Every Tuesday we are placing a university in the Spotlight. This week we have selected a special one for you guys, once again! The University of New Hampshire (UNH) has a very special environment, and two of our Slamstox athletes within its team of student athletes!
We are talking about field hockey players Bloem van den Brekel and Lindsay Lee from Eindhoven. Bloem and Lindsay both played at the Dutch field hockey club Oranje-Rood before transforming into a UNH Wildcat!
Bloem has been part of the Wildcats since August 2017, after she studied in the Netherlands for a year. Her field hockey career in the Netherlands was already impressive: she played for Oranje-Rood, at the highest national level. And oh yes, she was also one of the top scorers there! She is now a senior student-athlete. We asked Bloem to summarize UNH in 1 sentence, and she did:
‘What I like best about UNH besides my amazing field hockey family is that it is close to mountains and beaches and that our campus looks gorgeous all year long.’
Bloem van den Brekel, Slamstox-athlete
Forwarding to 2020, Bloem is not the only player from Eindhoven on the hockey fields of the Wildcats. Lindsay is now following Bloem’s footsteps for a great career as a student athlete at New Hampshire. After Lindsay graduated from high school, nothing could stop her anymore: she is more than ready for her great adventure! We’ll have to wait for a little bit longer to see some results for Lindsay: because of Corona no games are currently played by the Wildcats. However, Lindsay wouldn’t be Lindsay if she didn’t make the best of every situation. She recently posted this happy pic on Instagram: freshmen, fresh masks!
No worries, we will put the Wildcats in the Spotlight again in a year! To be continued…
Lindsay tells us about her first impressions of her new University:
“My first impression of UNH was that the campus is actually way more beautiful than I expected! Furthermore, I felt welcome immediately. I know the girls of my team for only a month now, but it feels so much longer. They have become my family.”
Lindsay Lee, Slamstox-athlete
Curious about the campus of these girls? Read on!
The campus
The home of the Wildcats and all of UNH’s other 15,000 students is in Durham, New Hampshire. Durham may not be known by most of you, but the location is great! The campus is only an hour drive from the metropolis of Boston, the beautiful nature of the White Mountains and the amazing Atlantic Ocean.
Because the campus is surrounded by beautiful nature, many outdoor activities are offered for students. Think of hiking, paddle boarding and climbing. As a student athlete, a physically demanding and active program is very normal. To go hiking and climbing on all your days off may be a bit too much. But a day in Boston seems relaxing, right?
Beautiful sports and study facilities can be found on campus. The largest sports stadium is the ‘Towse Rink’ arena. There is room for 6501 supporters cheering for the male and female ice-hockey teams!
Want to see more from the campus? Check the virtual tour!
Sports
The Wildcats play in NCAA Division 1 and almost all teams play in the America East Conference. In total 7 men’s teams and 11 women’s teams play for the University. The Wildcats won the NCAA National Championship twice.
The colors of the wildcats are, as you may have already seen, blue, white and gray. During the matches, the stands color in the colors for the Wildcats. This is encouraged by the two mascots of UNH: Wild E Cat and Gnarlz. How did they come up with these names? We have no idea either!
‘On to Victory’, the fight song by the Wildcats! This song, along with a number of other catchphrases and songs, is sung loudly through the stands at the sports matches.
On to victory,
our team will fight and, do or die,
old New Hampshire’s here,
we’ll raise our banners high.
For alma mater dear,
New Hampshire, fight with all your might!
On to victory,
forever blue and white!
In addition to the crazy fightsong and mascots, UNH has something special: Professional cheerleaders! This group of athletes became first in the ‘All Girl Division 1’ in 2017. They got 101 out of 105 points, the highest score of all 22 teams
In addition to the varsity teams, other sports are offered for students, such as frisbee, shooting, skiing and snowboarding, sailing, taekwondo and much more. Also: ‘Woodmen’, a special sport that needs some extra explanation, we thought. The UNH Woodsmen Team is a university recognized sports association sponsored by the school. In fact, they’ve been a team for over 40 years! The competitions are held in the Northeast of America and even in Canada. Activities to be performed by the teams include sawing, chopping, throwing axes, rolling wood and other traditional skills. In fact, team members within UNH have taken part in professional lumberjack competitions! Does that competition exist? Yeah it does! There’s stuff to do for everyone at UNH!
Academics
The campus is spread over 8 locations, which together offer more than 2000 courses in more than 100 different fields. In addition to these courses, the university considers it important that its students experience real student life: that is why there are more than 250 student associations divided into different fields of interests. The school has drawn up the following main categories:
- Business & Economics
- Engineering
- Health & Human Services
- Law
- Liberal Arts
- Life sciences
- Marine science
- Public Policy
Not sure what you want to study yet? You’re not the only one! ‘Undeclared’ is the most popular major within UNH! Here you will be personally guided and you will become acquainted with many different fields, so you will eventually find out what suits you best. View the list of courses offered here.
Finally, UNH can be found in various rankings: they are the most sustainable university and they are in the top 3 of ‘Top-Tier Research Universities’.
Do you want to become a student athlete at UNH, just like Bloem and Lindsay? Or would you like some extra information? Reach out to us!
Did you see our ‘Catching up with…’ video with Bloem and Lindsay yet? Check it out!
