Sara Buckham
Women’s soccer captain
Many of my parents’ friends wonder how I manage to lead a balanced life. Somewhere between homework, class, games, practice and maintaining a social life, everyone seems to think I’m a ticking time bomb about to explode.
This couldn’t be less true. Quite frankly, my life wouldn’t be balanced without soccer or sport. Sport keeps me level, so it comes as no surprise it’s become a large part of my identity.
I arrived at Queen’s with one goal in mind. All I wanted was to be a member of the women’s soccer team. Little did I know making the soccer team would introduce me to a group of girls that love soccer as much as I do. Through making the team, I was also introduced to a whole student and staff community who share the same love for sport as I do.
Over the past three years I’ve experienced one of the most rewarding relationships with the Golden Gael community. I’ve come to find Queen’s Athletics doesn’t stop at loving sports. We wear the Q and the Tricolour proudly. By putting on my uniform, or sporting a sweater saying ‘Queen’s Soccer’ I’m not just a player. I’m a representative of the school and the community I belong to.
Every year, towards the end of the summer, my teammates and I run a soccer camp for local girls. It’s a chance for us to share our joy of the game and interact with younger girls who aspire to play soccer at an elite level.
Our annual soccer camp has become a tradition on our team. More importantly, though, these young girls have found a way into my Queen’s bubble. Who would have thought the Kingston community could improve my university experience?
In only a few hours together, the Kingston girls learn some more soccer skills and I gain the satisfaction of being a role model. We all benefited from each other. I think there are more opportunities for the Kingston community to become a part of the Queen’s athletic community in a similar way.
The Golden Gael community fosters camaraderie amongst athletes and there’s an apparent enthusiasm among the student body with regards to sport. Yet our enthusiasm for Queen’s sport doesn’t seem to translate to the greater Kingston community.
Queen’s athletes should be encouraged to escape the bubble and venture into the surrounding community, particularly schools. Encouraging young girls and boys to lead healthy lives and providing them with role models could help develop a relationship with the community. The Annual Kingston Christmas Parade and Queen’s Summer Camp programs are just a few ways in which Athletics has reached out to the community. But I can’t help but feel as though we can do more. ion for sport is something all athletes have in common and it only makes sense to share our enthusiasm with the rest of Kingston as much as possible.
My experience with Queen’s Athletics has far outweighed my expectations. I came to be a part of a soccer team. I never anticipated soccer would lead to the wide array of opportunities that it has.
Playing a sport was just the tip of the iceberg. Queen’s Athletics continues to enrich my experiences and I have high hopes it can do the same for the Kingston community.
Ryan Kruyne
Men’s rugby captain
Queen’s Athletics has become bigger, faster and stronger. From more efficient teams to a rebuilt campus, we’re in a position to solidify ourselves as one of the most competitive schools in the country both scholastically and athletically.
What’s left in this process is to redefine our athletic community through a fresh philosophy.
We’re forced to redefine ourselves because to rebuild, we had to first break down. Throughout the athletics review two years ago, teams were pit against one another in a battle to secure funding and the futures of their programs. That was a necessary evil. But now that preliminary evaluations have been completed, the school has been re-branded and the ribbon’s been cut on first phase of the construction project, it is time to renew the connections between the sports we choose to champion. To do this requires a new mindset.
Looking at all the banners in the gym, we’re able to reflect on the successes of the past half-decade. To outsiders, those banners simply represent an accomplishment. But, to those of us who competed, they’re a reflection of countless hours spent in a dingy basement gym with equipment that looked like it was on loan from Communist Russia, or the commitment needed to make it to and from the Memorial Center for hockey practices and games instead of enjoying the luxury of Jock Hardy Arena. More broadly, they reflect our perseverance through an athletic review that divided us, fighting for seemingly non-existent funding. We may never be able award full athletic scholarships or have 80,000 fans attend our games, but that’s the beauty of our beast. What we can do is create an atmosphere and attitude of unity and camaraderie whose momentum will propel us forward into superiority.
As we start a new chapter with state-of-the-art facilities, we must not forget what has made us so strong and feared in the past, and what will make us that much more dominant in the future: our pride. I’m proud to have represented this school and to have reached my goals as a student athlete. What I’m even more proud of, though, is that I can share that with other people in the exact same position. Never mind the rankings, publicity and egos—we are all Gaels together.
What I see moving forward is our athletes raising their standards of and cohesion with one another to set the foundations for a community built on the principles of hard work, determination and the pursuit of excellence. We must match our advances on the field, court or on the ice an effort to become a more unified team. Championships, community service and events are all things that we can continue to enjoy and build on together.
Think of that feeling you get when you’re competing, individually or as a team, and everything is clicking. You have fans watching the game, your teammates and your coach are on the exact same page as you are and ready to do whatever it takes to reach your goals. Think of the energy and aura that and will to win creates.
Now imagine the energy we, as a unified athletic community, could create for our athletes.
That’s power.
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