Cabrini’s women’s golf team was honored at the 2019 fall honors convention. The team increased their GPA from an average of 2.5 in 2018 to an astonishing 3.4 in their 2019 season.
“All student-athletes have more demands on their time than the average student because they have all the academic stuff that the regular student has, and all the academic requirements are the same. In addition, they have all this practice and playtime,” Tana Thomas, head golf coach, said.
Time management is key for the golf team. The team will be missing seven upcoming class days. To keep up with the missed work the team uses every spare moment to make up work and discuss with their professors what is needed.
Professors at Cabrini are understanding of sports and the team’s busy schedule. The golf team members expressed that Cabrini professors work out arrangements for missed work so they can keep their high academic grades. The team explained that it is not a pass and they have to complete the course work like every other student.
“We do put our academics first. Say if we have a practice and have homework due, our coach would encourage us to choose school first since school is our priority,” Abi Fricke, junior business management major, said.
The women’s golf tournaments can last up to five hours. Since golf is an individual sport, coach Thomas encourages team bonding. After tournaments, the team members like to attend a group dinner to bond as a whole.
Members of the golf team explained that bonding is key to trust and trust leads to dedication.
“Our coach urges us to get help with things in school that we may not understand and she is so supportive of us so it’s kind of our duty to get our work done and support each other,” Vic Monterosso, sophomore early childhood education major, said.
As a whole, the golf team works together as one, not in the game since it is an individual sport but as a whole for academics and support. The golf team has been in existence at Cabrini for two years and is thriving.
The team members expressed their dedication to the golf course not only by putting in long hours of commitment through practicing but with their academic life.
“Definitely a higher GPA next year would be a good team goal to strive for like a 3.5 would sufficiently show our hard efforts,” Fricke said.