For Americans, the name Ole Miss is a common concept, but for Dutch people it is not common at all. Ole Miss is the nickname for the University of Mississippi. You see its name everywhere. So of course it is in the nickname for student-athletes as well: Ole Miss Rebels. Slamstox Athelets Lydia van Dijk and Isolde de Jong were part of these Rebels!
Isolde and Lydia both began their American adventure in 2018, but they both took a different path since then. Lydia began in 2018 at the University of North Florida. For three years, she fought for the track & field team of the UNF Ospreys. In her Around & About she showed how her time with UNF looked like. Still, she transferred to Ole Miss this summer to make most of her American adventure.
As reigning Dutch champion, Isolde was welcomed by the Ole Miss tennis team with open arms. She wanted to bring out the best in herself and the Ole Miss Women’s tennis team was the place to do so. At that time, Ole Miss was ranked as the number 3 of the country. Being trained by Dutch headcoach Mark Beyers, Isolde was more than ready for the challenge. Unfortunately she got injured and she had to quit her adventure after 1 year. She still had an amazing time and she was very good at sharing it with us via her Around & About. Do you want to see that video and learn more about Ole Miss? Keep reading!
Campus
Ole Miss is located in the city of Oxford. Many of you will think about THE Oxford, of the University of Oxford in England. This is not a coincidence of course, because the city was named after this British university. The Ole Miss campus is in the top 10 of best American college campuses. Not without reason of course, because things are well organized and there is always a great atmosphere. We understand why Lydia made that transfer!
Besides the great atmosphere on campus, things are well taken care of. On the university’s campus map you can see all facilities and you can look around. Of course it is much more fun if someone can tell you about it. Our Slamstox student-athlete Isolde made a nice video to show the campus. In her Around & About she showed us all her favorite spots and places she spends most of her time.
Isolde mentioned tailgating. This happens on game day, when everyone barbeques and parties on a big field filled with trucks, tents and fans of the university’s American football team. At Ole Miss this place is called ‘The Grove’. This enormous yard is the size of 7,5 football fields and it can host 100.000 fans to get their pre-game party going. It is a popular phenomenon at Ole Miss and it is one of the reasons why there is such a great vibe on campus! Click here to get a better impression.
Unfortunately, these 100.000 fans do not fit in the stadium. But the stadium is still the largest of the state Mississippi. It fits 64.000 fans, who all wear the red and blue university colors and cheer on the team. The picture below shows how cool it looks!
Sport
The University of Mississippi plays in the NCAA Division I. With 14 different sports, they participate in the SouthEastern Conference. The Ole Miss student-athletes are called Rebels. The practice all year round to win as many titles as possible. They sure did and the school is very proud of them! In the video below the school shared all their success.
The men compete in 6 sports: baseball, basketball, cross country, track & field, football, golf and tennis. The women have 8 sport teams: basketball, golf, track & field, cross country, rifle, soccer, softball, tennis and volleyball. This season, the women’s golf team won the national title! An amazing performance, partly due to the professional facilities. Therefore, the golf team is not the only team that likes to use the golf course. Lydia and the rest of her cross county team like to borrow it for their practices!
Sports teams need a mascot. Ole Miss has had quite a few, but since 2018 they have Tony the Landshark. It is quite an unusual appearance with a human body and a shark head. The new mascot is a tribute to former Ole Miss football athlete Tony Fein. Tony came up with a fun and unique hand signal that is currently used by both athletes and fans. Take a look at Lydia’s Instagram, where she uses her favorite ‘Fins up’ sign.
The mascot is not the only one who cheers on the student-athletes. The Ole Miss fans do their part too! Each sport has their own stadium where the fans can make a lot of noise. The baseball stadium is one of the highlights of the Ole Miss facilities. You can see the baseball stadium in the picture below.
Study
Ole Miss is the largest university in the state of Mississippi. This is accompanied with a wide range of majors, from marketing to nursing. The most popular courses are:
- Liberal Art and Humanities
- Accounting
- Digital Communication and (multi)media.
They have much more to offer. On this site you can find everything you need to know about the academic program of the University of Mississippi.
As a student-athete you put a lot of time into your sport. It can be challenging to combine this with your academics. Ole Miss makes sure that you are well supervised and guided to become a great student-athlete. With a student-faculty ratio of 16:1, you can definitely make the most out of your academic career as well.
This combinations is a lot of work, but it is very fun as well! At the end of the day, your hard work pays off with a great degree. You can definitely be proud of that and show that baby off!
Are you thinking: “I want to be a student-athlete at such a cool American university as well!”? Reach out to us and we will tell you all about it.
Do you want to know more about other school as well? Visit our other University spotlight pages as well!
