On Saturday, April 25, the SCAD women’s lacrosse team defeated the Running Eagles of Life University 12-7 in a comeback win, capping an undefeated conference season. Following the season, the Bees have received lots of recognition for their achievement, earning several conference honors. Coach Tyler Yelken was named Sun Conference Coach of the Year in his first season. Junior midfielder Ellen Benintendi earned the honor of Sun Conference Player of the Year, while junior McKinsey Brown was named Offensive Player of the Year. Several other players will be joining the All-Sun Conference first and second teams — an impressive performance for an art and design university.
The Sun Conference is a premier conference in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), an athletic association for small colleges and universities, offering competition outside of the NCAA. The majority of the schools in the NAIA have fewer than 10,000 students. SCAD Savannah is actually the second largest school in the conference with a student body at 17,575.
The women’s lacrosse team is based on SCAD’s Savannah campus, where the players attend classes, but they compete all over the Southeast. However, when they travelled up to nearby Marietta for their final regular-season game before tournament play, many SCAD Atlanta students seemed unaware the game was taking place.
I understand many of us are busy with projects and extracurricular activities but sports, like the arts, should be something the community rallies around. SCAD is a unique place that offers the convergence of the two, but the idea of having a diverse and engaged community doesn’t take hold if the student body doesn’t participate.
What would it take to increase student turnout—not just for women’s lacrosse, but also for our golf, tennis, or e-sports teams? This participation could go a long way, not just for school pride but for SCAD student athletes to feel included and celebrated for their work in their extracurriculars. So, as the school year comes to a close please show your support, attend their games, and help make sure SCAD shows out for our student athletes!
