Recently, we added the great Slamstox Roadtrip After Movie to our socials. And that’s not just another after movie, because our enthousiastic special guest made it even greater: Gianni Steijlen! He came all the way from Denver, Colorado, to wish all Slamstox student-athletes goodbye, safe travels and good luck in the USA. Currently, Gianni is back at his ‘second home’ in America, which is why we are going to put his university in the spotlight.
This week, we are going to take a look at Metropolitan State University of Denver, better known as MSU Denver!
Back in the days, Gianni played in the youth teams of PSV. In the Fall of 2018, he started his new adventure at the MSU soccer team. Here, he gets to experience the great American winners mentality. Read below how he feels about this.
“Everyone is constantly busy with bringing out the absolute best in themselves. All day every day, the team trains very hard. They all want to get the best grades in school and together with the team we battle for the championship. America has had a big impact on my work ethic and ambitions. It took some getting used to, but I have become a better person for it.”
Gianni Steijlen
Do you want to experience these ‘USA vibes’ and do you see yourself as a future student-athlete? Click here to meet us and we will look at your possibilities!
Meanwhile, Gianni has gained some great experiences. He has visited the Rocky Mountains and a big part of the West Coast. Of course, he spend most of his time on the MSU Denver campus. In this article, Gianni tells you all about his choice for MSU Denver and all his experiences so far. Do you prefer watching a video? Click here!
Do you want to know more about the university, the campus and all the other facilities? Keep reading!
Campus
‘Agraria Campus’ is in downtown Denver. Besides MSU Denver, the University of Colorado Denver and the Community college of Denver are located on the campus as well. So that makes 3 different schools on one campus! In 2017, the campus counted 54.000 students, quite an atmosphere! Every university has its own neighborhood, but most facilities are being shared. However, MSU Denver is the only one with athletics department, which is why they are the only ones making use of the sports facilities.
MSU Denver is part of the NCAA Division II, but the sports complex can be compared to any other Division I university! The Regency Athletic Complex is home to the MSU Denver Roadrunners baseball, softball, tennis and soccer teams. Besides that, there’s the Auraria Events Center for indoor sports. Gianni can be found at the soccer court, daily. Sometimes even twice! Hard work pays off… You can see all sports facilities in the video below. Looking good right?!
The view of the campus is very impressive as well. The campus lies in the middle of the central business district of Denver which makes the skyline to be covered by skyscrapers, just as in the big American cities. You can see this view below.
We can tell you much more detailed about every facility, but that would be way too much info for only this article. So, do you want to get a better idea of the campus? Then you can follow a virtual tour. With each facility, you can find an explanation and listen to some snippets of audio. Enjoy!
Athletics
Like we said before, the MSU Denver Roadrunners are part of the NCAA Division II. The Roadrunners’ 16 collegiate sports teams play in the Rocky Mountains Athletic Conference.
Every week, the student-athletes shine bright in their red and blue jersey. MSU Denver has men’s teams in baseball, basketball, cross country, indoor/outdoor track, soccer and tennis. The women’s play softball instead of baseball and we can add golf and volleyball to this list as well. Can you find Gianni in the picture below?
Ofcourse the university’s mascot wears the university colors as well. ‘Rowdy The Roadrunner’ is an enthusiastic bird who doesn’t only cheer on the student-athletes, but on all students. He is present at many festivities like homecoming, admission and sports events. He loves to hype everyone up, so when Rowdy is present, there is always a party guaranteed!
Rowdy the Roadrunner is a real early bird. The MSU Denver student-athletes certainly need this quality as well, because they need to get up early as well. Student-athletes need to start their day early to make the most of it, filled with practices and studying. Do you want to know what a day in the life of a Roadrunner looks like? Watch this video.
Academics
MSU Denver is known for its innovation. They are number 3 for most innovative universities for a reason, since they are always working hard to make their academic program even better! MSU Denver has divided its academic program in 5 main branches:
- College of business
- College of Health and Applied Sciences
- College Letters, Art and Science
- School of Education
- School of Hospitality
MSU offers over 100 majors & minors, so there is much to choose from! For all undergraduate, graduate and master degree programs you can look at this website.
There is a great fit for every student-athlete. The most perfect thing about an American university is the way you can combine sports and studies really well. In 2021, MSU Denver broke the university’s record with 107 student-athletes having a GPA of 3.5 or even higher. That is above a 7,5 in the Netherlands! And its getting even better: Gianni is one of them! Let’s go champ!
Do you want to combine sports and studies as a student-athlete, just like Gianni? Get in contact with us and we will look at your possibilities!
