What’s the Deal with Blue and White Sports?

Published 4 months ago -


Adam Ide, Sports Editor

The Assumption University Greyhounds compete in the Division II New England 10 conference. A large number of varsity sports teams on campus play with some of the best competitors that Division II has to offer. Assumption University is also famous for its many club sports that allow students to compete against their fellow classmates and participate for fun. Starting in the 2019-2020 academic year, however, Assumption University introduced Blue and White Sports that do not count as varsity sports but do compete against other schools in the area.

 

The first three-sport offerings that were introduced in 2019 were men’s swimming, women’s ice hockey, and esports. This opened up a great option for students interested in these sports to compete against other schools.

 

“My freshman year was the first year the program existed. It’s been really cool to watch it grow.” said senior assistant captain of the women’s ice hockey team, Caroline McDonough.

 

Unfortunately, this great opportunity that arose in 2019 seems to have faltered since its creation. Assumption’s athletics website has all but forgotten these three sports. While all of the varsity sports feature countdown clocks preparing fans for the season openers, the Blue and White Sports have not been updated since their creation in 2019. 

 

This lack in maintenance to the schools athletics site and the lack of attention to the Blue and White Sports program in general may have COVID-19 to blame.

 

“I actually think the reason why the program needs to be revamped came down to sustainability and organization. I think that because of the fact that COVID made everything online … did disorganize a lot of people. That I think is one of the contributing factors.” said new esports program director Kadin deRuijter when asked about how COVID-19 affected the Blue and White Sports program.

 

It is clear that the deciding factor of whether or not each individual Blue and White Sport was greatly effected or not by COVID-19 was their relationship with the athletics program.

 

“We’re overseen by athletics. … Our paperwork all goes through athletics so we are involved with athletics. … During the COVID lock down year athletics did let us practice … twice a week.” said McDonough when asked about the women’s club hockey team’s relationship with the athletic department and how COVID-19 played a role in the team’s progression.

 

Meanwhile, the esports team has had a very different experience when dealing with the athletic department.

 

“Unfortunately, [we] are not as close [with the athletic department] as I’d like to be.” said deRuijter.

 

It seems as though the athletics department and the Blue and White Sports program do not have any guidelines in place as to what their relationship should be. This is a large issue when it comes to the management of the team and also the Blue and White Sports’ community outreach.

 

Recently, men’s swimming and women’s ice hockey have announced that they will be varsity sports, with recruitment starting in 2023. Although these are big steps forward for the athletics programs and the school, they are not being treated as important as the other sports on the school’s athletics page.

 

At the very least, the men’s swimming and diving team has been moved to the varsity sports section of the athletics page. The women’s hockey team still sits in the Blue and Withe sports section along with the only other remaining Blue and White Sport, the esports team.

 

The women’s hockey team has played two games so far this season, both played against UMass resulting in a 1-1 record according to McDonough. However, you will not be able to find this information of the athletics page due to the lack of updates for Blue and White Sports.

 

The esports team is currently in a rebuilding phase although there has been no news shared with the student body through the athletics department about when or if the esports team plans to compete again soon. 

 

Since the athletics website has not been providing updates on these teams keep your eyes peeled for informational fliers or members of the Blue and White Sports teams to find out more. 

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