Life at the Division III Level: A report from Homecoming 2004!

"$40,000 , $400,000,000, $1" - The cost of one year's tuition, the school's endowment and the price of a Gatorade purchased from a member of the swim team raising money during the Hamilton football game!

 

Location:  Hamilton College, Clinton, NY

School Type: Small, Private Liberal Arts, 1,600 hundred students.

Conference: NESCAC and Liberty

 

I traveled to the old alma mater with my wife and parents for the annual Fall Coming weekend of festivities and events.  We arrived around 11 AM in time to catch the end of the women’s cross country meet and walk around the campus to see what was new.  Like most NESCAC schools, Hamilton has a huge campus for the number of students attending (1,600).  And again, like most, the tuition is high, almost $40,000, and athletics are not a huge draw.  But I attended three events, and wanted to make a few points:

 

Football – Hamilton vs. Trinity. This game was a mismatch before the whistle blew as Trinity has been dominating the league lately (gave up 30 points all of last year) and had won 17 in a row. Hamilton, in stark contrast, is rebuilding and has won only 3 games in the last two years.  The game was a 55-6 mismatch. Trinity was bigger, faster and stronger at ever position and I can’t see them losing this year.  See Blog

  When you look at colleges and lump them together by Division and assume they are the same in terms of the quality of athletics, you are making a mistake.  There are Division III teams that have and do beat Division I opponents (on occasion, not in football) in some sports and the same goes for D-II, and I-AA teams.  Depending on the school, some D-III teams look for Division I talent.  In this example, Trinity could compete with most other D-III teams in the country while Hamilton could not.  The NESCAC is one of the strongest academic leagues in the country but football wise they are not highly rated.  Trinity is an exception.  And there are others in every sport.  Hamilton’s men’s lacrosse team went to the Sweet 16 two years ago and the men's swim team finished Top 15 in the nationals.

Singing of the National Anthem:  Only in Division III will you see the schools acopella singing group stand at midfield and sing the national anthem - with two members also doing double duty as members of the football team!

 
Field Hockey.  Hamilton vs. Vasser.  Hamilton won this match 2-0 to get their first win of the year.  Other than a Northeastern University (Top 25 D-I   program) game I have never seen a college field hockey game.  The crowd was either parents of players or friends of players.  Nobody else. The players play for the love of sport, camaraderie, the physical challenge and the thrill of competition. There is no TV, no crowd, no fancy stadium and they don't fly to games.  No one has to play to keep a scholarship and many were likely not the best player on their team in HS. Some were, but not most.

Cross Country -   I must have seen runners from 10 colleges. State schools, private schools, small and large. The best thing about Cross Country is that freshmen often make a big impact and most Division III programs welcome anyone who wants to run.  It is a team event and the more bodies you have the better.  I saw runners who looked like it was maybe their first year competing - not fast, not in great shape as compared to the front runners - but competing none the less.  The essence of Division III.

Fundraising - During the football game I purchased 50-50 raffle tickets to support the Lacrosse program, a Gatorade to support the swim team and had I been hungry -BBQ from the women's lacrosse team.  Trips to Florida for spring training are not usually paid for at this level - players have to raise money and pay their own way. 

Streaking- Is alive and well on college campuses. The two person 'Hamilton Streaking Team", a non school supported club team according to the campus paper, entertained the football crowd with a 100 yard dash about 10 minutes before kickoff. The duo, appearing out of nowhere, dressed only in sneakers and carried a few articles of clothing, easily outpaced the security team and disappeared into a campus building. 

 Quote of the Day - "I pay $80,000 a year to this school, and you are NOT telling me I cannot park here!"
- Parent of two football players as he roared his black Mercedes past the parking attendant at the tailgate lot! I thought parking was expensive in Boston!
 
 While the athlete's work hard and are dedicated, the season of play is short in the NESCAC conference. The Field Hockey team will end it's season before November and the football teams play an 8 game schedule. Division III football teams that make the NCAA playoffs can play 15 games, double the NESCAC slate.  In other sports though, NCAA championships are up for grabs, and are often taken by NESCAC teams in Lacrosse, Hockey, Basketball, and Squash to name a few.  .