The women’s golf team is in full swing for their spring season. On April 19, the team will head to Millikin University to not only participate in a spring golf tournament but also the coveted Take Back the Night challenge that Millikin University will host.
The Take Back the Night challenge is a campaign that many teams have participated in thus far. The purpose of the campaign is to raise awareness for domestic and sexual violence by using sports as a platform to get the word out. This will be the first time in two years that the women’s golf team will appear at this tournament.
Senior Kelsey O’Connor has been part of the women’s golf program since her first year. She has previously participated in the Take Back the Night challenge earlier in her collegiate career.
“I think it is cool how they use their athletic platform to spread awareness for such an important topic,” O’Connor said. “I think it’s a good way to educate people on it, and it is easily accessible because we are all there and a bunch of athletes are there and then can apply to all college students too.”
The Take Back the Night Challenge helps athletes become more informed about sexual assault awareness and aids athletes in coming to their understanding of the issue.
“I’m hoping that it’ll help others,” junior Karli Borsch said. “I feel that [victims] have a space to make their situations known and get the help they need or want to do anything themselves.”
The challenge not only helps the women’s golf team and many others become more educated on such a topic, but it also aids the team in training for their fall season. In the fall, the women’s golf team competes for its CCIW championship, whereas the men’s golf team competes for its championship in the spring.
“The fall is more intense, I would say,” O’Connor said. “Practice schedules like what our tournaments look like. In spring we still have a season. It’s just more just about getting back outside.”
The spring season is also meant as a transition period for women. During the winter, it is difficult for the team to get out on the green to practice and compete because of the snow and cold weather.
“I think that [the spring season] is like transferring from winter to spring,” junior Ellie Jahn said. “If you can get outside, you’re outside but otherwise it’s still kind of like the same stuff you would do in the winter. We have simulator things, so it’s a lot of that unless it’s super nice out.”