Posts Tagged ‘Tennis’

PROFILE: Tennis Teams at Marietta College

With an undergraduate enrollment around 1,400 students, there is not much on the Marietta College campus that goes unnoticed. It could be assumed that all groups get publicized similarly; however that is not that case for one organization.

The Marietta men’s and women’s tennis teams compete every year in a rugged Ohio Athletic Conference, yet rarely are thought of when it comes to athletics on campus.

“To be honest, I didn’t even know we had tennis teams here,” said Marietta College sophomore John Lucore.

Almost everyone is familiar with everything from College Union Board activities to the employees at Gilman, so why is a varsity sport on the low spot on the totem pole?

“I think it comes down to people not really being sure how the sport works, and people aren’t going to come watch something that confuses them,” said Marietta College sophomore and men’s tennis member Josh Patterson.

For each match six players from each team play an individual singles contest as well as three double matches. The winner of each is awarded a point, and the team with the most points out of nine is declared the winner.

Confusion of how exactly to watch the game also comes into consideration for a lack of attention for the teams.

“I think people are unsure when to applaud. It’s more like golf, you clap after a point, not during the action. You’re not going to bring a cowbell or anything like to that watch a match,” said Patterson.

Uncertainty of the game at times has led to sparse turnouts for home contests for the Pioneers.

“I think our biggest fans could very well be the trainers,” said Patterson jokingly.

The low turnout though has not stopped the team from competing. During the off-season the two teams practice at a local indoor club with a former collegiate stand-out who offers lessons. Once the season rolls around, the team is on the court six days a week, sometimes more than once a day.

With the OAC season fast approaching, the two teams have been on the court non-stop preparing for the thick of the schedule. The teams call the Beren Tennis Center home for their home matches. The Center, which opened in 2002, is a top notch-facility that is not only open to the team, but faculty and students as well.

Patterson, who has been playing since age 12, weighed in on the 2010 campaign.  “I would like to win all of our non-conference matches, and compete and hopefully win a few in the OAC.”

EDITOR’S NOTE:  This article is by Chris Miller, a Media Writing Two student at Marietta College.  If you are interested in writing for Writing on the Mall, send an e-mail to Patrick_H@writingonthemall.net.

Recap from Student Speak Out

A lot of topics got covered at Student Speak Out this year…probably mostly due to the fact that 90 more students were here this year.  Here’s the gist of some of the things that got covered.  Look for more recaps throughout the rest of the week.

Food Services

Questions about food services at Marietta College always come up a lot.  Walter Miller, Director of Food Services at Marietta College, was on hand to address concerns.  Several students complained about Izzy’s…ranging from how dirty it can be at times, to them closing early because they’ve run out of food.  Walter said he would look into the issues and meet with the Izzy’s staff to address them.  Also, Walter encouraged students to submit ideas for food at locations.  This stemmed from a question regarding the fact that we now have three sandwich shops on campus.  As always, everybody complains, but never directs their concerns about the food services.  So if you want something changed, put something in the box in Gilman.

Honors Program

A lot of questions regarding scheduling of classes for the Honors Program.  Kipp addressed the issue, saying that they are looking to make class selections more orderly and predictable, while allowing for additions and substitutions.  There has been a high turnover in leadership for the Honors Program, but apparently that situation has been fixed and the College is looking to make positive changes.

Housing

According to Bruce, off-campus options will not be expanded for students any time soon.  The college is working on moving upperclassmen out of freshmen housing, but it is a slow process.  Housing will still be tight next semester.  But the bottom line is that the College is not looking to lose any income from housing, so if you’re on campus, you’re stuck.

Tennis

A few students asked about adding coaches to aid the Tennis program in its development.  Athletic Director Larry Hiser said that the money is not there to hire any new staff at this point, but said that there is a plan he is working on to help the situation.  Another student asked about lighting the tennis facility so they could be used in the evening.  Hiser said he would look into the cost of adding lights to some, but not all of the courts.  However, there is no guarantee of lighting the courts anytime soon.

Fine Arts

It would appear that the Fine Arts Department is dealing with some funding cuts.  Several students came to speak about how the College was treating what looked to be more of a choir problem than instrumental or theater problem.  They have no permanent performance space.  The choir tour has faced a lot of cost cutting, links to the Fine Arts Department website have been taken off the Marietta College website, and they only have one brochure for potential students to read.  They do bring a valid point though.  8% of the student body, including many campus leaders, are involved with Fine Arts in some way.  But the funding is just not there.  Not just for their department, but for every department.  Funds could be re-allocated, according to administrators, to help fund the trip, but adding a performance space on the side of Hermann will take years to raise funds for and then build.  While a valiant effort, it will take current student’s motivation as alumni to make it happen.

Modern Languages

A few students asked if the Modern Languages department could be expanded with more faculty and staff.  Kipp said that several staff were added, but adding more faculty to teach languages cannot happen at this time.  For more faculty to be hired, more students would need to attend Marietta College.

Study Abroad and Trip Subsidies

Nope, the college is not planning on subsidizing trips abroad for some students with other students money.  International travel is expensive, but not as expensive as one would think.  The College will work with you to help raise money for trips, through grants and scholarships, but will not directly subsidize trips.

Health Center

This one was brought up by a Writing on the Mall reader.  Lon Vickers, VP of Student Activities, responded by saying that he is not happy with the current set-up and is investigating ways to fix it.  Options involve charging students more to add hours, and/or moving the health center back on campus.  At the moment, though, hours cannot be expanded.  Even with H1N1 “Swine” Flu bearing down on campus.