In the October 4, 2010 issue of The College Voice, an article was published in the sports section entitled “Down, But Not Out: Women’s soccer takes new approach this season,” by Mike Flint. This article was anything but flattering for the women’s team and contained a message indicating that the team was down and out (despite the headline).
While it is no secret that the women’s team has had difficult seasons in the past, in the week leading up to its publication, the Camels tied Amherst College, the first place team, 1-1 on Saturday, September 25. Since October 4, the team also pulled out ties against Trinity College (Saturday, October 9), and against Middlebury College (Saturday, October 16). To put these ties into perspective, last fall the Camels fell to the Lord Jeffs 2-0, to the Bantams 4-0, and to the Panthers 6-0. If that is not remarkable improvement, I do not know what is. Even more importantly, during the weekend of October 23, 2010, the team defeated the Colby Mules 2-1. This marks their first NESCAC victory since Fall 2007. It seems that this year’s team is not quite down or out.
Beyond the misunderstanding of the women’s soccer program, there is a larger issue at play in Flint’s article. This is the blatant lack of support for the women’s soccer team, and by extension, athletics at Connecticut College. Perhaps I am wrong, but it seems that one of the duties of the Sports Section of a college newspaper is to rally school pride and increase the support of Camel athletics. The overall negative tone of his article was far from encouraging. Sports teams at Connecticut College have a difficult enough time gaining support without The College Voice sending unflattering messages to the entire school in the form of an extremely negative article.
I do not mean to ask the paper to lie about the team’s record; however, dedicating nearly half of the article to the team’s losing record is not necessary to make the point clear. Furthermore, indicating that the team should be kicked out of NESCAC is insulting. Every sports program goes through its ups and downs, and the women’s team was in a two-season lull. Every game from this season indicates that they are leaving that rut and moving forward to a more successful future.
In the future, the team and the Student Athlete Advisory Committee hope that The College Voice will write articles with the intention of raising school support for teams rather than discouraging it.
-Emily Webb ’11
Photo from Athletics website.
