Fall Sports Gear Up for Early Move-In
While the majority of the incoming freshman class moves in Saturday, August 18, four of Westminster’s fall sports teams are gearing up for an early arrival to campus.
Head coaches of the four teams took a few minutes to talk about move in and their outlook on the upcoming season.
Football
The football team’s move-in day is set for Sunday, August 12, to prepare for early season camp and their first scrimmage at Avila University in Kansas on August 25. The squad looks forward to its first game at Millsaps on September 8 before the home-opener on the brand new turf field thanks to the stadium donation from Kent ’62 ΣΑΕ and Judith Mueller.
After the team’s 6-4 season last year, including an undefeated record at home, Head Coach John Welty welcomes his newcomers with eagerness.
Q: How many are you expecting on your team total and newcomers?
A: We have 48 newcomers to the team this season with about 85 total student-athletes.
Q: What does move-in day look like for your team?
A: Day one is organized chaos. Paper work to be filled, moving into dorms, squad meeting, offensive and defensive meetings, squad meeting with the trainer, some equipment handout, NCAA forms to be filled out, register on HUDL, and a roster check just to name a few.
Q: What does the first week look like for your team before other students arrive on campus?
A: Week one is a period of adjustment for all coaches, players and trainers. Getting into established routines is important. It is a long week, long hours of physical work, long hours of mental work, and they need the ability to adapt to change every day.
Q: Why is it important for your teams to arrive to campus early / what is the benefit?
A: Early arrival gives the coaches a chance to evaluate talent and get to know the new players and re-establish relationships with the returning players. It also gives the players a chance to get into shape and learn the offensive, defensive, and special teams schemes.
Q: What is something you’re excited about for this upcoming year?
A: It is always good to get a fresh start. We are excited to see how the current players have improved and excited about how the new players will help. A new field helps with the excitement.
Women’s Volleyball
Westminster volleyball moves back to campus August 16, two days early. Head Coach Natalia Koryzna enters her second year and looks to repeat the immense success she found last year after winning the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular season title and being named the Co-Coach of the Year.
After opening the season with several nonconference matchups, Westminster volleyball opens the season at home in the Historic Gym September 18 against conference opponent Iowa Wesleyan.
Q: How many are you expecting on your team total and newcomers?
A: We are expecting five newcomers with 16 total members of our team.
Q: What does move-in day look like for your team?
A: We spend the morning moving in to dorms and spend most of the afternoon in meetings, so we can get acquainted with each other and start to develop relationships and our plan for the year.
Q: What does the first week look like for your team before other students arrive on campus?
A: The first week is always busy for us. We practice twice a day for two hours, and on top of that, the team has to balance the mandatory activities for new student week.
Q: Why is it important for your teams to arrive to campus early / what is the benefit?
A: It is very important to start the season preparation earlier to prevent injuries. Early arrival also helps with our team building and bonding.
Q: What is something you’re excited about for this upcoming year?
A: I am excited to work with my team, see them grow and have a successful season.
Men’s Soccer
Men’s soccer comes back to campus August 18 and returns as one of the most successful programs in recent history. Last season, the squad won its fifth consecutive SLIAC Tournament to head to the NCAA Tournament for the fifth year in a row. Head Coach Adam Galla looks to continue his success with a young group.
The team opens up with four games on the road before returning home to play their first match on the new turf September 9 against Illinois College.
Q: How many are you expecting on your team total and newcomers?
A: We are expecting 32 total on the team, with 10 freshman and two transfers added.
Q: What does move-in day look like for your team?
A: We will basically be moving into dorms and apartments, having team meetings in regards to team/individual expectations, and completing the required NCAA paperwork.
Q: What does the first week look like for your team before other students arrive on campus?
A: Compared to other levels and even high school now, we have a very short preseason. We are trying to accomplish a lot in a very short period of time. The four biggest things were trying to do are evaluate each individuals overall play (especially freshmen), fitness levels, start to imprint our style of play/formation, and to start of building some team chemistry.
Q: Why is it important for your teams to arrive to campus early / what is the benefit?
A: It’s a huge benefit for a couple reasons. First, it’s easy for players to focus when the campus is quiet and they have no big papers or test coming up. Second, it’s a great time to work on team bonding and chemistry with that extra spare time. Third, a vast majority of preseason from a coaching perspective is evaluating. The bigger sample size you can get with training sessions the more accurate your assessment is going to be.
Q: What is something you’re excited about for this upcoming year?
A: We were a very young team last year so I’m excited to see the progress those young players have made and to see them step into more leadership type roles. I’m also excited to have the opportunity to coach this group. They’re all outstanding young men who are great people, students, and players. They’re very coachable, and have a team-first mentality. It’s also more enjoyable to coach a group that has great character and values.
Women’s Soccer
Women’s soccer comes to campus August 18 and along with the incoming freshman class, Head Coach Wendy Sanchez enters her first season at the helm of the program for the Blue Jays. Last season, the women’s soccer team fell in the semifinals of the SLIAC Tournament and hopes to return to the finals this season.
After playing the first four matches on the road, Westminster returns to campus for the home-opener September 20 against Stephens.
Q: How many are you expecting on your team total and newcomers?
A: We have 16 total on our team and four newcomers.
Q: What does move-in day look like for your team?
A: Move-in day will be filled with school related events and a team meeting for the first part of the day to get acclimated. In the evening we will start with team building activities to prepare us for preseason!
Q: What does the first week look like for your team before other students arrive on campus?
A: We will begin with two-a-day training sessions implementing fitness, weight training, and team meetings.
Q: Why is it important for your teams to arrive to campus early / what is the benefit?
A: For our team, it’s a great opportunity to train and play together with our newcomers and build that team chemistry right away. As a coach it helps me see where our players are, evaluate our team, and make adjustments to get us ready for our upcoming matches and the season.
Q: What is something you’re excited about for this upcoming year?
A: I’m excited about having a great group of young ladies that want to put in the hard work on and off the field to reach our teams goals.
You won’t want to miss our Blue Jay teams in action this season! Head to wcbluejays.com to see schedules, rosters, and news from all of 18 NCAA Division III sponsored sports.
