Nothing unites a campus like sports.
At least in the United States, that is. We’d like to think that our school spirit comes from our pride in academics. But let’s be honest. People don’t return to their college town to sit in on a lecture.
They come for the sports.
Sports commands emotion. Perhaps it’s because we empathize with the players. They enter a few hours worth of intense effort. Some moments get ugly. Sometimes they experience incredible victories. Other times they are terribly defeated.
It sounds a lot like our lives.
When you put a bunch of enthusiastic sports fans in a stadium together, they leave as friends. It’s emotional.
Being on a sports team is even more emotional. You experience the struggles with your teammates. Talk about instant bonding.
This is why a professional-level sports field is a great investment for our university. It will unite us. It’s these sort of things that our money should go toward.
USF St. Petersburg is unique. We are located in a downtown area. We will probably never have our own football team and a giant stadium to host games. People may never travel from miles around to watch a game at our campus. But we’re definitely missing sports right now.
We have a world-class sailing team, and few universities can say they have that. But for students who don’t sail, sports opportunities are slim. We’ve had a few intramurals on campus throughout the years, but we’ve never had the resources to grow them.
Until now.
Students have been asking for more sports, and the university has done an outstanding job at responding. As the campus expands, sports is something we need to have more of.
We think that the partnership with the Tampa Bay Rowdies is an excellent plan. Bringing the Rowdies to our campus for practices will only ignite student interest in our community. We’re a university woven neatly into downtown St. Petersburg. We should be connected to our community.
Our connection with the Rowdies has already benefitted us. The fields will be completed earlier than they would have if the university was the only one funding it. But perhaps this will only deepen our ties with the Rowdies, and lead to more benefits for students of the university. As for the Rowdies, perhaps they will have greater attendance at games if USFSP students get interested.
Let’s bring on the sports. And with it, let’s welcome a greater sense of community.
