Athletics

Longhaul · 10-19-2009, 04:18 PM

I keep hearing that Pomona is very uninterested in sports, but I don't understand what this means.

Does it mean no one cheers on the teams?

or

Few participate in sports?

What about club/intermural sports?
Are there fees for intermural crew/rowing? I know one of the New England schools charges fees (Amherst I think)

I'm from the Mid-Atlantic region & cannot comprehend how anyone in SoCal isn't interested in sports and/or outdoor physical activity.

My kid loves particpating in sports but is not a great athlete. He'd be fine to not be a varsity athlete and doing club. He would not be okay with no activity.

d'smom · 10-19-2009, 04:46 PM

i too have heard that many small LAC have comments regarding thrown around like "they are not into sports" or there is 'nobody at games", or "nobody cares about kids on the athletic teams in our school".....

After researching, what I have found is that the smaller, very intellectual liberal arts schools that do indeed offer sports programs do have active body's of students that come out and support their teams, but because these small liberal art schools have much smaller enrollment numbers, they are not always noticed the way you would notice a stadium full at lets say a game at Penn State.

My son has visited a couple of schools now(Small LAC's) and he did overnight visits and so far they all had very active supporters go out to the games.(He attended 3 volleyball games, and two soccer games).

He noticed that because these schools are small that the actual friends of the competitors were the ones who usually came out to support their friends, which he found to be very charming and close-knit. It's because of these small, intimate environments that are very supportive that my son is applying predominately to small LAC's. He could care less if he sits in a stadium full with thousands upon thousands of spectators.

soccer92boy · 10-19-2009, 05:09 PM

My son and I visited the school a few week ago. I didn't see a lot of people who came to watch the game/soccer but it doesn't bother him to apply Pomona at all because he likes to play soccer at college level if he accepted. Playing sport is part of his list of options he like to do at college. Pomona has a wonderful soccer season so far and Coach is nice also. During three days visit we had a couple friendly conversation and showed us his soccer program and players. He is very nice coach so far we visited.

FauxNom · 10-19-2009, 09:07 PM

My D (not a student there - yet

said the football game was pretty well-attended when she visited, and that a lot of the kids on varsity teams seem to hang around together. The fall sport athletes all go on the same orientation trip, so they probably bond around that.

As far as non-varsity sports, I think there's a fair amount of physical activity. 2 pools and a sand volleyball court, intramurals, club teams - seems like kids are outdoors a lot. Sorry I know nothing about crew at Pomona.

Longhaul · 10-19-2009, 11:43 PM

Thanks All!

twomules · 10-20-2009, 09:30 AM

There is a phys ed requirement. It can be fulfilled by taking a class, being on a school team, or playing on a club team. Pomona wants students to be physically active and healthy.

Playing on a club team can be great. Some club sports have members from all the 5 colleges and it is a good way to meet students from another college that have a similar interest.

"The Physical Education Requirement
Students are expected to pass one physical education activity course during their first year at the College from the offerings at Pomona College or through the joint Physical Education Program of Claremont McKenna College. Participation on an intercollegiate athletic team is counted as participation in a physical education activity course. In keeping with the high value the College places on health and wellness, students are encouraged to enroll in physical activities throughout their four years. Students may apply up to eight physical activity and/or other cumulative courses totaling no more than two courses total from all cumulative courses taken to the 32 courses required for graduation."

momgeh50 · 10-30-2009, 07:28 PM

My d is involved in fall sports, loves her team, is very busy with training, etc. She is also having fun with other teams - when I finally got hold of her the phone the other night - a rare event -she was running off to a water polo match to cheer the team on. I know she has also been to football games, etc. Academics have been challenging and wonderful- she is happy, engaged, and very busy. As for orientation trips, even if you are doing a fall sport, you can take advantage of any of the trips with your coach's ok. Pomona seems to be a very happy place.

biology91 · 11-01-2009, 12:09 PM

I'll give you my rundown as a Pomona student. In my freshmen sponsor group (a group of ~14 students who live together) we have a person on football, basketball, 2 on tennis, cross country, track, 2 on water polo, and equestrian team. One person tried out for soccer and decided to stop because the team was more competative then he wanted. Another rock climbs frequently. So basically, yes, a lot of people play varsity sports. At Pomona, it seems to me that about 40% of people are on a varsity sport. Most people not on varsity sports will definately participate in intramurals. Although we have all of the conventional intramurals, inter tube water polo seems particularly popular. Also, our outdoor club (On the Loose) is the largest organization on campus and has trips most weekends. In short, there is a lot of activity here (much more than I think you find at a D1 school).

But, if you are looking to be a professional fan who lives life based on the success of the football or basketball team, you will be alone. As said before, sports are well attended, but it is mostly friends supporting friends. With only 1500 students, even if 1/3 of the students attend a game it is not going to look like your conventional image of a college football or basketball game. Also, people don't get depressed here when the teams lose. I know that at schools like Notre Dame there is a deep campus-wide sadness when they lose. Here, if you lose, the whole school won't through you a pitty party.

I'm sorry but I don't know about crew here. Look on the website and contact whoever is in charge of it. But you should certainly apply to Pomona if you check it out and feel that you are up to the academic standards. Good luck.

water boy · Yesterday, 02:02 AM

I was an athlete at Pomona. Games aren't going to be attended on the same level as they would for a sport at UCLA or USC. That's just part of going to a small school. A lot of personal friend attend, and the stands get packed for rivalry games v. CMS or conference rivals.
ex: just about every time we played CMS, we had maybe 600 (maybe more) people packing the place, standing room only. Small by Div. 1 standards, but still pretty energetic when that many people yell.