Sports Out Of The Spotlight–The New School Community Talks Athletics
Photo by Michael Stockdale
The New School’s Women’s and Non-Binary Basketball Club won their only game of the season this February. They went into the game as underdogs, having lost to the opposing Hofstra University team in their previous season. Nobody had expected a win from The Narwhals. Not even head coach George Saad. “I didn't necessarily go in there thinking that we were going to win the game,” Saad said. And still, to everyone’s surprise, they did. At the end of the game, the excitement of the club was felt by everyone on that court. The sidelines erupted in a flurry of activity, with teammates running over to embrace each other and give out high fives, and head coach Saad and assistant coach Lindsee Downer celebrating and congratulating their players.
If you’re surprised to be hearing about this success by the Narwhals, you’re probably not the only one. In fact, it would be more surprising if you did know about it. There was no reporting done on the game (other than my article about it, which you can read here) and no promotion of the win around campus. What would seem to be a highly newsworthy event was little noticed by The New School community, let alone among New York City residents. That game was destined to become a forgotten part of The New School’s history.
This dilemma is not unique to this one game at The New School. Nor is it unique to just the Women’s and Non-Binary Basketball Club. There is little to no reporting done on any New School athletics, perhaps because many people don’t even know that such athletics exist. The New School, founded in 1919 by a group of acclaimed American academics, is mainly known for design and social research. It has a reputation for fashion design, the arts, and communication. It is not, unlike so many other American colleges, a sports school. In fact, many students probably come here precisely for that reason. But The New School does have organized athletics: basketball, figure skating, competitive volleyball, women’s and co-ed soccer, and tennis, as well as non-competitive dance, rock climbing, hiking, yoga, and more, according to the university’s events and organizations portal NarwhalNation. The soccer team, one of The New School’s first competitive athletic teams, was established back in 2013. Men’s basketball was established shortly after, and the Women’s and Non-Binary Basketball Club was created in 2022.
In 2006, Myles Brand, a former president of several colleges and the National Collegiate Athletic Association, published an article called “The Role and Value of Intercollegiate Athletics in Universities” in the Journal of the Philosophy of Sport. This piece outlined two distinct views of intercollegiate sports: the Standard View and the Integrated View. A school that follows the Integrated View of sports might not be the same without athletics, whereas one that follows the Standard View could remove athletics without losing its identity—just like at The New School.
“Our school doesn't put the money into athletics,” assistant coach of the Women’s and Non-Binary Basketball Club Lindsee Downer said. “I think our school prides itself on the fact that it doesn’t. And I can see, to a certain extent, how that is positive.” Downer was referring to the prioritization of athletics over academics that many other institutions adhere to. In Brand’s article, he described the often toxic culture of intercollegiate athletics. He illustrated their stereotypical “‘beer and circuses’” culture “designed to entertain and distract attention from universitiesʼ failures” that so many of us are likely familiar with. The excessive substance use and partying associated with college athletics does not appeal to everyone, and many students come to a school, like The New School, without an expansive athletics program to avoid it.
This is something that New School athletes understand when deciding to attend a school without a large athletic program. “I heard that there were smaller teams, club teams, but it definitely wasn't a factor at all. I knew that that was something I was sacrificing by coming to The New School,” Downer said of her time as a New School student. Nearly 90% of students who responded to a small sample survey neither participate in sports or attend school sporting events. What this means at the university is that athletics, in any capacity, are more likely to be dismissed. For athletes like Downer, she said they are given “smaller opportunities and just less to work with, in terms of any sort of athletics programs that we do try to start.” And the stigma around athletics might be limiting far more students and keeping them from having valuable experiences.
In his article, Brand explains that despite the realities of toxic sports culture, the positive values learned through athletics can benefit not only athletes, but the entire community. Specifically, values of “hard work, striving for excellence, respect for others, sportsmanship and civility, team play, persistence, and resilience” are integral to sports, and “the constructive values associated with intercollegiate athletics, even for those who do not themselves participate, can influence the campus culture.” At a university with a less emphasized athletics department, there is consequently less pressure to compete and more emphasis on such values. “We don't have any ambitions of turning New School sports teams into NCAA, you're going to see us playing on ESPN, or anything like that,” said Associate Director for Recreation and Commuter Engagement at The New School, and head coach of the Women’s and Non-Binary Basketball Team, George Saad. “It's about making friendships, building community, and developing as students, and as athletes. As leaders.” These are the benefits of being involved in athletics at a smaller school with a less expansive program. It’s a different kind of community.
Photo by Michael Stockdale
“It's a very welcoming and fun environment,” said Mariana Graterol, former co-captain of the Women’s and Non-Binary Basketball Team. Graterol was a graduate student in her last year at The New School this past year, and has been involved in New School athletics since 2021. “The goal is just, build community,” she said of the basketball team. “For us to get together and share something that is a little different outside of school, that also fosters a lot of opportunities for us to collaborate and get together.” While New School athletics have evolved significantly, there was still not a women’s basketball team at the time she started playing. “That year, the athletics coordinator submitted a Google Form. It seemed like there was a lot of interest of women, and they were asking, why wasn't there a dedicated group for female athletes, or just people who identified outside of masculine gender?” Student athlete Kwan Lam Karen Zhang responded to the Google Form. She was a first year student at the time, looking for a community to become a part of but nervous about joining an athletic club. “I'm kind of scared to join the team, but I join it anyway,” she said. “I fill in the Google Form, and then they add me into the WhatsApp group chat, and then we just start playing the games.”
The New School athletes I’ve talked with are mainly just looking for spaces to continue playing sports in college, even though they don’t want to go pro. “I've just always been a basketball fan,” said Downer. “My first thing that I really wanted to be in life was a professional basketball player.” Despite not pursuing professional basketball, Downer was able to continue playing on a team by getting involved in New School athletics. Zhang also played basketball throughout middle and high school. “I started playing basketball when I was 10 or something,” she said. “I just love playing sports and it is pretty hard to find a community.” Similarly, Graterol said she began playing basketball when she was in fifth grade. She is from Caracas, Venezuela, and came to the United States in 2017. “Before coming to the U.S. and after being here, I will say, some of my first connections were made through sports,” she explained. “I was just looking for spaces, and once I discovered that there were some groups within school, I went to check it out.” She became a captain of the Narwhal Women’s Soccer Team, and eventually, once it was started, a captain of the Women’s and Non-Binary Basketball Team. “At least at this stage of my life it's not about competing that much, but it’s more about the community.”
Saad noticed that a lot of the students who are involved in athletics at The New School consistently stay involved. “The same seven students come back week after week after week, and that allows students to build friendships and to feel more of a sense of belonging on campus,” he said. This sense of belonging is something that many New School students feel is lacking on campus. In a post by the university’s popular satirical Instagram account The New School Affirmations (@tnsaffirmations) in April, one meme sarcastically said “TNS has such a warm sense of community.” That post got nearly 500 likes. Finding that sense of belonging can be difficult with such a spread out urban campus and limited extracurricular activities. The Women’s and Non-Binary Basketball Team has proven to be a refreshing contradiction.
“I’ve been to folks’ thesis presentations, we have dinners outside,” Graterol said. They also have a group chat where they provide each other with academic support and organize activities outside of school. “We go to a Mets game sometimes. The school gives us free tickets to watch the game,” Zhang said. And when they’re not getting post-game dinner or watching baseball games together, they’ll see each other on campus. “Every once in a while when I'm around the campus and I see one of the girls, you know, it's always a friendly face,” Downer said. “There's a bit of the community that's built there that's been a cool benefit of starting the team.”
Photo by Michael Stockdale
That sense of community doesn’t go away after these Narwhals graduate. Downer, a New School alum, was a senior when she started playing with the Women’s and Non-Binary Basketball Club. During her senior year, she said basketball was something that helped her manage her packed schedule. “I was pushing 18 credits both my fall and spring semesters,” she explained. “I was also working multiple jobs and playing basketball and working with the SLI (Student Leadership and Involvement) office, so I think it was something that I decided to do because it was a way to break up my week and have something to look forward to.” On top of that, she started coaching while still an undergrad and has continued to do so since graduating. Graterol says she plans to do the same as long as she stays near the city. “It's just nice to see everyone and ask them how they're doing, and just be a friend,” she said.
The majority of New School students neither participate in sports or attend school sporting events. But for that 10% who do, athletics provide a sense of belonging that so many New School students struggle to find. “We spend a lot of time on the work, and I think it's a great opportunity for anybody looking to have a bit of a community around them, and just have fun,” said Downer. The New School isn’t an athletic university, but athletics still provide an outlet for some of its students and bring up the question of whether or not extensive athletics programs are necessary for students to experience their benefits. “I hope more people can join us,” Zhang said. “It's a pretty cool and very friendly community.” Shouldn’t that be the goal of all college athletics?
Photo by Michael Stockdale
The official Narwhals game schedule will be out soon! Check out Narwhals Basketball (@narwhalsbasketball) on Instagram to find out more.
