Not simply a soccer game… Covenant sports
So I was just thinking back to this past semester… I still can’t believe I am officially done my first semester at Covenant College! Yeah… pretty much amazing, I know. Covenant College is a school — granted. But there is SO much about Covenant that makes it SO much more than just another university or college. The sports events at Covenant College are no exception…
Throughout the course of this past fall semester, there have been men and women soccer games, women’s volleyball games, and men and women basketball games. Each event is more than just a game with two opposing teams and an audience of fans. At the beginning of the semester, the men’s and women’s soccer teams were in their prime, right at the beginning of the season.
I remember the first men’s varsity soccer game I went to, a mere two weeks after I started my freshman year at Covenant College. The game was due to start around 5:00 p.m. I was enjoying getting to know the godly guys on my hall, The Five Points. We were at the stages of still getting to know each other, but beginning the bonds of deep friendship and brotherhood. As a hall event, we all decided to paint our chests in support of the men’s varsity team. We got some body paint, and we each painted a letter on our chest — the end result was the name “Alec Waller.” He was (and still is) one of our best soccer players on the team. That game alone, if my memory serves me correctly, he scored two goals and aided in yet another victory by the men’s varsity soccer team.
But the goals and the game were only a minor part of the whole event… any college or university can boast its own team and its own goals and victories. But there are very few colleges that can boast a crowd of fans that sing and shout Scottish chants to the sound of drums and bagpipes… Covenant College is one of few…
At the start of the game, the crowds of Covenant students and staff and faculty (yes, even our beloved professors join in the sports events) pour into the stands overlooking the Scotland Yard field. At the bottom of the stands, standing on the edge of the field, a handful of Covenant students sporting drums and bagpipes and Scotish kilts begin to play traditional Scottish hymns and songs. Students sporting the Covenant Scot’s colors of blue and white begin to join in the chants and songs, including “We Are the Scots.”
As the teams finish their warm-ups and begin to prepare for the game in store, the Covenant Scots join in a circle… as the varsity team joins heads and arms in a circle in the middle of the Scotland Yard field, the Covenant students and faculty quiet down in anticipation of the team chant that is about to be witnessed. A single teammate steps inside the middle of the circle and starts off the Scotish chant… the rest of the team quickly follow in the chant as they dance around in a circle in the middle of the field. The first time I witnessed the team spirit and chants of the Covenant soccer varsity team was a mere two weeks after I had arrived on campus… as I stood on the bleachers with my hallmates, covered in paint to support the team, I stood speechless as the team danced and chanted their Scotish song… Suddenly, the crowd roared in applause and shouts as the team dispersed into their positions for the game.
The Scottish chants and team spirit alone were enough to get my adrenaline rushing and the team spirit flowing. I was a freshman at Covenant and had only been a part of the college for two weeks… but already, I felt welcomed and an active part of the team and college. The game had yet to begin, and the crowd of Covenant students and faculty members were cheering as if we had already won the victory…
As the clock began, the game begun… not simply a soccer game… but a Covenant game.
Published on 15 Dec 2006 at 11:02 am.
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