Dana Swan Field - a Haverford dedication

On Saturday, Steve gave me a gift... a chance to go up to Haverford on my own while he watched DJ. I went to Haverford to watch the dedication of the new turf field and the subsequent field hockey game. Haverford dedicated the field to a man with a long Haverford legacy, Dana Swan, a coach, Athletic Director and Admissions Officer at Haverford. And for the first time in I can't tell you how many years, I was excited to return to campus.

This event was important to me on two levels: 1. The fact that the field was dedicated to Dana Swan and 2. Because the turf field is going to be used primarily for women's sports, field hockey, lacrosse, and soccer.

Dana Swan is the reason I got into Haverford. I knew, once I toured the campus, that Haverford was where I wanted to go to college. But my interview with Dana Swan - a 45 minute long interview in which my parents started wondering what was wrong as none of my other college interviews went that long - was the highlight of my college search, application, and admission process. Not only was the interview special, but so was the phone call I received personally from Dana Swan to offer me admission to the school. He called the dorm phone one night while I was working in the computer center. The message he left was that he'd call again.

When he did call again, he told me that I was the first person to come off the wait list, and would I be interested in attending Haverford. There was no question nor any hesitation in my mind. Of course I said yes! Then I asked about sending in a deposit. He said, "We don't take deposits. Your conversation with me is binding under our Honor Code." Upon hanging up the phone, I knew I'd made the right decision for my college future.

Subsequently, I played field hockey for my 4 years at Haverford. Our field was a grass field just outside the Observatory (women's lacrosse played and practiced there as well in the Spring). It had more divits from our practices and games as well as from the squirrels trying to bury their nuts for winter (and then dig them back up). Playing teams on any field that was remotely better than ours threw us for loops. When we'd play teams on tuf, we'd have to get up at 4:30AM to travel to a turf field for 5-7AM practice the week before the game. Ugh. And invariably, we'd lose those games anyway.

So this turf field is a huge step for the field hockey program. It can only serve to boost recruiting and the level of play of the team. Eventually, it will become a self feeding cycle... level of play will help recruiting and recruiting will help the level of play. But for now, Haverford has invested in its athletic program in a huge way; if you build it, they will come. I hope.

The field hockey game was against Rowan - formally known as the College of New Jersey. They had changed their name to Rowan right before we played them for the first time when I was a Senior. We traveled to Rowan and promptly were demolished by a bunch of girls who decided it was a good idea to wear blue eye shadow, mascara, glitter, etc. ::roll eyes:: This time, Haverford played Rowan much better than we did, despite Tropical Storm Hanna doing her worst. The field held up fantastically and although Haverford still suffers from issues that we had when I played, it was nice to see us score on Rowan.

I introduced myself to the coach after the game. She's very energetic and seemingly very nice. She invited me to their tailgate in the new athletic center. I had planned to go look at the new athletic center anyway, so I stopped in. I chatted with one senior's parents, and then decided to take a walk around campus, despite the ridiculous storm whipping around outside. I was in my rain gear, so I didn't care about being out in the weather.

The campus walk was a nice trip down memory lane, but also a nice way to confirm that I don't belong anymore. The school has built some very nice additions to the campus that I so wish I had when I was there (huh, just like McDonogh and its athletic and performing arts centers), so clearly the school is making strides both in athletic and academic facilities, as it should.

I drove home through Tropical Storm Hanna and upon arriving home, Steve and DJ got home just as I did. We settled in, watched the sun come out, and then our power went out. ::sigh:: We went out to pick up dinner and by the time we got home, the lights were back on. It was a nice end to a nice day (despite the weather).