By Tierney Werner Unigo Campus Rep at UCSC
10 Must Know About UCSC Sports:
1. If you play sports, expect a very specific following. Of close family and friends.
2. Looking for Greek life? UCSC probably isn’t the place for you. But luckily the athletes of UCSC have the same work hard play hard attitude, and connected party life.
3. Expect Rookie night to be a memory you’ll wish you could remember. Two words: carbo-load.
4. Because money for sports at UCSC is limited, expect to fundraise your ass off. And put on a pretty face about it. You tend to make more money that way.
5. Buy your whistle now, you will be refereeing for your sister or brother sport.
6. UCSC doesn’t have a football team but it has been suggested that if the amount of time the student body spent protesting George Bush, or smoking weed went into actually creating a team, we could be national champions, or at least decent competitors.
7. Yes, our mascot is the Banana Slug.
8. Pack your deodorant. Traveling is frequent and you learn to get very cosy with your teammates while driving in vans packed full of athletes and equipment.
9. Booking gym time can be kind of tricky, so make sure you schedule that hot date for after you know when practice is.
10. At a school of 15,000+ you have to really want your spot on the team. Dedication is mandatory.
While it’s easy to belittle the sports program at UCSC because the students are all too busy hugging trees, it is important to remember that sports culture at UCSC has a strong, dedicated following of people who really love sports. Don’t be discouraged if you want to play sports, there are people here who are just like you and this must know about UCSC sports as your guide! As a freshman, you might want to check out this UCSC biggest mistake and best decision made in freshman year.