Barcelona Rewind

There were numerous unique sights on the Cowgirls soccer trip to Barcelona. Along with the monastery of Montserrat and the Salvador Dali museum, there was Amy Kuykendall, a fifth year senior. Amy is unique because she made her second international tour in her time at Hardin-Simmons University. NCAA rules allow teams to make a foreign tour once every three years, which means a student-athlete only has the chance to make the trip once. Amy was a sophomore when she suffered an ACL injury in the fourth game of the year. The injury occurred after a stellar freshman season, and the Cowgirls had gone on their international tour in 2007. Since the injury occurred before the end of the first half of the season, she was able to receive a hardship waiver from the NCAA, which gave her another season of eligibility.

“At the time of the injury all of my friends were saying that at least you can make another foreign tour.” Amy mentioned to me as we walked around Gaudi’s Park Guell. “Back then another trip did not seem like that big a deal as I was trying to recover from my injury. Now it certainly seems worth the wait.”

And while many student-athletes have overcome an ACL injury, the rehab process brings out more uniqueness to Amy’s story.

“Amy had the chance to demolish numerous scoring records before the injury,” stated Head Coach Marcus Wood. “The amazing thing to me is that I have never heard her complain about the injury and how it impacted her career. Because of that I have so much respect for her character.”

It’s fairly remarkable for an individual to know that if they had stayed healthy, they could have rewritten the record books. Even more remarkable? Not to complain to your coach and team about your injury. To have the character and resolve to deal with a setback and not use it as an excuse is a trait to be admired. Many of us are quick to blame events beyond our control when the world does not appear as we want it to. I even blamed the paper cut on my finger for the microwave burning my popcorn last night.

The art experts say that Gaudi’s work was under appreciated when he was in the process of creating many of his architectural achievements. We have another year to appreciate Amy’s work on the field. She has already given us a masterpiece when it comes to appreciating the value of good character.

Cowboy Up,

John Neese

Barcelona, Spain, 2010 Ipod Mix

1. Holiday in Spain, Counting Crows
2. St. Agnes and the Burning Train, Sting
(None of my friends believe this is Sting when they hear it.)
3. Spanish Horses, Aztec Camera
4. Chico Groove, Gustavo Santaolalla
5. Low Rider, War
6. Looking for Paradise, Alejandro Sanz and Alicia Keys
7. Spanish Bombs, The Clash
(How many punk bands wrote a song about the Spanish Civil War?
Just another reason why I will always love The Clash)
8. Teatro, Willie Nelson
9. Spanish Rose, Van Morrison
10. Big Brother, The Stephanie Wremble Trio
11. Tout Le Monde, Carla Bruni
12. Asturias, Juan Quesada
13. Spanish Caravan, The Doors
14. Dicen Que la Han Visto, Alberto Inglesias
15. The Pan Piper, Miles Davis & Gil Evans from Sketches of Spain

Change

Even in this day of instantaneous global communication, there are still reminders that change can take time. As I walked thru the Dallas -Ft. Worth airport last week on my way to Atlanta for the NCAA Convention, I noticed there were several large signs encouraging me to “be a Tiger.” I would guess that Accenture is working to remove their wall-size portrait of Tiger Woods challenging me to take a risk and to go on, be a Tiger. I doubt if my boss or fiancé would approve of me following Tiger’s lead at this stage of his career or this stage of my life.

Then on the plane-there was Jay Leno on the cover of American Way. The title of the story in the publication on the late night comedian? The secret of my success. Things can change in a hurry, for all us regardless of our station in life. As Sinatra once sang, “Riding high in April, shot down in May.”

And there was change at the convention. The business session, where the Division III membership meets to vote on the proposals submitted by various groups, lacked the controversy that we have seen in the past. All nine proposals were accepted by a large margin, including a proposal to allow football to have walk-thru’s during their acclimation period. The business session was brief and lasted less than 2 hours. I have been to conventions where we spent nearly two hours just debating the merits of one proposal.

We also reviewed the first draft of the Division III Strategic Positioning Platform, which is a document that the NCAA hopes will help inform the general public what Division III has to offer. Several years ago when NCAA Division II was looking to help brand their identity the NCAA approved the slogan of “I choose Division II.” The tag line for Division III is Discover, Develop, Dedicate. Expect to see the NCAA promote Division III in the coming months as they make the commitment to publicize what the division has to offer to student-athletes and their families.
Cowboy Up,
John Neese