In this week’s University Spotlight we are talking about diver Else Praasterink and her University of Louisville! This beautiful university in Kentucky is home to the ‘Louisville Cardinals’ of which Else has recently become a part. When Else’s choice fell on the University of Louisville, we already asked her why she chose this university. She said the following:

“I chose Louisville because it is my dream University. They have everything I have been looking for in an university. From great facilities to the fact that they compete in the ACC. But most of importantly a great coach and a great team! I’m confident that they can help me reach my goal to compete at the Olympics”

Else Praasterink – Slamstox Athlete

When Else, also known as Guurtje, received her high school diploma at Sint-Joris College in Eindhoven last school year, nothing could stop her anymore. All preparations for her adventure had been made and on August 24 it was finally time for her take off to the USA!

Else has always been a hard-working student and athlete in the Netherlands, she has worked hard for almost her entire life to be one of the best divers in the Netherlands. It is therefore that she has become Dutch youth champion several times and finished 8th at the European championships! What a champ!

Curious about her skills? Else took part in the Eindhoven Diving Cup at the beginning of this year. Check the video below, you can see Else from minute 11.52.

Else has recently become part of the Louisville Cardinals. Due to the current measures around Corona, everything is a bit different, but Else has had a very nice welcome at her university. We asked her for a first impression:

“What I really like about my University is the helpfulness of all people, from coaches to professors. Everyone helps you as a new student!”

Curious about the University of Louisville? Keep reading!

The Campus

The University of Louisville is located in Louisville, Kentucky. Louisville itself is a beautiful place with about 1 million inhabitants! It is a lively city with a lot of culture, a great economy and a rich history. Louisville is the 17th largest city in America and is located besides the Ohio River, which makes the city relaxed with beautiful scenery in the area. Sounds like a good choice, Else!

The university plays an important role in the city, the sports teams are popular with the population and therefore the sports matches are well attended by the local fans of the Cardinal Birds! Below you can see an image of the front of the university.

Many different and beautiful facilities can be found on campus. The largest stadium is the ‘Cardinal Stadium’, where the American Football matches are played. It seats 60,000 spectators!

Another special stadium on campus is the ‘Jim Patterson Stadium’, where the baseball games are played. 4000 spectators fit in the stands that turn completely red and white during the matches!

The training facilities for the swimmers and divers, of which Else is also part, are great! They swim and dive in the ‘Ralph Wright Natatorium’, there is room for 800 spectators. Ralph Wright is a former college coach, his career as a coach started in 1948! He has led the swim team to many championships.

In fact, all the facilities on the campus are amazing: a beautifully landscaped golf course, indoor and outdoor tennis courts, a lacrosse stadium, an athletics track with stands, a large fitness center, various study rooms, restaurants and much more…. For now too much to mention! So would you like to see more of the campus? Check the video below!

Athletics

The Louisville Cardinals, the University of Louisville varsity teams! The colors of the Cardinals are red & black and of course they also have a suitable mascot: the Cardinal Bird! The Cardinal Bird creates a good atmosphere during gamedays.

All teams play in Division 1, most of them in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The university has been part of this division since 2014, before they played in the Big East Conference (from 2005 – 2013). Then the Cardinals won no less than 17 Big East titles and 33 Big East Tournaments titles: a total of 50 Big East Championships! In addition, the American Football team participated in the Sugar Bowl in 2013, where they won against the Florida Gators in the final. They did the same in 2007, when they beat Wake Forest. This makes the American Football team of the Cardinals the only one in the Kentucky area to participate and win twice!

The Cardinals consist of 9 men’s teams and 12 women’s teams, they won the NCAA National Championship twice, both times by the male basketball team brought the trophy home. But the University’s Cheerleading Squads are also very successful. They won ‘The National Cheerleaders Championships’ no less than 18 times. With this, the team won more titles than any other team at the University… You go girls!

Academics

‘It’s happening here’, the motto of the University of Louisville. The university is known in the region for the high level of teaching the medical and research field. But as at almost every American university, the range of courses is very wide: you can go there for almost all majors! Curious about what is being offered? Check it out here.

When you graduate, your graduation ceremony will be similar to the picture below, cool right!?

Did you know that…

  • One of the main sponsors of the University Kentucky Fried Chicken is?! For that reason, the basketball stadium has been named ‘KFC Yum! Stadium ‘
  • Louisville has its own radio station? The station has been operating since 1968!
  • Louisville has its own on-campus cinema?! There is room for 228 students and all kinds of different movies (and sometimes even lectures) are shown!
  • The University of Louisville was founded in 1798?! This makes the university one of the oldest in the USA …

Do you, just like Else, want to become a student-athlete on the University of Louisville? Or do you want more information about a student-athlete life? Reach out!

Curious about how college swimming/diving works? Read more about that in this FAQ on our Slamstox wiki-page!