An extra special university spotlight this week, because we are going to talk about the (future) university of five of our slamstox student-athletes! St. Thomas Aquinas College (STAC) is the university we are talking about. The university is located in Sparkill, New York and has a group of student-athletes called the ‘Spartans’. Two Slamstox tennis players and a hockey player are now part of this group of student-athletes and one of our hockey players and one of our track and field athletes will join this year! First a little more about them below ..
Slamstox tennis player Eliza Mulder obtained her VWO diploma in 2019, that meant the beginning of her adventure in the USA as a student-athlete. In the Netherlands she worked hard on the tennis court, so she took that experience with her to America. There she works hard on the tennis court and in school: she is also studying Biology.
Before Eliza left for the USA, she did an interview with the AD, in which she said, among other things, the following:
“In America you go to the lecture hall in the morning and you are on the tennis court in the afternoon. That means at least 15 hours a week of tennis, excluding a match day at the weekend. For every away game in that immense country you get on a plane. Tennis matches in Dallas, Miami, Alabama, you name it. Of course I like to experience something like that! The university team consists of eight players. So I will have to fight for my place in the team, but that is fine for me. “
Let’s go champ! Want to read the whole interview with Eliza? You can do that here.
As of this year, Eliza is not the only Slamstox tennis player at university anymore, tennis player Kas Roosch joined the male tennis team of the Spartans earlier this year! Kas signed with the university in December 2020. He has played tennis at a high level from an early age, with which he has gained a lot of experience both internationally and nationally. He brought that experience with him when he left for STAC earlier this year.
Kas told us the following about his choice for STAC:
“I chose STAC because right away I had a great connection with the coach and players. I feel like I can grow as a tennis player and get my bachelor degree at the same time. Furthermore, it is great to be close to a big city like New York. This will make this adventure even more greater.”
Go champ!
Slamstox hockey player Brittany Lionarons is now an experienced student-athlete, Brittany left for New York in August 2019. Brittany has already experienced many beautiful adventures in the USA, which she shows us on her Instagram page! In addition to beautiful photos in the ‘Big Apple’, Brittany also places several photos on the hockey field, including the photo below. “Finally back on Spartan Field” she adds. You go girl !!
Later this year, Brittany’s hockey team will gain a Slamstox hockey player: Sam van der Valk! Sam signed with the university a few months ago, making the switch from the A1 in Breda to the Spartans in New York. Sam already trained at a high level early in her hockey career, which meant she was soon able to compete with the national top. Now she is going to show her hockey skills in America, about her choice for STAC she said the following:
“I really like that it is a small school, so you know everybody by face. I also like the location and I had a great connection with the coach”
Sam van der Valk – Student-athlete
Thomas Bovenberg, he was a fanatic hockey player and only started with track and field at the end of 2016. When he competed in an event at the local track and field club, it quickly became apparent that he has a talent for track and field. It is therefore not without reason that he could already add a Dutch championship to his name in 2017! Thomas is currently still part of Leiden Athletics and competes in competitions throughout the country. With the experience he has gained so far, he is ready to compete at a high level against other universities. Go Spartan !!
Want to know more about the new home base of Eliza, Kas, Brittany, Thomas and Sam? Keep on scrolling!
Campus
As we mentioned earlier, the STAC campus is located in Sparkill, New York. Now Sparkill may not be that familiar to you, but you probably already guessed it: it is less than half an hour’s drive from the center of New York City! Isn’t that really cool ?! STAC is a private university with about 2,400 students, so that is very few by American standards.
The Spartan Baseball Home Field is where the baseball games are held. It is the largest stadium in the university. Originally it was the home of only the ‘Rockland Boulders’, a baseball team. But the Spartans are now also using it. The stadium is a 10-minute drive from the campus and offers 4,500 seats for the fans! In addition, the stadium also has 16 VIP boxes, a club house and a mega scoreboard. And if you want to buy some merchandise from the Spartans after the game, you can! You can see the stadium in the picture below.
In addition to a beautiful baseball field, many more beautiful facilities can be found at STAC. STAC says the following about that:
“Not only do these facilities lure top level student-athletes to the college, but they provide the spark that often sets the St. Thomas Aquinas College athlete apart and above its opponent.”
You can conclude from this that STAC also wants the very best for student-athletes. In addition to a cool baseball stadium, the Spartans also have a Lacrosse / Field hockey field, a tennis park, a football field, various golf courses and much more .. Curious about all the facilities? Check out this page!
The video below was made by the university in 2018 to get a good idea of the school for future students and student athletes. So would you like to see more? Check it out!
Athletics
STAC competes in NCAA Division II and is part of the East Coast Conference. The university has a total of no fewer than 20 different varsity teams, so that’s a lot! And those 20 teams are fairly divided: it consists of 10 women’s and 10 men’s teams! The university’s biggest rival is less than a mile away, that’s Dominican College. That is why the battle between these two schools is also called ‘a cross-campus rivalry’. The university colors of STAC are ‘Maroon’ and ‘Gold’, as you can see in the picture below ..!
In addition to the ‘varsity sports’, a number of club sports are also offered. At universities, these are often the sports that do not include student-athletes, but more the sports that are done as a hobby. At STAC these are bowling, volleyball and the cheer and dance team!
In addition to varsity and club sports, STAC also plays e-sports. A Spartans E-sports Summer Camp is even organized! The games played by this team are mostly Fortnite and League of Legends. You can see it in the picture below!
Basketball fan? Then check out the video below with the highlights of the STAC basketball team at the ECC tournament!
Academics
STAC offers around 40 different majors, which are divided in thee different categories:
- Arts and Sciences
- Business
- Education
Curious whether your major is being offered at STAC, check it out in this list with all majors.
We figured out some cool fast facts for all coming student-athletes. STAC has listed the average scores of the GPA-, SAT– and ACT-tests made by their students. These averages are as follows:
- GPA – 3.0
- SAT – 1050
- ACT – 22
So now you can compare your scores to the average scores of students at STAC!
Did you start thinking: “What Eliza, Brittany, Sam, Thomas and Kas are doing, I want that too!”? Just reach out to us and we will discuss your opportunities.
Future champions start here!
