Sports Take a Timeout

Many students who come to Champlain College have a history of playing high school sports, yet most of them decide not to continue playing during their college years.

While Champlain offers intramural and club sports such as rugby (during non-Covid semesters), the college does not sponsor collegiate-level competitive athletics.

Champlain College has a reputation as an online gaming school with various eSports teams, not a traditional athletic team-oriented school. But does this mean that Champlain students drop the ball altogether once they come to school?

Champlain freshman John Mcdonnel was a star lacrosse player throughout middle and high school helping lead his team to win multiple state championships. “I played lacrosse for about a decade and was very much considering playing in college. I talked to a few college coaches, but quickly

realized it wasn't the culture I was looking for. I was looking for a more laid-back experience and the college lacrosse scene felt very competitive,” he said.

Another lacrosse player and freshman, Ari Esposito played lacrosse for three years in high school and was “pretty good” as she put it. But it was never something that she considered doing past high school. “It was more of a fun thing to do with free time in high school,” Esposito added.

Mick Calan was a wrestler in high school and now is heavily into combat sports. Mick said that he wanted to wrestle while at Champlain but wasn't expecting to do much with organized sports through the school. “My favorites recently are Jiu-Jitsu and kickboxing, however, these sports are pretty specifically taught, so switching gyms is not typically recommended which is why I haven't been able to train at Champlain.”

While organized, competitive athletics may be nonexistent, it’s clear some students are still getting sporty.

A handful of students who were interviewed said nothing about organized sports but lots about skiing and snowboarding. Hallie Pixley, Cavy Monohan, and Emma Wilkinson all said they've been skiing almost every weekend and have never skied so much until they came to Champlain.

As the college’s marketing materials make abundantly clear, one of the attractive things about coming to Champlain is that the college is close to many ski resorts.

By: Peter Miller

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