Due to the recent changes in roster, the women’s basketball team had a total of eight former student athletes or regular students volunteering to play at the University of Dallas SCAC quarterfinals. These students united with the current players to step up and help our athletic community compete.
Rachel Rodriguez, senior psychology major, and Grace Bascon, junior double economics and mathematics major, were two of the volunteers who stepped up for the chance to represent UD. Rodriguez is a former student athlete who just finished up her last season of soccer this past fall. Bascon is also a former student athlete who left tennis this year for work.
Rodriguez had no trouble signing up for the opportunity; however, Bascon had to rearrange some prior commitments which was to reschedule two of her exams. Both Rodriguez and Bascon found out about the opportunity through student athlete friends.
“Basically, I was just talking to one of my friends from the soccer team and she got a text from our coach asking her to volunteer but she had previous commitments,” Rodriguez shared. “So I was like, ‘Well, I’m not doing anything this weekend and I usually don’t have classes on Friday.’ So I was like, ‘Okay, I’ll just go travel with them, because it’d be fun.’”
Bascon said, “[My friend] was like, ‘Oh Grace! You have all the paperwork. You’re relatively good at it. You should play!’ and I was like, ‘Oh no, I can’t! I have two exams on Friday, the day we would be playing, so I don’t really want to go.’ She was like, ‘Oh well, it’d be fun’ […] and then I talked to more and more people. A lot of my close friends […] were all going as well. I was like ‘Oh my gosh, that’s so fun!’”
It was then revealed that there were a lot more volunteers who were interested and scrambling to rearrange their schedules than volunteers who were able to formally commit to the last-minute trip.
“I’m actually so surprised about the amount of people that stepped up to play because I think we had eight to ten interested and probably like five to seven people going as well. We had a pretty large pool,” Bascon said.
Although both Rodriguez and Bascon were inspired by the spontaneous and fun aspect of playing a sport with friends, they understood that they were supporting something bigger than themselves. They were motivated to help the women’s basketball team out of compassion and empathy.
“Obviously to help out the girls because I don’t know how I would feel if I couldn’t play[…] the rest of my soccer career here,” Rodriguez shared. “So I just care about them and I want them to have a full experience [of their sport] here.”
“[One of my friends] had played soccer and lacrosse,” Bascon said. “She understands the pains of losing a sport at the school and then going to another one, so I think that’s why she played.”
Rodriguez took her commitment to the basketball team very seriously. She admitted that she practiced basketball on her own since she hasn’t played basketball since middle school and she is used to playing a sport with her feet, not hands. Her transition from playing soccer to basketball was difficult.
“Honestly, it was a lot harder than I expected,” Rodriguez shared. “I think each practice I feel like I kicked the ball like with my foot about three times. Just out of habit. Every time they’re like ‘You can’t do that!,’ [which] I know but it’s just so much easier, but it was fun.”
Both of the girls now have a greater appreciation for the sport and student athletes as a whole. They admire the basketball players for their stamina within a small court and their ability to use any moment of their free time.
“I wasn’t in for that long but you just have to sprint a lot and it’s a small court, especially compared to a soccer field,” Rodriguez said. “You’re basically sprinting the whole time. If you’re not [sprinting, then] you’re trying to catch your breath while looking for the ball and running around.”
“That’s the difference between student athletes here and just [regular] students. They have to take advantage of every little increment of time that they have [in order] to study or do something else,” Bascon shared. “I’ve always admired that my friends were athletes, and I’ve never really lived it here at UD. Even [when I was] playing tennis, I never had a crazy workload as well as an [intense] sport [where so much] time [was taken] out of my day.”
Bascon also shared a more personal appreciation on how, after practicing and playing with the team, she is able to fully recognize teammates and form a friendship with them despite seeing them regularly on campus.
“I’ve seen [the basketball girls] constantly around town and campus and it’s so funny because before, I feel like I never saw them, but I didn’t know them so I wouldn’t [be able to] recognize them,” Bascon said. “But now I see them and it’s like we’re so close […] in such a short amount of time. It feels like a really good friendship because they’re really good people. Also Bailey [Haas] and Sophie [Geisler], the two freshmen, are so funny. They’re hilarious. I love them.”
Despite the fact that they only attended two official practices, the volunteers nevertheless saw themselves as representatives of UD. Rodriguez emphasized that the amount and intention of the volunteers resonated with UD’s core values: acts of service.
“I feel like it shows a lot of the core values for us girls to step up in service of the basketball girls who stayed. I remember the guy’s coach on the trip telling us: ‘We’re here to represent UD and even if we’re not the regular players on the team. We are there from UD, we are students and are representing them,’” Rodriguez shared. “I don’t know if this is another school, maybe you wouldn’t get as many people volunteering. There were a lot more people who volunteered that didn’t come with us […] because they were trying to change their plans and their work schedules, but it just didn’t work out. The thought was there and they tried to be there for them.”
Bascon emphasized that, despite many volunteers stepping up, student athletes aren’t replaceable and deserve to be more appreciated on campus because of the amount of time that they invest in their sport. The volunteers only played for a weekend, which is nothing compared to the total time of off-season practices, lifting, on-season practices and games.
“I hope that just randomly stepping up doesn’t undervalue [student athletes] because I felt bad for the other girls on the team while we were playing. They put a whole season in and I was just here for fun because they asked. Some part of it was like ‘Yes, I’m doing something because they […] needed people and they felt really grateful,’” Bascon shared. “But also, at the same time, […] I hope [that] it does inspire more people, if they’re asked to do something, even if it doesn’t convenience them, they do it just out of pure goodness of their heart.”
Rodriguez said, “I really hope that it shows that it doesn’t take much to step up and help out the sports community. Honestly, it’s really fun, it’s a good time, you’re spending time with your friends and you’re being active. I just hope that it kind of inspires other people to step up in spring sports.”
At the end of the weekend, it wasn’t just about filling in by the numbers. It was about stepping into a student athlete’s shoes and doing the right thing. As the sports editor, I am really proud of not only how the volunteers scrambled to help the team, but also being able to appreciate and understand the athletic community more. It goes to show that Crusaders are always ready to take a shot at new challenges and support with more than just cheers from the stands.