SPORTS
FEBRUARY 14, 2014
11
Spring sports preview: highlighting players, teams to watch for this semester
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Sophomore catcher Nathan Fulbright bats against Biuefield State College.
BY KELLI URESTI
Staff Writer
W'ith fall and winter sports
ending, our Guilford College spring
sports teams have been training
and preparing for the coming 2014
season.
Here's a look at what to expect:
Baseball
Head baseball coach Nick Black
'02 believes there is a different
mindset on the team.
"We have a really good group of
guys that come out and work hard
every day," said Black.
The team was selected seventh
in the Old Dominion Athletic
Conference coaches' preseason
poll. They had nine starters return
from last year's squad.
"Macon Smith (and) Corey
Wallace both had a really good
season last year," said Blade "Here
Ingles plays really well, and Mike
Whitted, a first-year starting senior,
should do well.
Softball
The women's softball team
practices year-round, and the
results are paying off.
"Moreunity and more teamwork,
that is what you should expect
to see," said senior first baseman
Rachel Howard. "We have a better
connection this year, and you will
see that on the field."
Their conference is never easy,
but they are striving for excellence.
"Cynthia Hays, Casey Snead and
Marty V\^lcox brought it last year,
so I expect them to do the same this
year," said Howard.
Men's Lacrosse
The men's lacrosse team was
selected seventh in the ODAC
preseason coaches' poll. VN^th a
growing team comes more success.
"We have the biggest team we
have ever had, so this should help
us compete better against the bigger
schools," said senior defender
James Hulette.
The men's lacrosse team is a
young team, but they are still a
team to watch out for.
Many of the team's key players,
like sophomore attacker Adam
Fiore, junior goalkeeper Thomas
Deane and junior defenseman Nick
Huckins, are returning for the 2014
campaign.
Women's Lacrosse
The women's lacrosse team was
selected second place in the ODAC
preseason poll based on their
perfect regular-season 10-0 finish.
'The girls are even hungrier
for success coming up this season,
especially tr)dng to make the goal
of winning (the) ODAC this year,"
said head women's lacrosse coach
Sarah Lamphier.
They also have a lot of key
players returning, and Lamphier
believes that if there is any year to
make a deep playoff push, this will
be the year.
HigWighted by All-American
E'lyena Garda, six of the seven
2013 All-ODAC performers return
this season for the Quakers. This
indudes senior sisters, Lily and
Becca Colley, senior Celine De
Perlinghi, junior Nora Keene,
sophomore Summer Fowler and
sophomore Lizz Carella. They
should all stand out again this
season.
Tennis
This will be a different season
for the Quakers' tennis team. With
new and fresh talent, junior tennis
captain Turner Votipka is looking
forward to the season ahead.
"We have a bunch of new
freshmen," said Votipka. 'Three
are starting, so hopefully, the new
talent comes in and makes up for
the seniors we lost."
The ODAC coaches' preseason
poll ranked the men's team fourth
and the women's team seventh.
With all the talent, Votipka feels that
both teams should be successful.
A few standouts to stay tuned for
are Votipka, first-year Levi Bruff,
junior Haley Andrews and junior
Allison Hewitt.
Students attempt unionization in NCAA
BY ROBERT PACHECO
Staff Writer
For the first time in the history of college sports, athletes are
asking for representation by a labor union. This action may lead
to a more active role for the student athlete in the business of
college football.
"I think the NFL concussion discussion has us rethinking
long-term athlete disability," said senior golfer Dallas Page.
'Taking care of ^ose who have sacrificed their health for your
organization is a common expectation in sodety."
A college quarterback is known for his leaderehip on the field.
Kain Colter, a graduating Northwestern University
quarterback, is leading NCAA student-athletes off the field.
On Jan. 28, Amogi Huma, president of the National College
Players Assodation, filed a petition on behalf of Kain Colter and
anonymous Northwestern football players, with the National
Labor Relations Board.
'The action we're taking isn't because of any mistreatment by
Northwestern," said Colter to ESPN's "Outside the Lines." 'The
school is just playing by the rules of their governing body, the
NCAA."
The NLRB is the federal organization that recognizes groups
seeking collective bargaining rights.
"We're interested in trying to help all players," said Colter.
'This action is about protecting current players and future
NCAA athletes."
The unionization effort is an attempt to ensure that student
athletes are heard in discussions by NCAA offidals regarding
health and compensation polides.
"There is going to be pushback by the NCAA," said Robert
Malekoff, assodate professor of sports studies. "Right now,
through the NCAA, the NFL has a free minor league system to
develop talent.
The free NCAA farm system is not the only reason that the
establishment will ferodously fight the unionization attempt.
"This case can lead to a series of compromises in the future,"
said Malekoff. "One effect could be a challenge to the NCAA and
NFL's abUity to operate as tax exempt organizations."
Currently, NCAA Division I student athletes' scholarships are
handed out on a year-to-year basis. They are not a full four-year
guarantee by the university.
Many critics site this as an inherent flaw. Without a full four-
year guarantee to attend college, the student athlete is distracted
from focusing on his education.
The student athlete is treated like an indentured servant whose
accomplishments on the field determine their opportunity in the
dassroom.
"I would like to see an outcome where the athlete receives
a four- to five-year commitment from the university," said
Malekoff. "But I believe the establishment will push against that,
too.
'The year-to-year scholarship allows coaches more power to
control tiheir personnel."
The origin^ formation of the NCAA was an effort by President
Theodore Roosevelt to stop the rampant injury and death that
occurred during the infancy of college football.
With the public discourse of the effects that concussions
have on football players' health at a crescendo, the correlation
between the unionization effort and the original intent of the
NCAA is blatant.
"After the athlete is finished playing and suffers injuries,
he has spent significant time maldng the university incredible
amounts of money," said a current Guilford football player who
wished to remain anonymous.
"Compensation for devastating injuries in service to the
university is invariably the responsibility of the school."
The student-athlete perspective is not one of a traditional
student.
It is more akin to the perspective of a faculty member who
contributes hard work towards the success of the university.
"The NCAA should include the opinion of the players," said
Ira Warwick, a senior football player at Guilford. "At minimum,
that effort would help to address health issues."
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