While most DePauw students were relaxing at home or lying out on a Florida beach over break, DePauw’s spring athletes traveled to different parts of the country to improve their respective seasons.
Trips ranged from Florida, North Carolina, California and other places in between. From playing different competition to experiencing the tourist attractions of the area, sophomore baseball player Grant Radamacher, who played seven games in Orlando, thinks one of the best parts of the trip was getting out of the comfort zone of the Midwest.
“We play all of our games in the Midwest and most of them in Indiana,” Radamacher said. “It was just great to play some baseball in an unfamiliar area. In the end, it’s the same game and nothing changes. But it just adds an element of change that makes it exciting.”
The teams usually did not have games or matches every single day while they are on their trip, so the players and coaches often spent their off days bonding at local tourist attractions. The baseball team, for example, spent their off day at Universal Studios Resort in Orlando.
“Universal was an incredible time,” Radamacher said. “Most of the time we’re together as a team we’re practicing or working out. We all get along so well, so it’s always a great time to do stuff like that.”
The athletic department works alongside every team to help schedule spring break trips for as many teams as possible. Some teams can travel further and spend more time at their location depending on when spring break falls on the calendar and at what point the teams are at on their schedule. For example, last year the women’s lacrosse team was able to travel to Arizona, however, this year they needed to stay close to home because they had already started conference play.
“We work alongside every coach, and ultimately let them decide what kind of trip they want to take each year,” Stevie Baker-Watson, athletic director, said. “Usually a team will take a long trip every two to three years and will stay more local in the other years.”
Baker-Watson says the meetings usually take place in January or February of the previous year and are finalized in the fall.
Hotel rooms and meals are paid for by the athletic department while the teams are on the trip, but if a team chooses to fly, they must pay for their tickets on their own. If the trip is close enough to drive, most teams will use a charter bus as transportation.
“We want to make sure our players eat and have a place to sleep while they are on the trip, so we pay for those,” Baker-Watson said. “However, the players do have to pay for their flights. If the trip is close enough, teams will take charter buses.”
Spring athletes have a different spring break experience than other DePauw students. Despite missing out on them, the trips help the teams not only improve on the field or court bund together of it.
“We definitely became closer as a team after last week,” Alex Bertolini, sophomore tennis player, said. “Little things off the court like cooking meals together and going to the beach helped us get to know each other better than we already did.”