By Rebecca Kalmar, Staff Writer
For most passersby, we merit nothing more than a bemused glance. A group of young women, clad in a confusing array of black, white, and blue, dragging equipment onto a shuttle while everyone else heads to a shiur, class, or meal. We represent our institution, and yet it feels as if we are almost a separate entity. We are Yeshiva University student athletes.
As a young girl who loved to play sports in an out-of-town community, my options were severely limited. In elementary school, I played softball and basketball in local community leagues where I was the only player to ever wear a skirt. In middle school, I joined my first Jewish sports team. We played one game of basketball and the rest of our time was relegated to practices. In my small Bais Yaakov-esque high school, there were no sports teams, and I wasn’t sufficiently motivated or skilled to seek outside options.
During my gap year in Israel, I joined an inter-seminary basketball league. Given the amount of people who showed up on a regular basis, calling it a league was quite generous. One night, I arrived at the gym to find that aside from the referee, I was the only one who had shown up. Coming into YU, I was determined. I was going to play a college sport.
I thought that I would play intramural sports, which lack some of the formalities and responsibilities of a college team, but are often open to those of varied skill levels. To my surprise, upon reaching out, I was welcomed onto the softball team without a tryout or any formal experience with the sport since elementary school.
As I would quickly learn, there are significant gaps between the experience of a Yeshiva University athlete and students on many other college teams. There are also differences within the various sports teams on both Yeshiva University campuses.
Many YU teams’ rosters are made up of players with varying degrees of skill. While this is of course common for any sports team, I would argue that YU’s range is wider than others. I, with my last game having been in elementary school, took to the softball field with teammates who played the sport throughout high school. Even for those who played in “Yeshiva League,” to come to college and suddenly find themselves facing opponents who have played fast pitch softball for several years is quite a challenge. While some sports remain competitive, other YU teams are lucky to win even a few games or matches.
Another struggle for YU and particularly Beren athletes is the athletic facilities. The “gym” in the 245 Lexington Avenue building is around half of a basketball court, offices, and a tiny workout room for athletes, all packed into the eleventh floor. With most sports teams lacking a rink, field, court, or track to call their own, practices and games come with added travel to the Wilf campus (for some women’s teams) or various locations around the city. The lack of accessibility and inconvenience also often leads to low or no fan turnout.
Additional assistance from the university for the YU Athletic Department could help to shore up recruitment, facilities, equipment, and more. As one of an unfortunately large number of Yeshiva University Maccabees injured last year, it is clear to me that there is also much that needs to be done to establish procedures and protocols within the Athletics Department and several other departments to properly support injured students. I often had to fight to get sufficient care from YU once I got hurt. Whether it was letting friends use my card to buy cafeteria food for me when I couldn’t walk, assistance in organizing accommodations for academics, or the steps taken soon after I got injured and everything else in between, getting adequate support from YU was not easy.
The life of a student athlete is a serious commitment, often involving saying goodbye to both friends and mountains of schoolwork for hours at a time. But whether it’s blasting music as the team shuttle bounces down the highway, striking goofy poses on media day, or collapsing at the end of a suicide drill, these formative moments create a unique bond amongst teammates and can shape the people we become. The opportunity to fulfill my dream of playing a sport as a Jewish woman is definitely not lost on me. I am incredibly thankful to YU for the ability to play the game I love, as an NCAA Division III athlete, knowing that it wouldn’t be possible anywhere else.
Hearing my name called out as I run onto the field to join a row of blue and white jerseys never fails to feel surreal. Standing and singing proudly as “Hatikvah” plays over the speakers, I am reminded that this moment is bigger than myself. For just a few hours, I am a YU Maccabee, representing my university and the Jewish people. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.
Photo Caption: The 2023 YU Macs Softball team at a game
Photo Credit: Rebecca Kalmar