Volume 137 No. 12

(Photo Courtesy of Springfield College)

Arruda’s

Why do we hold doors open?

Springfield College has a long-standing tradition of holding doors

open for others, which goes back to the early days of the institution.

Springfield College is not the only school that emphasizes this, though; in fact, this act of generosity is more widespread than people may think.

“One of the things that all schools try to do is [get students in the habit of holding doors open], [so it] becomes ingrained in you to al ways do that,” Monseau said.

Presumably, there are lots of firm believers in the benefits of getting in the habit of holding doors open for other people, and Monseau is most certainly among them.

“I hope that’s a tradi

tion that will never stop at Springfield College, because I think it’s important for everybody to learn and get practice on it,” Monseau said.

It is also worth not ing that holding doors open doesn’t go unno ticed. Monseau indicat ed how alumni mention acts of kindness, such as holding doors open, as reasons for why they chose to come to Springfield College.

“[Today], as you go into the Student Union, you’ll still have people always holding the door for somebody, so it is a tradition that contin ues,” Monseau said.

Some people view the act of holding doors open for their peers as a common courtesy. Oth ers may see it as some thing they are obligated to do.

Well, for many at Springfield College, they comfortably reside in the former category.

Not only is holding doors open typical on

By Tucker PaqueTTe @tpaquette17

this campus, but it is a tradition that has been in place for a long time.

In fact, this dynamic began when Springfield College was an all-boys school, according to the College’s archivist, Jeff Monseau.

“This goes all the way back to the begin ning [of this school’s existence in 1885],

[when] the purpose of this school was to train young men to go out into the world and help other people,” Monseau said.

Furthermore, accord ing to Monseau, the long-standing practice of holding doors open on this campus is born out of people wanting to be kind to others.

The tradition of holding doors goes back to 1885. (Photo by Chris Gionta/The Student)

Fuller Arts Center (Photo courtesy of Springfield College)

___

Pride Prom

The first-ever ‘Pride Prom’ is on being held by Gender and Sexuality Alliance on Dec. 9 with a more inclusive approach to the dance.

___ By Carley Crain @carley_crain12

On Friday, Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. the Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA) will host its first-ever Pride Prom in Judd Gymnasia. As finals begin and stress among students ramps up, the club hopes that the dance will be a light-hearted event that will bring the campus together as the semester comes to a close.

Prom is usual ly considered a high school-exclusive event. Many people have already sold or gotten rid of attire from their high school prom and look back at photos to hold onto the memo ries associated with the prestigious night.

GSA wanted to bring back the idea of “prom” in a queer-inclusive way. A hetero-normative lens is typically cast on prom, and some high schools don’t have a sizeable LGBTQ+ com

munity that is accepted and appreciated among the student body, espe cially at private schools where rules tend to be stricter.

“At some proms in high school, students don’t get the access to be who they want to be at their prom, so now students at college who are more open can have that opportunity,” said GSA Vice President Mary Lee.

GSA’s Pride Prom is not just for students who are part of the LGBTQ+ community, and the club encourag es everyone to attend no matter what their identity or sexuality is. The goal of Pride Prom is not only to celebrate queer individuals but to bring everyone together in a safe, non-judgmen tal environment.

“GSA hopes to create a space for individuals to feel safe and celebrate

themselves and their partners without fear or judgment,” said GSA President Wyatt de Friesse. “There are not many times where love can be celebrated and even less for those in the LGBTQ+ community.”

GSA also has donat ed dresses and shoes available for students to borrow if they don’t have anything to wear. If a student is interest ed, they can visit room

350 in the Campus Union and choose what dress they like the best. Snacks, finger foods and mocktails will be served as well.

Students who are bringing a partner to the dance can sub mit a photo of their “prom-posal” to the GSA Instagram account (@gsa_sc) to be featured throughout the week leading up to the event. Additionally, nomina

tions for prom court can also be made through the club’s Instagram account.

Tickets are $5 and can be bought through a GSA member either on Venmo or with cash. Individuals who are not Springfield College students can attend the prom for $7, and the tickets will be sold at the door for a cost of $5 as well.

Pride Prom flyer. (Courtesy of Gender and Sexuality Alliance)

Getting their feet wet

As part of the requirement for their major, Sport Management students complete a semester-long internship to develop real-world experience.

As a part of the Springfield College sport management pro gram, students in the major are required to fulfill a semester-long, 12-credit internship. The purpose of this internship is to pro vide students with the opportunity to develop an expertise in busi ness management with an orientation toward the world of sport in a real-world setting. While many decide to take on their internship over the spring semes ter, members of The Springfield Student staff wanted to high light some of the stu dents who are wrapping up their internships as the fall semester winds down.

Aymen Tayoubi-Id rissi:

During the course of last summer, Tay oubi-Idrissi knew that he needed to get an internship for the final fall semester of his col

legiate career. The only problem was, he had no idea where he wanted to apply. As a life-long basketball enthusiast, Tayoubi-Idrissi knew that the best place for him would be the Bas ketball Hall of Fame, located just ten minutes from campus. Unfor tunately, the organiza tion’s website had no contact information, leaving Tayoubi-Idris si without any way to reach them.

After more search ing, and still nothing

else grabbing his atten tion, Tayoubi-Idrissi became more deter mined than ever to land a position at the Hall of Fame. In a last-ditch effort, he reached out to his advisor for help.

“I kind of said screw it,” Tayoubi-Idrissi. He asked his advisor: “‘I need help, do you have any idea how to get in there?’”

Luckily, Tayoubi-Id rissi’s advisor was able to get him a contact, eventually leading to two interviews. During

the second one, con ducted in person, Tay oubi-Idrissi felt that he was correct in thinking this was the place for him.

“When I walked into my visit, the culture was great – it was a great atmosphere, and I knew right away that this is where I’m going to spend my semester,” Tayoubi-Idrissi said.

His official title is Development Intern, where he, along with a team of others, put together fundraising

opportunities. He is responsible for main taining relationships with potential donors and campaigning for the Hall since it’s a nonprofit organiza tion. Along with these responsibilities, for part of his special project, Tayoubi-Idrissi has put together a wheelchair basketball event fund raiser.

Katie Kingsley: Kingsley, who is a junior at Springfield College, just recently finished her practicum with the Hartford Yard Goats and will soon begin her internship with the Travelers Championship. Her role while at the Yard Goats wasn’t limited to one specific role, but rather she helped out in several different depart ments.

Some of these departments includ ed events, operations, sales, sponsorship and community engage

__ By Springfield Student Staff __

Aymen Tayoubi-Adrissi posing in front of the Larry O’Brien trophy. (Photo Courtesy of Aymen Tayoubi-Idrissi)

ment. The tasks were anything from updating forms, helping setting up for various events and much more. She chose to join the Yard Goats because of the idea that she could dab ble in multiple different areas and departments instead of being locked down to a specific one.

Kingsley will also soon start an internship in February with the Travelers Champion ship, where she will go down to Hartford, Conn. once a week to help plan golf events. In July, she will start working full time at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Conn., to help set up for the Travelers Champion ship. Kingsley volun teered at this event last year, and she loved the atmosphere so much that she decided to

return for a full time position. She hopes to gain more experience in the industry, and also try to improve her golf skills in the meantime.

Kevin Velazquez-Rivera:

As a college student planning to get into a career within admin istration of collegiate athletics, there may not be a better place to intern than with your own school’s athletic department. That is ex actly what senior Kevin Velazquez-Rivera did this fall, interning with the Springfield College Athletic Department.

Velazquez-Rivera holds the title as an intern for the Stu dent-Athlete leader ship and development, recruitment and reten tion, and diversity and inclusion office. “I want

to pursue a career in college athletics as an administrator,” he said.

This position allows Velazquez-Rivera to get closer to the field he eventually wants to make his profession, which will be valuable experience for him.

“This position will help me see different sides of the athletic department,” he said.

This experience will provide an in-depth understanding of how an athletic department functions, something not many are given the opportunity to learn as an undergraduate student.

Velazquez-Rivera has worked closely as a manager of the men’s basketball team this semester, helping glue things together from the team and athletics sides.

Colby Wilson: Wilson is a senior in the Sport Manage ment program. For his required internship, Wilson has landed at the Husky Advantage Center at the Univer sity of Connecticut. Through the strength of Springfield College’s network, Wilson has gotten the opportuni ty to gain real-world experience and valuable knowledge in a profes sional setting.

Wilson helps to plan and execute program ming and events while assisting in the growth of student-athletes. He was able to spear head a program called the Goal Line project, where student-ath letes visit local middle schools and take part in games and activities with the kids – teaching

them leadership skills through teamwork. Wilson regularly gets to work with star ath letes like Azzi Fudd, a standout on the ac claimed UConn wom en’s basketball team.

“My favorite part of the internship would have to be getting the chance to work first hand with high-lev el athletes and watch them grow as leaders outside their sports,” Wilson said.

Wilson gives credit to his supervisor Ra chel Howard, a grad uate of the Athletic Leadership Master’s program at UConn, as she connected him with several contacts at the university. For Wilson, it’s encouraging to see alumni care so much for current student-ath letes.

Katie Kingsley. (Photo Courtesy of Katie Kingsley)

Colby Wilson. (Photo Courtesy of Colby Wilson)

Double Duty

Just months after graduating, Springfield College alum Joe Arruda earned the opportunity to cover UConn football and basketball for the Hartford Courant

Every week from late summer to the be ginning of spring, col lege sports aficionados enjoy the likes of big time Division I football and basketball. Those two sports provide a feeling of exhilaration and thrill like no other.

In just his first year at the Hartford Cou rant, Springfield Col lege alum Joe Arruda earned the chance to cover both the football team and the basketball team at the Univer

sity of Connecticut, a job that can be at times very strenuous at times. Covering a Division I sport is a respected and coveted aspect of sports jour nalism - and Arruda has taken full advan tage.

Covering UConn has been no easy task for Arruda, as the football team recently became bowl eligi ble for the first time in seven years, while the basketball team

___ By Luke Whitehouse @Lwhitehouse12

is once again one of the top programs in the country. With this comes one caveat: the basketball season will start before the football season ends.

“Now I’m doing two beats,” Arruda said. “I just have to keep my fingers on both worlds. It can get a little diffi cult at times.”

The difficulty Ar ruda alluded to isn’t something new to him. His past has shaped him into what he is

today: A guy who loves to cover sports, and one hell of a journalist.

Growing up in Geneva, N.Y., Arru da gravitated toward sports early.

“It was all baseball when I first got into it,” Arruda said. “It was all baseball, watching MLB Network nonstop.”

That love drove Ar ruda to have one goal in mind when looking for colleges.

“I was very specif

ic: Sports journalism [programs] in New England,” Arruda said. Through an intern ship in high school, Arruda initially decid ed that he wanted to be a sports broadcaster. But as his first year at Springfield College started, something changed.

“[Professor of Com munications Marty Dobrow] pulled me aside in Intro to Jour nalism [class] and told me: ‘You’re really good

Joe Arruda hard at work on press row inside Gample Pavallion as Uconn mens basketball battles Oklahoma State (Photo by Aimee Crawford)

at this,’” Arruda said. “I had never heard some one tell me that…but once he said it, I just ran with it.”

He then recalled something that he was told in high school that stuck with him: “Jour nalism is knowing a little bit about a lot of things.”

After that conver sation with Dobrow, Arruda set his sights on joining the school newspaper, The Springfield Student.

“I had no idea what I was getting myself into,” Arruda said.

Arruda began writ ing for the student newspaper the rest of his freshman year, as well as trying out other clubs such as SCTV3 – although he quickly realized that wasn’t the best fit for him.

The newspaper, however, was the place he belonged.

“I was asked to be the beat writer for the men’s volleyball team,” Arruda said. “I knew nothing about volley

ball, I just knew this team was number one in the country and was going for a three-peat in national champion ships. I was just hon ored to even be asked.”

This proved to be an exciting first oppor tunity that opened up a whole new part of journalism that fore shadowed what was to come.

“I liked the beat writing aspect and following the team,” Arruda said. “I found a groove in it and it taught me a lot.”

As his skills began to grow and he gained confidence as a writer, he was still hesitant to use his voice.

“When I got to Springfield, I was shy,” Arruda said. “[Then one day] Kris Rhim and Gabby Guerard pulled me aside in the newspaper office and said ‘You need to start talking’...and I haven’t stopped since.”

Arruda became sports editor and then co-Editor-in-Chief of The Springfield Stu

dent his senior year. Working for the news paper provided him the opportunity to cover the Spalding Hoophall Classic twice, as well as the opportunity to travel to California (twice) and attend the Associated Collegiate Press National Con ference, both of which provided great chances to make connections – something that he knew could prove to be pivotal in the future.

Writing for The Springfield Student, as Arruda explains, most importantly made him a more versatile writer. Whether it was writing about campus news, social justice, sports or anything in between, Arruda knew it was all valuable. He realized what it did for him as he became an upperclassman.

“As I got further down the road, I be gan really writing for myself,” Arruda said. “Every story I wrote, I tried to make it one that could be appealing for a future employer.”

After graduating in the spring of 2022, Ar ruda took an internship over the summer with the Hartford Courant, covering a variety of topics, including sports at all three levels - high school, college, and professional.

That internship soon turned into a full time position, and led him to cover UConn football and basketball.

Although Arruda loved the beat writing aspect, he also loved human interest sto ries, a type of writing that he leaned into at Springfield.

With new head coach Jim Mora at the helm trying to turn UConn’s football pro gram around, Arruda was eager to get start ed. That excitement was fulfilled with an extraordinary season from the Huskies –

something Arruda definitely embraced.

“The storyline behind the season was perfect for what I like to do,” Arruda said. “They became bowl el igible, and the fan base was going nuts.”

With basketball season underway, he knows that work-life balance can be hard. With all of the non stop assignments, it can be hectic at times.

But for Arruda, it’s all part of the plan, and looking at it from a big picture lens has made him love it all even more.

As he puts it: “To night I have work,” Arruda said. “I’m going to a basketball game between a top10 team [UConn] and Oklahoma State. Can I complain about that? I don’t think so.”

Arruda also earned valuable expierence as an intern at MassLive. (Photo courtesy of Joe Arruda)

(Photo courtesy of LinkedIn)

Jaélen Daubon

Jaélen Daubon won this week’s Springfield Student Athlete of the Week with 44.7 percent of the vote after a dominant performance on the court. The junior guard for the women’s basketball team scored a team-leading 18 points while going 5-for-5 at the free throw line to help lead the Pride to a 65-53 win over Middlebury on Saturday.

The second vote-getter was Nina Lamb with 31.6 percent in the poll. The sophomore swimmer finished first in the 50 breast with a time of 29.80 seconds, first in the 100 breast with a time of 1:05.14, and second in the 200 breast at the Gompei Invita tional.

Jacob Deguire

Jacob Deguire won this week’s Springfield Student Athlete of the Week with 47.9 percent of the vote after dominating the mats. The sopho more wrestler won by pinfall in all five of his matches this past weekend at the Petrofes Invitational, which gave him the 157 pound title at the event.

In second place was Andrew Rocci with 33.3 percent in the poll. The sophomore guard for the men’s basketball team scored 17 points and went 3-for-6 on three-pointers in the Pride’s game against Trinity on Wednesday.

The third vote-getter was Evan We ber with 12.5 percent of the vote after

an impressive showing. The soph omore sprinter finished first and set a personal best in the 60-meter with a time of 6.93 seconds at the Springfield College Season Opener on Saturday.

Luca Brashear rounded out the vote after blowing out the competi tion on the board. The senior diver finished in first place in the one-me ter dive by more than 30 points and first place in the three-meter dive by more than 40 points at the Gom pei Invitational.

Be sure to follow @TheSpfldStu dent on Twitter to vote in the next poll!

Matlyn Gross came in third place with 15.8 percent of the vote. The senior jumper for the women’s track and field team finished in first place in the long jump with a leap of 5.16 meters at the Springfield College Season Opener on Saturday. She also finished third in the triple jump with a distance of 10.78 meters.

Rounding out the vote was Saman tha Paul, as she also had a solid Sat urday performance. The sophomore jumper/sprinter for the women’s track and field team won first place in the triple jump with a distance of 11.05 meters at the Springfield College Season Opener.

Jacob Deguire. (Photo courtesy of Springfield College Athletics)

Jaelen Daubon. (Photo courtesy of Springfield College Athletics)

‘Title IX has not benefited all girls equally’

Distinguished Professor of Humanics Kathleen Mangano talked with women’s sports expert

Nicole Lavoi about unintended consequences of the law.

As part of her project Title IX at 50: Educate & Advocate, Distin guished Professor of Humanics Kathleen Mangano interviewed Title IX expert Ni cole LaVoi -- a senior lecturer in social and behavioral sciences at the University of Min nesota, where she is the director of the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport - about how the law helped some, but not all, female athletes. A webcast of the full interview can be viewed at springfield.edu/Ti tleIXat50. An excerpt

of their conversation follows.

Kathy Mangano: How has Title IX improved gender disparities and inequities in sports and physical activity?

Nicole LaVoi: The first thing to remind every one is that Title IX is not just a sports law but since we’re talking in the sports context, it has dramatically and irrevocably changed the landscape of par ticipation for girls and women in sports. We’ve gone from 1 in 27 girls playing sports in 1972 in school systems to 1 in 3 now. With that par

ticipation increase, the key is that it now gives girls and women access and helps them accrue positive health, devel opmental, academic and psychosocial outcomes that boys and men had been afforded prior to Title IX.

Mangano: Since 1993, the Tucker Center for research on women and girls in sport has been at the forefront of research and in bringing attention to these paradoxical effects. What are the unintended consequences of Title IX for girls and women in sports?

LaVoi: That’s a great

question. I get that one a lot. One is the decline and current stagnation of women in sport lead ership positions. The reason why that matters is because same-identity role models matter for girls and women and we need to see women in positions of power for self-perception, emula tion, career aspirations. The second unintend ed consequence is that women’s sports used to be run by women, in the AIAW. When the NCAA took over the running of women’s sports championships that also impacted the decline in women sport leadership roles. Wom en’s sports became more lucrative and visible and powerful and the NCAA said, “We would like to get in the game on that.” Some people frame it as a hostile takeover, and others say it was a business im perative. A third con sequence is that Title IX is often scapegoated for the cutting of men’s sports, which is a false narrative and an unfair one. The fourth one is that while sport par ticipation has certainly gone up for women and girls, there are certain groups that Title IX has benefited – white girls and girls in sports that are typically associated with higher socio-eco nomic status. Title IX has not benefited all girls equally.

Mangano: Would you share a personal impactful Title IX story?

LaVoi: The first one happened in 1979. I was 10 years old, Title IX had started to take hold,

I was in fifth grade and I wanted to play bas ketball. There was not a girls team, but they did have a boys team so I was allowed to try out for the boys team. I made the team, me and one other girl. The next day I got called to the principal’s of fice. I thought, “Great! The principal is going to congratulate me on making the team.” I was proud and excited. I got to the principal’s office and the look on his face told me I wasn’t there to be congratulated. He looked very stern and kind of grumpy. He said, “So, young lady, I heard you made the boys basketball team. I said, “Yeah, it’s great. Practice starts tonight and I’m really excited.” He goes, “Well, I’m really hoping you’ll decide not to play and do Girl Scouts or ballet instead.” I was taken aback, even at 10 years old. Being a mini-fem inist at the time, I said, “I’m already in girl scouts, I’m not going to do ballet and I want to play basketball.” So I did. But what I didn’t know then but certain ly do know was that, because of Title IX he had to let me play on that team. That sort of set my career tra jectory, even though I didn’t touch the ball very much because the boys wouldn’t pass to me. There were a lot of tears, and I had to change in the mop clos et, but I did play.

Nicole LaVoi (Photo courtesy of the nmlavoi.com)

Back on the same court

After growing up playing together in Bedford, Mass., Jack Cowan and Panayiotis Kapanides are reunited on the Springfield men’s basketball team.

we had through sports. There’s nothing else that can really create that.”

That home run, along with the remainder of that travel baseball season, initiated a life long bond between the two boys from Bedford, Mass.

Throughout middle and high school, Kapa nides and Cowan were linked through a mutual friend, Malachi Ha zelton, who completed the friendship triangle and tied the two closer together.

“That year developed all of us as basketball players and made us that much stronger,” Kapanides said. “We took a jump from being role players on the team the year before to being the leaders. We set the example and showed what it meant to work hard and value Bedford basketball.”

On the way to a U-12 travel baseball game, Panayiotis Kapanides and Jack Cowan were bantering on the bus –as many pre-teen boys do – about girls while impatiently waiting to arrive at their destina tion.

To put the conversa

___ By Garrett Cote @garrett_cote

tion to rest, Kapanides bet Cowan that if he hit a home run in the upcoming game, Cowan would have to ask his crush out. During Kapa nides’ first at-bat, he hit a bomb that cleared the fence by plenty, and couldn’t help but smile as he began his trot

around the bases.

“First pitch I see, I hit it like 400 feet, no joke,” Kapanides said. “I’m running down the firstbase line, and I’m laugh ing at him and pointing to him in the dugout.

Ever since Little League baseball, he was my guy. The connection that

The big three of Kapanides, Cowan and Hazelton pushed each other to the limit during Cowan’s junior year, Kapanides’ sophomore year and Hazelton’s freshman year, respec tively. The trio decided to quit football and focus solely on hoops. They worked out twice a day in Cowan’s cross fit gym in his garage before heading to the court to get shots up and play one-on-one. Any workout they could think of, they would incorporate it into their routine the next day.

Only one man had a bigger impact on Kapa nides and Cowan than Hazelton. That man was their high school head coach, Vin McGrath. McGrath made it a pri ority to not only teach his players the skills necessary to be success ful in basketball, but also in life – and that’s what stuck with Kapa nides and Cowan.

“He shaped us into who we are, I swear to god, and I know Jack would say the same exact thing,” Kapanides said. “Coach McGrath taught us how to be better men on and off the court. We learned a lot of valuable lessons playing together for him.”

Cowan graduated before Kapanides and chose his next path

Panayiotis Kapanides (left) and Jack Cowan (right) during a Bedford High School basketball game. (Photo Courtesy of Jack Cowan)

first: Nichols College in Dudley, Mass. A year later, when it came time for Kapanides to decide where he would spend the next four years, he picked the birthplace of basketball, Springfield College.

The two didn’t see much of each other as Cowan glided through his sophomore year at Nichols and Kapanides wrapped up his first at Springfield. And once COVID-19 became a worldwide pandemic toward the end of that school year, they had even fewer opportuni ties to chill with one another.

In the back of an office building in Bedford lies a secret basketball hoop that not many people in town know of. When the pandemic wiped out all other places to play, Kapanides understood that this building was the only option if he wanted to get a workout in.

About midway through his workout, Kapanides noticed a vehicle ap proaching the building. It didn’t take long for a smile to form as he recognized the car and its conductor.

“It was Jack,” he said. “He pulled up, and I was like, ‘Why didn’t I hit him up earlier?’ It was COVID, so we weren’t itching to hangout with each other, but once I saw him everything

felt back in place. We each got a workout in and then just started chatting. We had two full years of not really linking up, and that day we reconnected.”

The rest of the sum mer was filled with workouts for Kapanides and Cowan – the two were devoted to im proving their skills and reforming their friend ship. The COVID year was their getaway.

“Every night we would hang out. I was doing a workout plan, and he joined in,” Kapanides said. “It was a threemonth program, and he was all in. We would go to the turf every oth er night, rain or shine. We’d be in puddles, 90-degree humidity, it didn’t matter. It was a great year.”

During his time at Nichols, Cowan was a part of three conference championship-winning teams and earned a trip to the Elite Eight during his freshman year. He has a champi onship pedigree instilled inside him, and he recognizes the sacrifices it takes to win games at the highest level.

“He understands and sees what we’re not doing compared to what he did before,” Spring field head coach Mike McClendon said. “It’s been valuable to have another guy that’s been to the mountaintop to

tell these guys and show these guys that they need to work harder.”

After not receiving as much playing time as he had hoped during his senior year at Nichols, Cowan was ready for a change of scenery. He still had one final year of eligibility – he just needed to find the right fit.

“My last year was not a good experience,” Cow an said. “We got a new coach, and he changed the whole team around. Even now it’s not the same.”

Seeking some help, Cowan leaned on his best friend for advice. “I asked Pete what it

was like at Springfield, and he said it was awe some and they’re really big on supporting each other,” Cowan said. “I just wanted to recon nect with him, because we had a great time in high school. I didn’t even look anywhere else.”

While Springfield likely won’t be blaz ing its own trail to the Elite Eight this season as Nichols had during Cowan’s first sea son there, Cowan has certainly brought an uncanny work ethic that this young Pride team can learn from, accord ing to McClendon. “He’s the hardest

worker in the room. Ev ery single day,” McClen don said. “He shows up with that mindset that he’s just going to out work everyone. Having four years at Nichols has really matured him. He knows what to come in here and do. Trying to find that space to fit him in on the court is the next step.”

The adjustment for Cowan hasn’t been the smoothest. Going from competing in the na tional tournament every year to trying to win just one game at a time is not a challenge he expected, but is one he’s See Cowan/Kapinedes

Kapanides (concussion) has only appeared in two games for the Pride this season. (Garrett Cote/The Student)

Global impact

Students from a variety of countries are supporting their teams from Alden Street as they battle it out in the World Cup.

___ By Patrick Fergus @Fergus5Fergus

The FIFA World Cup is the most pop ular sporting event in the world. Thirty-two countries all vie for the title of world champi on. The World Cup is in full swing and the excitement surrounding the event has spread to Springfield, with stu dents from all over the planet supporting their home nations.

Although the World Cup is shrouded in con

troversy over the selec tion of the host nation, Qatar, the actual games have provided fans of the sport with some of the most exciting action they’ve ever seen on an international level.

Early favorites like Ger many and Belgium have already been eliminat ed, while the underdog stories of countries like Morocco and South Korea have captured the hearts of many viewers.

In the United States, the substantial impact of the tournament is of ten swept under the rug by more popular sports like the NFL, NCAA football and the NBA. However, Springfield is home to a plethora of international students – like Wycliffe Acquah, who was born and raised in Accra, the cap ital city of Ghana. The stark contrast between the World Cup and its

significance in the U.S. as opposed to Ghana surprised Acquah.

“There is an entirely different mood of joy for the whole country when the World Cup comes around.it’s a huge deal [in Ghana],” Ac quah said. “Not so much here.”

Businesses would close early and Ghana flags would fly from every building on every street, Acquah said. Accra, one of the big gest and most populous cities in the country, would host large watch parties with millions of people repping jerseys of their favorite players. Even people who aren’t typically into soccer –or football, as people in Ghana call it -– gather together in support of their team and their country.

“In Ghana, football is the only general game everyone likes, and it’s played rarely, so when they are actually play ing everyone wants to watch,” Acquah said, discerning the differ ence since coming to America: “Well, (here) it’s been very different. It’s hard to even tell when they are playing.”

A similar feeling is shared by Marc Villan ueva, an avid supporter of the Spanish national team. Villaneuva, a firstyear tennis player at Springfield, has always been heavily invested in soccer.

“It’s a religion,” said

Villanueva, who has been fervently watching every single game and is confident in the young Spanish team’s chances in the tournament. “We have a very young team, but everyone is very tal ented and well coached.”

The World Cup also has a certain power of drawing in people who have never followed the sport before. Xavier Aitelmajouh, a senior on the wrestling team, had never watched soccer before, but has been cap tivated by the games.

Born and raised in the U.S., he has support ed the USMNT as well as Morocco, the home of his parents and the darlings of the tour nament thus far. Aitel majouh has appreciated the kind of passion fans have expressed for their countries, and the kind of environment that a watch party provides.

“The celebrations and watching of the games, everyone coming together and watching the best in the world competing against each other, is definitely my favorite part,” Aitelma jouh said.

With the knockout stage officially under way, the games will continue to have bigger stakes and more legend ary moments. The likes of Messi and Ronaldo are still fighting for the World Cup trophy, and it’s safe to say the world – and Springfield Col lege – will be watching.

Wycliffe Acquah holds the Ghanaian flag. (Photo by Patrick Fergus/The Student)

‘Our focus is to win as many games as we can’

___ By Nick PaNtages @nick_pantages22

We’re No. 1!!

Everyone can attest to the feeling of pride flushing through their body when they see that they are the best, and that is exactly what the Springfield College men’s club hockey team felt.

The Pride were tabbed as the top club hockey team in the country last week, something that many on the team were proud to be a part of.

“Seeing that num ber one ranking was pretty eye opening,” said Connor Konopka, a freshman forward on the team.

Winning and success is nothing new to the men’s club hockey team at Springfield, which won back-to-back con ference championships in 2017 and 2018, and

this success is built on the culture many who have passed through the program have built.

“We might be a club sport, but our focus is to win as many games as we can,” said junior de fenseman Joe Manning.

This win-first men tality has helped the team excel on the ice, and is the basis of the culture the Pride have built. The foundation of this hard-working cul ture is fortified during practice.

“[During practice] competition starts to boil up, especially when forwards start to go against defensemen,” Konopka said. “It carries over to the games be cause the guys just want to win.”

The hard-working nature of the team is necessary, according to

Manning.

“We’re not the flash iest team. We’re always gonna have to be the team that outworks peo ple 100% of the game to win,” he said.

The camaraderie be tween the members of the team off the ice also helps the Pride develop the chemistry necessary to be an elite team.

“We always try to do stuff together, whether it’s just hanging out, going bowling, just trying to have a good time,” Manning said.

The easy-going off-the-ice nature of the team helps many players become quickly acclimated to the team, which is something Konopka noticed as he joined.

“You don’t feel that difference between freshman and senior.

Everyone is one,” Konopka said.

Despite the smooth ride so far, Springfield hit some turbulence last weekend. After being voted No. 1, the Pride lost back-to-back games, likely dropping them from that top spot. However, the positive nature of the team has none of them doubting that they won’t move past it.

“As a team, we just have to flip the script and move on,” Manning said.

The way the Pride plan to wash away this bitter taste of defeat is to do what they do re gardless of the situation – get back to work.

“We just need to tighten little things up, try some new things out, and just move on,” Konopka said. “Good

teams forget this stuff.”

Despite the unwant ed sting that the losses gave the Pride, they will continue to work to get back to that number one ranking, and Manning and crew know they can get back to that posi tion.

“We had that number one ranking, and after this weekend it’s proba bly not going to be that way, but we can’t let that discourage us,” said Manning. If we put our heads down and work collectively as a team we will be fine.”

The Pride’s first bounceback opportunity involves a trip to Maine to take on St. Thomas on Dec. 11 to wrap up the first half of their season.

The Springfield men’s club hockey team credits hard work and team unity for its success.

Springfield going for a goal against UMass club hockey. (Photo courtesy of @scpuck on Twitter)

Sticking with it

Springfield women’s basketball player Riley Robinson almost left the sport early in her collegiate career, but a strong mentality and support system kept her in.

__ By Luke Whitehouse @Lwhitehouse12

“The sport I was begging to have back a few months before, was now the only reason I dreaded waking up in the morning.”

Riley Robinson penned in her letter to the Hope for Athletes initiative Instagram page.

This initiative was started by former division III Volley ball player Amanda Dahlman in hopes to promote mental health awareness within athlet ics. It began during the COVID-19 pandemic, as every athlete had their sport taken from them in some capacity.

Robinson grew up in Adams, a small town in Western Massachusetts, where she began her basketball journey back in third grade.

“She started playing house league and youth travel ball in third grade,” her father Bill recalled. “And then ev ery year thereafter she was a part of it.”

The sport of basket ball did not find Robin son by accident. Bill has been a coach for over 30 years, and her two older sisters, McKenzie and

Samantha, both played as well.

Even with basketball surrounding her, fol lowing in her sisters’ footsteps wasn’t always the plan.

“Riley never wanted to play basketball,” Bill said. “I said, ‘That’s fine, but you have to do something. But she de

cided to give it a shot.”

Giving it a shot, Rob inson began to fall in love with the game as she aged – playing on multiple travel teams to prepare herself for when high school hoops came around she was more than ready.

She led Hoosac Valley High to back-to-back

Massachusetts state championships and was an integral part of both teams.

Basketball was some thing that had become so normal to Robinson from that day back in third grade when she started house league.

The sport she loved would have to wait,

though, as something unusual happened in the beginning of 2020.

COVID-19, swept through the world, decimating many nor malities, and forcing everything to essential ly shut down. Sports were canceled, in-person learning was paused and at one point most of the country was in quarantine, where peo ple couldn’t even leave their house. Although COVID-19 began in early 2020, its deadly nature caused many re strictions that continued into the fall when the new school year began.

For Robinson, it was the start of her first year at Springfield Col lege, which was also her first year as a member of the Pride women’s basketball team. Despite some restrictions still in place, she was eager to get started on her col lege basketball career. However, this came with many uncertainties.

“[Our first-year class] just woke up everyday so confused,” Robinson recalls. “We didn’t know what would happen that day…would practice get canceled or not.”

Her teammate, and fellow first-year at the

Robinson at the foul line. (Photo courtesy of Springfield College Athletics)

time, Jaelen Daubon remembers these times vividly.

“It just felt like we were going in this endless circle,” Daubon said. “Just practice, practice, practice [over and over.]”

As Robinson pointed out, she and many of her other teammates started to feel a bit of anxiety towards every thing. COVID did this to many, but during college, something that was new to Robinson, it hit even harder.

Then, as the season went on, with only practices and no games, her thoughts began to change.

She put in her self-written letter to ‘Hope For Athletes.”

“I would go to practice having the mindset that I didn’t belong, that I was incapable of this next level.”

This doubt began to creep even more into her mind, as she saw three of her best friends quit basketball to focus on academics. Robin son, a physical therapy major, began wondering if she, too, should do the same.

“I was just worried that I wouldn’t be able to handle basketball and academics,” Robinson said. “I was just like, ‘I don’t know, at this point, if it’s worth it.’”

She began question ing everything as she entered her sophomore year. During this tough time, Robinson went

to the people she knew best: her parents.

“We try to support her and her decisions, and try to point out all the vantage points,” Bill said. “I said, ‘Look at everything. You’ve been playing this game your entire life. And it’s okay, you’re gonna have to give it up someday. Maybe today’s the day, but let’s think of this.’”

After thinking it through, she decided to go for it. And with as much support her parents gave her in that decision, so too did her teammates and classmates Daubon and Kayla Madden.

“[Hearing] the girls in my grade, like Jae and Kayla, were think ing some of the same

things I was and decid ing to stay with it was huge,” Robinson said. “For me, it was like, if I have them, then I can do this too.”

And after all of this, she wrote down the one thing she had lost.

“I am more than what I do. I became so involved with the thought that I wasn’t good enough that I forgot about the girl who has given the last decade to this sport. I didn’t give her enough credit.”

It wasn’t until the Pride’s postseason run when everything came full circle.

“I’d say I had sort of an epiphany last year at Ithaca,” Robinson recalls. “When we won the [Round of 32] at

the buzzer, I remember turning to Jae and Kayla saying: ‘We deserve this. We earned this.’”

Looking back, she also recalls the main thing that circled in her mind — from almost putting down the basketball for good, to advancing to the Sweet 16 on a buzz er-beater.

“It finally hit me..this was worth everything.”

Robinson has contin ued to be a part of the basketball program, playing a key role in the team’s pursuit of anoth er successful season. She hopes that her story can inspire other athletes to be the best version of themselves, on and off the court.

willing to tackle.

“Nichols felt like a dynasty, because every year we were playing knowing we were going to win the conference,” Cowan said. “But com ing here now, we’re just trying to win a game. It’s definitely different, but I’m willing to do whatever it takes to help this team in any way possible.”

Kapanides, who is dealing with a concus sion that has kept him out of the lineup for all but two games, hasn’t had the opportunity to help the Pride yet either. Both Kapanides

and Cowan are eager to make their mark this season, but it hasn’t quite worked out the way they had hoped thus far.

“The goal is to get them to play together,” McClendon said. “That was always something I think they cherished and couldn’t wait for, it just hasn’t happened yet. At practice, you can see they have a connection without connecting. You can tell these two guys are cut from the same cloth. Hopefully down the line we can get them to play together, because that would be pretty awesome.”

The tight-knit, fami

ly-like atmosphere sold Cowan on joining the Springfield community. However, on-campus housing is particularly limited for graduate stu dents. Because of that, Cowan lives off cam pus in Enfield, Conn., which causes him to not feel as connected to the Springfield College cul ture that he so frequent ly heard about prior to his arrival.

But without Cowan even recognizing it, he fits right in, and he be longs more than he may think.

Following Springfield’s 76-65 home defeat to Trinity, which dropped the Pride’s record to

1-5, Cowan – despite not logging a single minute of playing time – stayed behind to help the event staff break down chairs and put them away. It was a perfect demonstration of Humanics in action. Cowan had no idea anyone was watching, and he didn’t stop until every chair was picked up.

“He’s one of the most selfless dudes,” Kapa nides said of Cowan. “If you need something, if you’re in need, he’ll be the first one to be right there for you. He’ll hit you up and check on you to ask what you need. That’s just the kind of

guy he is.”

Whether or not the two step foot on the court together, teaming up one final time has provided Kapanides and Cowan a feeling like no other. It’s a dream to play with your best friend in college, and the Bedford boys are living out that dream.

“When he decided to come here, I was just so happy,” Kapanides said. “I get one more chance to play with my home town brother that I fell in love with the sport of basketball with. And now, we’re pretty much finishing our careers together. It’s unreal.”

Cowan/Kapanides continued from Page 10

(Photo courtesy of Jack Cowan)