Grove City College is an NCAA Division III college, meaning that all student athletes involve themselves in sports because they love it, not due to any financial assistance. But, that’s not to say our athletic teams are bottom of the barrel, either. Among our athletic conference the President’s Athletic Conference, most of our sports consistently place in the top two or three teams at the end of the season. In fact, in 2019, the Women’s Swim team produced the national champion in the 200 yard butterfly, Anne Shirley Dassow.Dassow was soon chosen as Grove City College’s Sportswoman of the year not just because of her athletic achievements, but also her academic achievements. How do the Wolverine athletes continue to perform at such a high level while also earning some of the top grades in their class?
There three main ways the culture surrounding Grove City College allows you to succeed as an athlete while also succeeding as a student. First, athletes are provided the opportunity their first semester to get into good study habits through study tables. During study tables, a large group of your team get together and just do homework in the same group. This sets you on the path to good time management and sets the habit of finishing homework in the evenings when nothing is going on around campus.
Second, your coaches help keep you on track. Just like Division I and II schools, there is a minimum GPA requirement to play. Your coaches keep an eye on this and provide you with resources should you require them. Without a good GPA, you can’t play. Our coaches want you to be able to play, but at the end of the day they are more concerned with your academic progress than anything else. That’s one of the benefits of playing sports at the Division III level.
Third, your team provides you with more help than you could ever hope for. You play sports at a DIII college because you love it…and so does the rest of your team. If there is any class you’re struggling in, your team is always there to help. No other groups on campus has that kind of cross-class reach.
Being a Wolverine is awesome…but it’s hard. Unlike DI and DII schools, Grove City College cares about your academic success than anything else; you’re not just a source of revenue for them. When you first begin your collegiate athletic career, your team is your number one tool for success as a new student at Grove City College.
