If you’ve made it to CI, you probably already know people come to GW for political rallies instead of pep rallies, and would rather see a presidential debate than a basketball game. But if you’re like I was two years ago, you still need your sports fix, whether that means having a team to root for, having a team to play for or both.
As an incoming freshman, you might be a little cynical about what GW has to offer the college sports fan compared to the big state schools many of your friends from home will attend. After all, we have 18 varsity sports yet no football team and only eight teams that play on GW’s main campus. We’ve got three (yes, three) mascots and still not one that inspires you to cheer anything more than, “What’s with the fat, happy-go-lucky Hippopotamus?” And we have four major pro sports teams that Washingtonians follow – the Redskins, Wizards, Capitals and Orioles – three of which don’t win much and one of which plays in the NHL, making them all equally undesirable to me, especially now that Michael Jordan is gone.
But despite what may seem like a nonexistent sports culture in Foggy Bottom, there is a lot more to feed your sports fix at GW than you might think. You just have to look a little harder than students at the University of Maryland do to find it.
Chances are you haven’t seen GW’s basketball teams on SportsCenter unless they were getting dunked on by a national championship contender, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t see good college hoops once you get here. The GW men’s basketball team is one of the up and coming teams in the Atlantic 10, a conference strong enough for you to see Top 25 teams in the Smith Center every year but intimate enough for you to feel like you know the guys you’re cheering for. It’s not Duke, but it’s about as good as college basketball gets when that building fills up for a big game.
Women’s basketball, on the other hand, may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of big-time college sports, but there’s nothing small-time about the GW women’s team, which was on national television four times last season and has been to the NCAA Tournament in eight of the last 10 years.
If GW basketball still isn’t enough, you can always go to the MCI Center and root against Georgetown. Trust me, it will make you feel a lot better about not getting accepted there.
When basketball isn’t in season, there isn’t much of a buzz about GW sports around campus. But if you really want to see a good baseball or soccer game, GW’s teams are only a ten-minute bus or cab ride from campus. The GW baseball team, which plays in Arlington, Va., and men’s soccer team, which plays at GW’s Mount Vernon campus, have both been to the NCAA Tournament in the past two years.
With the lack of varsity teams that actually play on campus, you’ll also notice a lack of playing fields here in the city. Kogan Plaza isn’t exactly conducive to weekend softball with your floor, but don’t mistake that for a lack of opportunities to play sports recreationally.
In addition to the 21 club sports offered at GW, there are intramural leagues and tournaments in just about everything throughout the year put on by Recreational Sports and Fitness Services. So if rugby or ultimate frisbee is your thing, fear not – there are other people like you around here.
For the less athletically inclined, the bowling alley in the Hippodrome is the only one in Washington, not counting the one in the White House. This is a great place to tell yourself that you’re exercising while actually doing very little.
Four stories below the bowling alley, however, what you’ll see is a little less encouraging. J Street, GW’s primary food court, is where six-pack stomachs go to die. The fatal trio of Burger King, Taco Bell and Chick-Fil-A during the week and beer on the weekends will put you on track for the “freshman 15” before you know it. But as you watch the inevitable expansion of your waistline over the next year, keep in mind that there is a place to fight the flab, a place students affectionately call “the Hell Well.”
Opened in 2001, the Health and Wellness Center is as good as any health club or gym you belonged to at home and is better than most student fitness facilities around the country. So if you want to stay in shape without playing on a team, either check out the facility yourself, take a one-credit Exercise and Sports Activities class, or pay a little extra (get used to that phrase) for a group fitness class or personal training session.
Finally, if you want to take advantage of all the professional sports being played in the D.C. area, don’t let the uninspiring local teams deter you. Your favorite team will probably be in the area at least once a year, so you can still go to the MCI Center or Camden Yards to see them beat up on the home team. This excludes Redskins games, which you’ll never be able to get tickets to.
Without question, there are schools with a better local sports scene, better athletic facilities and more tradition and school spirit than GW. Some of them are only miles away. But if you look hard enough, you’ll find that what GW has is enough to meet the basic needs of the sports fan, competitor and casual athlete in you while you go out and do what none of your friends at other colleges will do – experience four years in the heart of the nation’s capital.
