally, its presence in the Olympics means that many are familiar with it, but few have full, fleshed out knowledge of it.

One avid powerlifter is Tyler Riley, a member of the North Texas powerlifting club. He has been powerlifting for several years, and feels that some people’s perception of powerlifting is based on aged stereotypes.

“Back in the early 2000’s whenever they had powerlifting on ESPN, it was just a bunch of fat guys. But now, if you look at all the leads of the USATL, they’re all ripped, and it’s ridiculous”. Riley said.

Riley believes this is due to an influx of players joining to get into better shape.

The combination of social media and more rigorousdrug testing has led to a more pure, healthy sport. According to him, “the USAPL is probably the most elite federation, where everyone is drug tested.”

Powerlifting has become much more prominent since the rise of social media. People

Back in the early 2000’s... it was just a bunch of fat guys.

But now, if you look at all the leads of the USATL, they’re all ripped, and it’s ridiculous”

-Tyler Riley, competitive lifter

are more focused on their physical appearance, and see powerlifting as a great way to get into better shape.

“So I definitely think it’s becoming more common, but I think that goes with society as a whole, not just college students doing it more often. I think that there’s a lot more people that are like, ‘oh, this person is natural, and they can squat 600 pounds. I want to do that,’” said Tyler Riley.

Although powerlifting is a great way to stay in shape, not everyone thinks it should exist as a watchable sport.

“I think there are people that think that powerlifting should be on ESPN. I don’t think

Tyler Riley prepares to lift for a competition. Photos courtesy of Tyler Riley.

Michael Norton holds the victory trophy after their win in the 2019 National Rugby Championship. Photo courtsey of Michael Norton.

that’s the case,” Riley said. “I think that it’s supposed to be a niche sport, it’s not supposed to be on the headlines.”

He believed this is due to powerlifting’s emphasis on the individual. In the end, the player’s not competing against other players, he competes against himself.

Rugby Unlike powerlifting, rugby is incredibly competitive, and comes with its own set of incorrect stereotypes. Because of the lack of pads, it’s common to believe rugby is football, but more brutish. This is completely incorrect.

The lack of pads make the game much more strategy focused.

“US football, you have a helmet on, a lot of people will take hits tackling and blocking and all that, while using their head, and hitting people in the head,” Michael Norton, an amateur rugby player, said.

Because the player doesn’t have a helmet, he can’t use it the way a football player would.

The players are much more careful out of necessity, and much more strategy goes into tackling an opposing player. Instead of charging into them, a complex “wrapping” method of tackling is employed.

Additionally, a lack of pads makes the pace of the game slower. This allows for much more strategy than football. For example, it is common practice to hand off the ball several times in a play.

When one thinks of rugby, injury is often first. However, a huge emphasis is put on mitigating injury.

“In rugby, we practice and teach guys not to make contact with their heads,” Norton said.

“And also, it’s forbidden, you would get a yellow card and possibly get kicked out of the match.”

Because of the lack of pads, more care is put into mitigating injury in players. The combination of these factors makes rugby a great, complex, strategic game that one can play for years.

Participants of sports as complex and skilled as these deserve recognition. As awareness for these sports grows, skilled athletes may be brought to the forefront.

Austin Blacks face against the Dallas Harlequins in Janauary 2017. Photo courtsey of Michael Norton.

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MISUNDERSTOO

Many sports aren’t played quite like you’d expect. Man aspect of the game. On the chart below, red is a misco

POWERLIFTING Information from Tyler Riley

CURLING Information from Dave Norman

RUGBY Information from Michael Norton

OD vs. REALITY

ny sports are plagued with misconceptions on every onception, and green is the truth about the sport. powerlifters are fat men who only focus on weight

although powerlifters are big, they are rarely fat

curling is very similar to shuffleboard, and is essentially shuffleboard on ice

Curling is much more complex than shuffleboard, because you can bend the rock around other rocks Rugby is much more violent than football. It’s brutish

because of a lack of pads and helmets, much more strategy and form goes into playing and tackling

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A Goal New World

Transitioning from being a student athelete to playing in the NFL can be very challenging Story by Neel Kumar Michael Griffin runs out on the field ready to play a game in the NFL

Photo Courtesy of Michael Griffin

The process of going from a college athlete to taking on a full time job can be stressful, students aren’t looking to play nationally, so they often explore other opportunities.

There is sometimes that case where an athlete can play very well in college and is able to make it into the National Football League.

UT Texas College football is ranked as one of the best college football teams, and Michael Griffin experienced a change when he transitioned into the NFL. “The NFL is all football, football, football. In college you are a student athlete”, Griffin said, “The coaches only have so much time… to teach you everything they could possibly teach you,” The NFL is only focused on one thing, football.

When a player is in college, their coach has so many people to teach. On top of that, they have to make sure the students are making the grades to keep playing football for that college. The NFL has a coach for every position on the field as well, unlike the colleges.

“College is slower than the NFL and players are a lot smarter,” said Darius Powe, a former California Golden Bears player and NFL player.

Only the best of the best enter the NFL. Football in college can be much slower since the players aren’t as experienced and they might also be stressed about other things, such as academics.

“When you get to the NFL you’re a 22-year-old kid, you know, you have a lot of money all of a sudden. They expect you to grow up very quickly and become an adult and be a mature player,” Griffin said, “So the difference was it...was all you on your own and you had to make the right decisions on your own.”

When a player enters college football, He’s still a boy who studies for a school and still gets grades.

When in the NFL, players still enter as boys, but it’s a job, and the athlete has to work to meet the expectations. More money comes in, and the player has to learn how to manage it.

“It became a business, it became a job, so in college you’re a student athlete,” said Griffin, “You have to make the grades in order to play. In the NFL it was a job where you have to be the best you could possibly be because it’s your job to do that. “ In college, if an athlete is not able to make their

In college you’re student athlete. You have to make the grades in order to play. In the NFL you have to be the best you could possibly be because it’s your job to do that.

-Michael Griffin, former NFL player

dream of being an NFL player they still have to participate in academics, in case they are forced to go into a different direction. When they join the NFL, it becomes professional and it becomes a Below-Darius Powe jumps up and grabs the ball over the defender in practice.

Photo Courtesy of Darius Powe

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Photo Courtesy of Michael Griffin

Michael Griffin celebrates after UT Texas stops the Sooners from scoring.(right) job, not just something the players would do for fun. Their life becomes set for the next couple of years.

“It was hard,” Griffin said, “You had to… with kids and stuff… you had to disguise whether you were hurt, whether you were emotionally upset or whatever because you have to understand that it is a job. At the same time it was still just a game. With your family you got to understand that is what is important. They are your number one fans, so you have to always find time to include them and give them the time they need.”

People expect a lot from an NFL player, a lot

of work goes into it, so the athlete doesn’t have much free time. The player can’t always see their families, and if the player was emotionally upset because of this, they had to hide it because they have to do their job.

Nancy Nitardy talked about the future of College Students going into the NFL “Most students I don’t feel unless they are at that really top top level, that they are not usually, like, they are not expecting that to be part of their future,” said Nancy Nitardy, a college counselor.

Only a small percentage of college football players

t o C o u r t e s y of M

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iffi n

Below- Darius Powe(left) breaks a tackle and prepares to start running

P ho

Gr

enter the National Football League, so many players play football for the experience, or in order to get a scholarship to a good school. It is very hard to get a future playing football, so most players attempt to explore other opportunities at that college.

“So there’s typically a GPA that they have to maintain to be eligible,” said Nitardy, “or you have to have a certain grade. You can’t fail.”

In college, student athletes still have to do well in academics and focus on other things other than football. Even if the player is really good, they still have to pass all their classes. When they enter the NFL, their only focus is football.

“You got to stay humble, you got to realize that, you know, I try to stay most humble as possible.

It’s a blessing. It doesn’t make you any better than anybody else,” said Griffin, “You got to understand that it’s a blessing that you are fortunate to be able to have that opportunity.”

Above- Michael Griffin prepares for practice with all his gear Photo Courtesy of Darius Powe

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HOW FOOTBALL

Football is played by two teams that each team has 11 players on the field at a time. The field is a total of 120 yards. A football is a rubber oval shaped ball.

The offence which is the team trying to get to the end zone has 3 tries to advance 10 yards. If they reach 10 yards the downs restart and that repeats till they reach the endzone. If the offense does not reach 10 yards in those 3 tries they have to kick the ball to the other team. The team that was originally offense is now defense, they have to stop the other team from getting to the endzone. If any team reaches the end zone it is 6 points and then they have a

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chance to score an extra point my kicking it between two yellow bars that are fifteen yards away. If the team does not reach the endzone but get close they can kick the football into the two yellow bars and they will get 3 points.

The picture below shows what positions the players would be in

The helemt displays defensive positions

The football displays offensive positions

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WORKS

Graphic by Neel Kumar

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Thank you!

Thank you to Brinkley Field, Izzy Kerr, and Paige Hooper for being the subjects of my feature article.

They were very helpful and gave me really good interviews that were really vital in writing this article.

I learned a lot, and it really shaped what I wanted to do with my college experience. Thanks to them, I got a lot more out of this project than I expected, and the information they gave me lead to me to actually enjoy the research I had to do to make my page. Without their help, my time would have been miserable, and this semester long project would not have been finished.

Photo courtesy of Izzy Kerr

Thank you to Khat Bell, Chole Collins, Kat Brooks, and Juliann Johnson for letting me interview them about the life of a student athlete. I learned a lot more about how big of a difference it is from playing volleyball in highschool and then moving on to play in college. It also gave me more of an inside look into the Texas volleyball program and all of the special things they do for team bonding. This was a great opportunity to get first hand information about the team and their experiences. I just wanted to thank all these amazing people for making time out of their busy schedule to let me interview them.

Photo courtesy of Michael Norton

Photo courtesy of Kat Brooks

Thank you to Michael Norton, Dave Norman, and Tyler Riley for providing large amounts of information to the magazine. Without them, it would be nowhere.

Each was knowledgeable about their respective sports, and communicated their knowledge clearly. Their opinions and stances on the sports were the basis of the “Misunderstood Sports� section. Each provided a detailed commentary on their sport, how to play the sport, misconceptions about their sport, along with their personal opinion on the reach of the sport.

Due to their opinions this magazine has been able to flourish.

Photo courtesy of Texas Athletics

Many people contributed to the content of this article with images, information, and encouragement.

Thank you to Dave O’Neil, head coach of the UT rowing team, and thank you to Texas Athletics, for supplying information and pictures of the team during their races and practices. Thank you to Francesca Raggi and Margaret Dail, student athletes on the UT rowing team. Both were interviewed about the daily life of a student athlete. Thank you to Maisie Sajbel, a coxswain on the UT team, for being interviewed about her experience as a cox and the daily life of a UT rower. Their contributions are recognized and appreciated greatly. This article would be vastly different without their involvement.

Thank you to Darius Powe, Michael Griffin, and Nancy Nitardu for letting me interview them. I learned a lot more about how college and NFL football compare to each other. It gave me insight about football and preparation in general. They informed me with some really interesting and useful facts.

Their opinions on the topic were really important to the magazine. I really appreciate them for their help, cooperation and patience with me. The football section of this magazine would not be nearly as good if it wasn’t for their support.

Photo courtesy of Kevin Garcia

Photo courtesy of Michael Griffin

Thank you to Mr Garcia, our teacher and advisor during this project. We couldn’t have done it without him. All of our knowledge of the programs came directly from him. He edited all of our drafts of everything, including pages and text, and he even looked at the transcription of our interviews. He taught us how to use each and every program required for this task. Even through all the ups and downs, he gave us this project which gave us an understanding of new programs and gave us new friends!

Thank you to you for your time!

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Turf Crossword Puzzle 1 2 4

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ACROSS

3. A sport where you kick the ball and try to get it in the net to score a goal 5. First name of writer who is very passionate about watching his team play football 6. First name of one of the writers who is a great baker 8. A sport where there is a defense and offense and if you advance 10 yards you get a first down 9. First name of one of the writers who plays soccer 10. First name of one of the writers who wrote about misunderstood sports

DOWN

1. First name of one of the writers who loves rowing.

2. A sport where you hit a ball over a net to another team 4. A Sport simular to football, characterizzed by a lack of pads and different tackling strategies 7. A sport where you go on the lake and move the paddles in sync

Anser key: 1. lucie 2. volleyball 3. soccer 4.rugby 5.neel 6.caylee 7. rowing 8. football 9. isha 10. john Follow Us on Instagram: @johnlamair; @neel.kumarr@_caylee05_; @isha.sheth_; @j.luciee

Photo by Caylee Rincon