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[ The Elmhurst Scene ]
Road Warriors
Each spring Elmhurst’s athletic teams travel from coast to coast in search of fuller schedules, stiffer competition, and, often, more close-knit teams.
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On a gray and blustery day in March, eight members of the golf team and their coach found themselves ensconced in police headquarters in Montgomery, Alabama. Not to worry, however: no crime had been committed. Rather, a tornado watch had routed the Elmhurst golfers from their villa on the Alabama River and sent them to the security of the police facility. The irony was not lost on the golfers. They had traveled nearly a thousand miles in search of some decent March weather, then found themselves seeking shelter from a tornado in the heart of Dixie.
Such are the realities of spring sports for players from northern schools. Teams must be ready to pile onto planes or into vans and spend spring break shoe-horning in as many games as possible in warmer climates. And even then, there’s no guarantee a tornado won’t find them.
For the teams that hit the road, though, the payoffs include a fuller schedule, a chance to compete in beautiful settings against some prestigious schools, and an unequaled opportunity to bond with teammates. This year’s spring break brought Elmhurst teams to a wide range of locales: Southern California, Memphis, St. Louis, Minneapolis, and the Carolina coast, in addition to Alabama.
Except for their brief sojourn with Montgomery’s finest, the golfers were in the Deep South to play the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, a string of courses created by what is arguably the world’s preeminent golf-course design firm. “The trip was a huge success,” says Coach Dave DiTomasso. “Our players thought these were among the finest courses they’d seen. There was everything from a links course that felt like Scotland to one that was 7,900 yards.”
The golfers flew to Montgomery, then traveled by minibus to four courses in Alabama, where they played a total of five rounds. Like other Elmhurst teams, the golfers raised part of the cost of their trip. “We had a golf outing at Oak Brook Golf Club,” junior golfer Anthony Pryor explains. “We each got family, friends, and faculty to support us.” The team also held a ra√e and a silent auction of items donated by local merchants.
The other Bluejay team to go airborne in March was the women’s softball squad, which flew to the Sun West Tournament in Orange, California. “We played twelve games in seven days,” says Coach Lori Brown. “That amounts to one-fourth of our season. This is fine for recruiting, but also a necessity.” With the iffy spring weather in the Midwest, she explains, the West Coast trip is one way to guarantee that all scheduled games will be played. The softball team raised travel funds by writing letters to alumni, by managing the Langhorst Field concession stand at football games, and by holding “play nights” in Faganel Hall, the physical education center, where team members played games with local Girl Scouts. Parents are charged ten dollars an hour for the three-hour sessions with girls from the third to sixth grades.
The Sun West Tournament is getting increasingly competitive. Senior pitcher Jessica Kalal had played in the event before and was “excited about facing better teams.” The squad went 6-6 against competition that included Tufts, Wesleyan, Amherst, and Williams.
The softball players spent their single free day visiting Disneyland, Hollywood, and the Pacific beaches. Jessica Kalal also enjoyed some family time. Her sister, Vanessa, is a freshman on the team, and their parents made the trip, which included a family visit to Universal Studios.
The Bluejay baseball team took two March jaunts by bus—a four-game visit to the Metrodome in Minneapolis, and a swing through Indiana, Tennessee, and Missouri. The Metrodome trip is something of a tradition. For veteran players, the highlights include seeing the looks on the faces of freshmen as they walk into the cavernous home of the Minnesota Twins, with its 48,600 seats.
Second baseman Mark Jerome says this year’s Metrodome trip was “one of the best I’ve been on. It was a great bonding experience.” College teams don’t get to use the clubhouse, Jerome notes, so they change into their uniforms in the stands. The team had raised $7,000 for the trip through the online organization mysportsdreams.com. The Jays won two, lost one, and tied one in the Metrodome.
The March trip of the men’s tennis squad was to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, where they played, and won, four matches. “We try to go to Hilton Head every year,” says Coach Henry Stanford. “We flew down last year. This time we went by minibus. The guys knew it was a long drive, but it makes us a closer team.” Senior Dan Faretta concurs. “It’s sixteen hours each way. You read books, do homework, sleep, tell jokes, make small talk. And you get to know everybody better.”
The eight-member team raised funds through a “ball-a-thon,” Faretta says. “We see how many balls we can hit from the ball machine in an hour, with parents sponsoring us at twenty cents a ball.” The team also held a raffle, with the winner getting a prime campus parking spot for a month. Each player is expected to raise up to $200 for the trip.
Athletic Director Paul Krohn says sports travel is “great exposure, great education, and an aid in recruiting.” Recent years have brought an increased emphasis on over-seas trips for Bluejay teams, including a men’s basketball trip to Cancun and visits by both the men’s golf team and the women’s volleyball team to Australia. “Yes, travel is glamorous,” he says, even when it takes a ball-a-thon to get you where you want to go.
by Robert Goldsborough |
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