Trinity isn’t exactly known for its sports teams. When you think of college athletics in Texas, Trinity University probably doesn’t come to mind. Small division III schools don’t usually get recognized when compared to the many other and much bigger schools in Texas that are renowned for their sport teams. This, however, shouldn’t make a difference in how you view Trinity athletics, and here are a few reasons why:
1) We are nationally ranked every year in multiple sports. Yes, nationally ranked among division III schools, but nationally ranked nonetheless. Most, if not all, of our teams usually make some kind of playoff bid every year. This obviously makes it much more fun to watch and brag about our teams when they win a lot, not that you shouldn’t support them when they lose because you definitely still should.
2) Our games are free. Anything free is awesome; therefore, our sporting events are awesome. Other schools make their students buy sport passes, which can be hundreds of dollars a year. The cheapest seat at a University of Texas football game is around $70. This in itself should make you thrilled we go to such a small school.
3) You can feel the sweat of the athletes dripping on you because you can sit so close to them during games. Okay, that is a bit of an exaggeration and frankly would be kind of disgusting, but, because our athletic facilities are fairly small, students are able to get closer to the action. We don’t have nosebleed sections, and binoculars are never needed. Also if you want to storm the field after a big win, it’s really easy to do so.
4) We have more of an opportunity to get to know athletes on a personal level. They are the men and women sitting right next to us in class or living right down the hall from us. They are not put on a pedestal like they are at other schools. We treat athletes as our equals here, which lets us become friends with them more easily, whereas you might not get the chance to have such a diverse group of friends at a bigger school.
5) We can appreciate athletes here more because we know the hard work they have to do to keep up in school and participate in sports. If you have ever been on a sports team, you know how hard it is go to practice two to three hours a day while staying on top of your homework. We also know how hard Trinity academics can be (first years, you will learn soon). Trinity expects their athletes to work just as hard as non-athletes in academics as compared to many other schools, who let their athletes skim by with the bare minimum.
6) It is really easy to get involved in athletics yourself. I came to college wanting to play lacrosse, never having played before, so I joined the club lacrosse team. It’s that easy. We have many different club teams one can easily join and become good at. It’s a way to still play a competitive sport (club sports compete against schools all across the South, such as LSU, A&M and Rice), and not have to be the best at it to compete at a collegiate level. If you aren’t into competing against other schools, intramural sports are a great way to still compete, but on a team with your friends against other Trinity students.
