Those of us who haven’t been deeply involved in competitive sports find it hard to remember sometimes that sports are not just points on a scoreboard or numbers in the news. A sport can be a huge part of someone’s life, even when they don’t go professional. Today’s Rose Café really brought that across to me. I’ve generally thought of sports here at Cornell as being purely recreational, not very competitive with other schools, and maybe as a medium for friendships. Coach Tanasoiu’s presentation showed how the system here at Cornell extends beyond the sports themselves. Besides scheduling matches, recruiting players, and managing practices, coaches act as an additional advisor to help students get through their academic workload and suggest ways to manage their lifestyles here. They have to consider not just athletic ability but also components of team culture like ambition and work ethic, pushing players to their limits but also knowing when to let them rest. On top of all that, they have to fundraise to support their programs and manage their spending.

Overall, this session raised my respect for both college sports coaches a couple notches, especially at schools where they don’t have huge amounts of financial and clerical support.