410 Forum — Sports
Setting Up Volleyball
By Amy Wann
While many incoming freshman spend their last summer before college soaking in the last of their childhood, Michaella McGurk was busy spending her summer forming a women’s club volleyball team before she even stepped foot on campus.
Accepted into the University of Northern Colorado early in her college decision-making process, McGurk said she felt UNC was the best option for her. At Longmont High School she played volleyball for her first three years. Missing the game, and knowing her absence senior year would make it hard to play Division I volleyball, McGurk decided to figure out how she could still play in college. Three months and over 200 hours of work later, McGurk walked on to campus not just a freshman, but also a club president.
“To form a club team at UNC is to fill out a ton of paperwork and spend more time than you’d think finding at least 10 people who believe it’s even a good idea,” McGurk said. “I kept thinking, ‘it’s volleyball, how can 10 people not like it.’”
Club sports at UNC must pass a review and be approved by both the Department of Campus Recreation and the Student Representative Council. And 10 people not only have to think it is a good idea but also be willing to pay dues to start the club. The women’s club volleyball team did not have enough money to start with and still doesn’t, according to McGurk, but she continues to think up creative fundraising ideas and said she hopes they soon will.
Money or no money, McGurk’s love for the game has pushed this club into existence, and with 52 women trying out for the team this semester, it seems to be catching on.
“Michaella is a nut,” said Taryn Drescher, a sophomore on the team. “But she is the nut that bolts this team together.”
The team is new and so are the members, but McGurk works with the others to make time to practice. Monday and Wednesday practices are not required. These women are students, too, and McGurk says she knows education is more important. But each Monday and Wednesday from day one, 20 to 22 women have entered the gym, and McGurk said she couldn’t be more impressed with the dedication being shown.
“I absolutely, positively, love this game,” McGurk said. “I am thrilled to come to college and find so many more that do, too.”
McGurk has never missed a practice. Her teammates say she is their reliable leader and friend, which makes dedication to her and the team easy.
Her role as a leader for this club has pushed McGurk to want to be a leader in the classroom as well. She said she wants to do this not just with high marks in her classes, but as an actual teacher herself in the future.
“Michaella McGurk is a good person to start a club here,” said Aaron Freimark, head of club sports at UNC. “She stands up for the sport and she stands up for education, it makes her someone these girls can look up to.”
So although she has been a college student only 177 days, Michaella McGurk, has already inspired, led, taught, and befriended more than 50 women on the UNC campus. Freshman is only a title for her, and it doesn’t slow her down, it pushes her to show what freshman can really do.
Preseason of a Team
• May 2008: Michaella McGurk graduates from Longmont High School.
• June 2008: McGurk begins the process of forming a club at the University of Northern Colorado.
• August 2008: McGurk holds the first tryout for the Women’s Club Volleyball team and 20 women attend. McGurk begins her freshman year at UNC.
• September 2008: McGurk and 12 women play out the first game as a club sports team. • December 2008: McGurk wraps up the first semester of club volleyball with a 2-3 record.
• January 2009: McGurk holds spring tryouts and over 50 women attend.
Sources: Michaella McGurk and Longmont High School Web page.
