Print
E-mail
Comment
Lone Star College letting athletes shine
By DUSTIN BASS
There’s always a place for athletes. Baseball players who “might’ve been,” but, luckily never did, have the slow pitch softball leagues. Basketball players who can’t jump, can’t shoot and run out of breath in the first 2 minutes, have church leagues and local tournaments. Football players who know nothing of X’s and O’s run with flags on their sides. And for those young enough and with a dream to at least play a little bit longer at the next level despite not having a scholarship or the elite ability of scouted prospects, they have the local community college, much like Lone Star College - Tomball.
A young and energetic 34-year-old spiked-hair Athletic Director for LSC-T runs back and forth with files in hand with enough intensity to be coaching a sideline, but still finds the time to joke with a student and scurry back to his office for more planning.
It’s sports at a completely different level. It’s the fun level. It’s the level where no one needs to be a one-man show, but it’s where stress doesn’t come into play because play takes away the stress.
Paul Dempsey is in his third year of building the foundation for the local college that sees more new faces than a revolving door.
His idea, nonetheless, is the retention of students. For local high school graduates who don’t have much interest in going to college, they are hit with an incentive. Come play.
“Some kids end up with an Associate’s Degree,” he said, “by just wanting to play soccer.”
The college offers club teams and intramural teams. Club teams are more competitive based, but the idea for both remains the same. It’s a way to get young adults into college. Not only that, but it forces those who want to join club teams, keep their grades up.
Along with that, he said its adds to the students’ demeanor towards school, other students and, more importantly, themselves.
“It makes them feel a part of the community,” he said. “With club teams, you get involved with the school.”
Members of club teams must be involved in student activities and must represent their clubs in school meetings, especially if they want or need help financially or in other ways.
“(Clubs) get funds from student activities,” Dempsey said. “Every student pays $2 for an activity fee. We come up with a budget for each team. The players have responsibilities for showing up to activities and meetings. A certain number have to show up to represent their club.”
He said when students become part of club teams or even intramural teams, it helps them open up socially.
“It’s amazing what club teams will do for leadership,” he said. “It gives them so many opportunities to be a leader.”
The numbers change from semester to semester he said. There are approximately 40 girls in volleyball, 35 in men’s basketball, and approximately 50 for soccer, which required the team’s to make cuts.
The difference between club and intramural is that club goes outside the school for competition and intramural is strictly in-house.
The club teams play other LSC teams, other university club teams, and, at times, travel out-of-state to play. But it’s not so much the competition that gets Dempsey’s adrenaline to rush.
“You see it all the time,” he said. “They get so excited. The camaraderie. You can’t replace that with anything. Even myself, you miss it. You just enjoy it. Watching the students grow. Freshmen are quiet and don’t say much, but by the time leave, you see them grow.”
He said he’s just trying to build programs at the school, but it is overly evident that there is something else being built.
CLUB FACE-OFFS
Here are some of the school club teams Lone Star College - Tomball club teams faced or will be facing: Houston Baptist University, LSC-Kingwood, LSC-Montgomery, LSC-North Harris, Rice University, Texas Southern University, University of Houston, Houston Community College-Northwest
A young and energetic 34-year-old spiked-hair Athletic Director for LSC-T runs back and forth with files in hand with enough intensity to be coaching a sideline, but still finds the time to joke with a student and scurry back to his office for more planning.
It’s sports at a completely different level. It’s the fun level. It’s the level where no one needs to be a one-man show, but it’s where stress doesn’t come into play because play takes away the stress.
Paul Dempsey is in his third year of building the foundation for the local college that sees more new faces than a revolving door.
His idea, nonetheless, is the retention of students. For local high school graduates who don’t have much interest in going to college, they are hit with an incentive. Come play.
“Some kids end up with an Associate’s Degree,” he said, “by just wanting to play soccer.”
The college offers club teams and intramural teams. Club teams are more competitive based, but the idea for both remains the same. It’s a way to get young adults into college. Not only that, but it forces those who want to join club teams, keep their grades up.
Along with that, he said its adds to the students’ demeanor towards school, other students and, more importantly, themselves.
“It makes them feel a part of the community,” he said. “With club teams, you get involved with the school.”
Members of club teams must be involved in student activities and must represent their clubs in school meetings, especially if they want or need help financially or in other ways.
“(Clubs) get funds from student activities,” Dempsey said. “Every student pays $2 for an activity fee. We come up with a budget for each team. The players have responsibilities for showing up to activities and meetings. A certain number have to show up to represent their club.”
He said when students become part of club teams or even intramural teams, it helps them open up socially.
“It’s amazing what club teams will do for leadership,” he said. “It gives them so many opportunities to be a leader.”
The numbers change from semester to semester he said. There are approximately 40 girls in volleyball, 35 in men’s basketball, and approximately 50 for soccer, which required the team’s to make cuts.
The difference between club and intramural is that club goes outside the school for competition and intramural is strictly in-house.
The club teams play other LSC teams, other university club teams, and, at times, travel out-of-state to play. But it’s not so much the competition that gets Dempsey’s adrenaline to rush.
“You see it all the time,” he said. “They get so excited. The camaraderie. You can’t replace that with anything. Even myself, you miss it. You just enjoy it. Watching the students grow. Freshmen are quiet and don’t say much, but by the time leave, you see them grow.”
He said he’s just trying to build programs at the school, but it is overly evident that there is something else being built.
CLUB FACE-OFFS
Here are some of the school club teams Lone Star College - Tomball club teams faced or will be facing: Houston Baptist University, LSC-Kingwood, LSC-Montgomery, LSC-North Harris, Rice University, Texas Southern University, University of Houston, Houston Community College-Northwest
Submit a Comment
|
You must be logged in to post a comment.
|
Not yet a registered member?
Click here to become one. Comments to stories and articles on the Web site are not edited or pre-approved before appearing online. Readers posting comments are solely responsible for those comments. Comments must be germane to the story to which they apply. Online comments that are libelous, profane or personally attack another site participant can be reported as abuse using the link provided on each comment. Comments reported as abusive will be reviewed and may be removed from view, as will off-topic comments. BE CIVIL. Individuals continually posting abusive comments to the site may have their registrations revoked. |
