Going to college is great. There is enough parties and beer to make anyone happy. But you have to remember the point of going to school, and that is: to get a degree. Hopefully, that degree will turn into a job. In order for you to get a degree, you need to do your homework.
That homework is keeping me off the bike.
We’ve heard a lot about the Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference in the past few weeks from coordinators Joe Kopena, Tim Manzella and Steven Hopengarten, but what about the other conferences out there? We’ve been reaching out all around the country to find out how collegiate teams are making cyclocross season count. Wilson Hale, cyclocross coordinator for the Atlantic Collegiate Cycling Conference, was kind enough to give us a sneak peek into the makings of a stellar season when schools are situated south of the ECCC. Unlike the ECCC, the ACCC has a shorter season and chooses to host their own races, rather than racing collegiate within standard cyclocross races.
Welcome to Part II of our “Director’s Cut” of the ECCC Cyclocross Program. We’ve talked to some of the behind-the-scenes workers who make the Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference run so smoothly, especially during cyclocross. It’s certainly no easy task, since races aren’t strictly collegiate, and the calendar has to take location, size, elite fields and timing into consideration. It’s make even more difficult (or easy) this year since Nationals are now in January, right when most students will be on winter break. Because of this, the collegiate season will be extended well into December, which could affect students who would like to make it home for the holidays, but who are in contention for top spots in the conference. Last time, we heard from Drexel’s Joe Kopena and Tim Manzella. This week, we talk to Union College alum and New England cyclocrosser Steven Hopengarten.
If there’s one thing you can say about the Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference, it’s that it certainly doesn’t have a lack of leadership. There’s always some willing junior, senior, grad student or graduated and grateful alumni willing to (or roped into) taking over where graduating students leave off. And if you’re lucky, those graduating might just stay around to fill in the gaps. For the next two weeks, we’re talking to some of the behind-the-scenes workers who make the Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference run so smoothly, especially during cyclocross. It’s going to be an interesting year for Drexel’s Joe Kopena and Tim Manzella.
Collegiate athletics is an interesting arena: there are both ups and downs to being extremely athletic in college, though anyone reading this is sure to point out that the good surely outweighs the bad. However, sometimes collegiate athletic programs can cause high levels of stress in students, and sometimes the demands can hurt the students more than helping them. On the flip side, according to one study, students tend to have “perceived barriers” when it comes to physical activity, that is to say, they find excuses for not getting involved in sports. Today, we’re taking a look at three different studies about collegiate athletes, and how they can relate to various collegiate cycling programs.
You typically do not think about college during the summer. Just as you do not think about cyclocross in the summer. However, if you are reading this article then chances are you are hooked. Just as I am hooked. My name is James McCabe and I am a junior student at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. I am also the president of the Cycling Club at Wake. Prior to my involved with the club my freshmen year, the club was just a bunch of road bikers with Australian accents. (Well, that was just one rider, but that is beside the point.) I have taken the Cycling Club from a bunch of disorganized roadies to one of the stronger cyclocross teams in the Atlantic Collegiate Cycling Conference (ACCC).
Last week in Collegiate Chronicles, you met Rutgers University Cycling Team’s Director Mark Vareschi, and read about some of his fond memories of the team and its evolution over the years. Today, Vareschi offers some wisdom for other collegiate teams about building a cyclocross team in your collegiate conference.
Welcome to the Collegiate Chronicles, the new column that features all things collegiate (sans the keg parties, of course). Collegiate cyclocross is a fast-growing sector of the sport with little written about it, and we plan to change that. We’ll be taking a look at collegiate riders from all levels and from all over the country, race organizers, conference directors and some of the great characters that make up collegiate-level cyclocross.