As peers prepared to be welcomed by flair-festooned upperclassmen on the Robinson Hall lawn, a number of athletes in the Class of 2018 were busy with a different introduction to Dartmouth: one characterized by team dinners, intense workouts and pep talks.
Dartmouth’s fall sports teams — which include football, men’s and women’s soccer, field hockey, women’s volleyball, men’s and women’s crew, men’s and women’s swimming and diving and coed sailing, among others — welcomed athletes to campus throughout late August and early September. Constrained by NCAA and Ivy League regulations on preseason training, women’s volleyball kicked off its training on Aug. 22, men’s football on Aug. 27 and coed sailing on Sept. 1.
Jack Heneghan ’18 said he enjoyed arriving early for football preseason because it allowed him to focus on the sport without worrying about academics.
“It gives you a good chance to get to know your teammates and all the players in your class and get settled in, rather than having to adjust to college and sports at the same time,” he said.
His teammate Brock Bacon ’18 agreed, noting that it was nice to have older players show them the ropes.
Field hockey player Sarah Tabeek ’18 said preseason training has been intense, but she enjoyed exploring campus before everyone else arrived. She also cited upperclassmen on the team as great resources.
“They really took us under their wing and have guided us through both field hockey concerns and non-field hockey concerns,” she said. “It’s been amazing having 19 immediate friends before classes even start.”
The field hockey team began its preseason 14 days before its first competition, head coach Amy Fowler said. Launching training on the heels of sophomore summer requires both helping freshmen adjust and accommodating rising juniors’ final exam schedules.
In her 15 seasons leading the Big Green, Fowler said, she has always tried to accommodate the Dartmouth Outing Club First-Year Trips program for her athletes.
Women’s volleyball head coach Erin Lindsey said her program, guided by similar Ivy requirements, could not begin preseason training more than 14 days before its first competition, against Pennsylvania’s St. Francis University on Sept. 5. But students traveling more than 500 miles to campus can arrive up to two days early, giving them time to adjust.
Lindsey said she normally hosts a team dinner at her home the night before training starts. Like Fowler, she said she worked to ensure players could participate in Trips.
In order to accommodate athletes in field hockey, women’s volleyball and other sports that begin training before official College move-in dates, the Office of Residential Life works with the athletic department and the Club Sports program to provide interim housing assignments, associate director of housing Elicia Rowan wrote in an email.
Not all fall sports begin so early as to require interim housing. While men’s and women’s swimming and diving may have student-organized “captain’s practices” beginning up to a week before school starts, head coach Jim Wilson said, the official season does not begin until Oct. 1.
And coed sailing, not held to NCAA requirements by virtue of its orientation outside of the national collegiate organization, does not begin practices until first-year students officially move in, head coach Justin Assad said.
“I think it’s a little more natural for them to go right into orientation,” Assad said. “We work hard to get them all signed up early for Trips, and we strongly encourage every freshman sailor to participate in Trips. We think that the well-rounded experience is important.”
Men’s soccer head coach Chad Riley and football head coach Buddy Teevens could not be reached for comment by press time.
Katie Jarrett contributed reporting.
