Field Trip to New Meadlowlands!!

So...for those of you that don't know, Kara and I (Liz) are both civil engineering majors, and about a month ago we had the privilege of going on a FIELD TRIP!! We are currently taking a class with our teams academic adviser, Leslie Brunell, and she organized a field trip to the New Meadowlands. On a blustery Friday in February Kara and I ventured with about 40 other civil engineering students to the current location of Giants Stadium. Once there we went into one of the most intense construction trailers I have ever seen. You would never imagine how nice those little boxy trailers can get inside! We met with a Skanska representative who told us all about the construction that was going on currently and what would eventually be happening. Some fun facts about the New Meadowlands:
-The New Meadowland stadium is 30 feet away from the old Giant Stadium
-The whole project is a joint project split 50-50 with the Giants and the Jets
-Apparently the Jets want all the fancy schmansy stuff in their lockerrooms and the owners suits, not the Giants! (Kara and I are both Eagle's fans, so we like making fun of both teams)
-The project is actually AHEAD of schedule right now! The stadium should be finished by the end of the upcoming season, and as soon as the last NFL game is played in Giants Stadium they are going to start taking it down.
-Giant Stadium is going to be taken down piece by piece, not exploded due to its close proximity to the New Meadlowlands

Kara and I walked all around the stadium, walking down on field level, up in the owners suits, behind where the scoreboards are going to be and along where the fan seating is going to be. We got to wear hard hats, safety vests and safety glasses!!! Despite being absolutely FREEZING and windy we had a blast! It was really cool to see what goes on behind the scenes, and being able to see things that we had drawn in previous summer jobs and learned about in class was really fun. We would walk around saying "Hey look, REBAR!" and other silly things. It just goes to show that you are never to old to go on a field trip!!

3 v. 1

Alli, Liz, and Meghan... Liz and Meg on the Double... Alli on the Split! Triple-Team...Awesome! That's how we do it!

Drexel Tournament Schedule... COME WATCH US!

Below is our the schedule for the Drexel Tournament. We will be there all day, please come and join us! We will be implementing all the new rules...including the AWESOME "Self-Start" rule, which the team loves! (Especially Erin)

April 4 Drexel Play Day at Buckley Field

Drexel	vs.	Lafayette	9:00 - 9:35
Rutgers	vs.	Stevens	9:45 - 10:20
LaSalle	vs.	Lafayette	10:30 -11:05
Drexel	vs.	Rutgers	11:15 - 11:50
LaSalle	vs.	Stevens	12:00 - 12:35
Rutgers	vs.	Lafayette	12:45 - 1: 20
Drexel	vs.	Stevens	1:30 - 2:05
Rutgers	vs.	LaSalle	2:15 - 2:50
Drexel	vs.	Stevens	3:00 - 3:35
Drexel	vs.	LaSalle	3:45 - 4: 20

JOIN US FOR SOME AWESOME HOCKEY! WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU THERE!

SPRING SEASON!

So it’s that time again…spring season! It is finally here after four long months. All of the girls are so excited to be playing together again. Our first practice was about three weeks ago, right before spring break. This spring season is about 5 weeks long and we are working to prepare for our tournament at Drexel as well as continue to prepare for our regular season next fall. At the Drexel tournament we will be playing against division I teams and we will be the only division III team competing. Last year we did very well so this year we want to do just as well. Even though we lost five seniors last year, many of them have agreed to come back and help coach us in our spring season. In addition to those seniors who will be helping us, we are also looking forward to the upcoming night practices when all of the volunteers come to Stevens to play with us full field. The weather continues to get nicer and all the snow has melted off the turf. Individuals with coach have started and all of us are working hard to work on the things we need to improve on. Everyone is so eager to work hard and improve together as a team because like coach says, we have already begun training for next season!

-Melanie Richards

National Girls and Women in Sports Day!

The 23^rd annual celebration of National Girls and Women in Sports Day went better than planned at Stevens Institute of Technology. This annual extravaganza is so special. Not only is it a day to recognize those female athletes who have already established themselves as outstanding people, but it is a day to celebrate the commitment they have made to their sport, their team, and their strive for being the best, healthiest women they can be. Additionally, this day is so unique in that it could potentially be the beginning of a long athletic career in a young girl’s lives. The significance this day might have had on them is indescribable.

Now, let me introduce myself. My name is Lauren Griggs. I am a sophomore biomedical engineer here at Stevens as well as a varsity field hockey athlete. I am active all over campus but every year this event has a special place in my heart. On February 4, 2009, I had the privilege of teaching all different sorts of people, young and old, men and women, boys and girls the art of field hockey. For some, it was their first time hearing about the sport. For others, it was a chance to hit a pretty hard ball with a stick.

The planning of the drills we would do with the various groups all was worth it when we saw the faces (smiles of course) of all of those who participated in the field hockey station. The lesson began by giving everyone a little background about field hockey as a sport and then went into the proper way of holding a stick. From there, everyone was quite avid to pass the ball to one another. This sight was a memorable one. Seeing the groups pass together in pairs and understand how important teamwork is was so rewarding. After that, the next drill was dribbling. One by one, the novice field hockey players dribbled around cones and learned how difficult it was to keep control of the ball. By the end though, I was saying to everyone “WOW! We have some expert field hockey players here!” The last drill that we did before it was time to rotate sports was a little “shooting.” Everyone stood on a line and tried to score on me as I was standing in goal as the “goalie.” Let me say though, I am by no means a goalie. At Stevens, I am an attacker – I’m the one who is a nuisance to the opposing goalie. My identical twin sister is actually a goalie and probably could have been a better goalie. I digressed. So, all of the athletes are standing on the line. After the count of three, all of them were going to try to pass the ball by me and score in the goalie. I can swallow my pride enough to say that almost every single pass went by me in the goal. If that is not enough evidence to show talented all of these athletes of the day was, I have no idea what is.

After the rotation of the groups who went to field hockey, soccer, tennis, volleyball, and wrestling was completed, the entire group united upstairs for some pizza, snacks, and drinks to get back their energy from the days activities. When they were done, some of the kids even got their faces painted with “Stevens” written across their face (one boy had me write “pepsi” on his cheek too – he definitely knew advertising). From there, everyone with their bright yellow Stevens Duck Country shirts on (those they received at the beginning of the event) went in to see the women’s basketball game. It was a great game and also senior day. Senior Dani Dudek showed her stuff on the court and all of the fans loved the intensity and aggressiveness of the game. During half time, there was a special basketball contest where the kids competed.

All in all, the day was eventful and informative. I hope the children learned as much from us (the athletes) as we learned from them while also having a good time celebrating National Girls and Women in Sports Day.