In addition to Mayka, another student of Iwan Renders at Golfton left for the USA : golf player Daphne van Son! Since last fall, Daphne has been walking around as a Freshman at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga!

In her youth she already won the NK Strokeplay, she participated in various international tournaments and was part of the Dutch selection teams. Also this year Daphne is in the ‘ladies selection team’ of the Netherlands!

After intensive years of golf in the Netherlands and a high school diploma, Daphne is ready for her adventure in the USA! Earlier we asked her why she chose the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga:

“I chose UTC because I felt a good connection with the coaching staff and I strongly believe they can help me achieve my goals!”

Daphne van Son – student-athlete

Do you want to know more about Daphne’s university? Keep reading!

The Campus

UTC is a public university, founded in 1866, so that’s already 135 years ago! About 400 people work on campus and it has more than 11,000 students. The campus looks very nice, you can see a part in the picture below.

Besides studying and sports, there are many other fun things to experience on and around the campus! The university calls it ‘Campus Recreation’ and there is stuff to do for everyone.

  • There are various ‘Intramural Sports’, which are all kinds of different recreational sports. As a student you can join a team, train and play matches. So ‘only for fun’, but every team wants to be the best!
  • If you prefer to do an individual fun sport, various fitness classes are offered. You can even choose to work with a personal trainer.
  • Various things are organized in the swimming pool of the university, you can take a private swimming lesson, participate in aqua aerobics or visit one of the pool parties. The last one is most attended by students…!
  • UTC also offers stuff for the sporty daredevils. They can spend their energy on the climbing wall of the university, during a hike to waterfalls, while having a kayaking trip or they can go camping for the weekend: UTC has got it all!

UTC thinks about all its students, but as at any American university, one student group in particular is completely pampered: the student athletes! UTC’s group of student athletes are called the ‘Mocs’ and the ‘Lady Mocs’, for them the university has a number of beautiful facilities on campus..

The ‘Finley Stadium’, the home stadium for the American Football players. The Football team plays matches and even have another complex where training takes place. The stadium was built in 1997 and can seat more than 20,000 fans! Can you imagine being part of the crowd? The stadium is not only used as the home stadium for the Football team, it was also the base of the NCAA FCS National Championship final from 1997 – 2009! Several soccer games were also held there, including that of the women’s US national team. But lacrosse competitions, concerts and other festivals are also organized.

Another beautiful facility is that of the basketball teams: The McKenzie Arena. Only the matches are played here, because also the basketball team makes use of a separate training facility! The building was built in 1982 and took its current name in 2000, after fans (the McKenzie familiy) donated a huge amount for renovation. 12,000 fans at the same time can cheer for the basketball teams. You can probably imagine how hard it is to watch the match when you are at the top… But UTC, just like it is arranged in the NBA, has put up beautiful large screens for that. Professionalism at its best! Because this is a special building it is also used for other events, Elton John, the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Maroon 5 and Carrie Underwood are just a few names of artists who stole the show in the arena.

In addition to these two ‘massive stadiums’, there are many other great sports facilities at the university. You can find a stadium for the softball matches, a stadium for the volleyball matches, a blue and yellow tennis complex, ‘Camp Jordan’ for Cross Country, a football complex, a huge gym and of course a beautiful golf course where Daphne is training. On this page you can check out all facilities.

Want to see more about the campus? Check out the virtual tour.

Athletics

The student athletes sports teams at UTC, called the Mocs & Lady Mocs, consist of 14 different teams: 8 women’s teams and 6 men’s teams. They compete in NCAA Division 1 and are part of the SoCon, the Southern Conference. The university colors are blue & gold and the teams are cheered on by none other than Scrappy the Mocking Bird! You can see him in the picture below. Is he scary or cool? I’m not sure. I’d say Scary Scrappy ..

Besides Scrappy, the teams are also serenaded with the University’s fight song. As you know by now, we don’t want to spare you from the chorus. Sing Mocs!

Fight, Chattanooga,
‘Til the victory is won.
Mighty Mocs you know,
We’re counting on you;
Go UTC Gold and Blue

Fight! Fight!

And all that cheering and singing helps, because the male basketball team of the Mocs is one of the best in the conference! In total, the team has already won 27 titles. And they should, with such a stadium, right ?! The female basketball players are also doing great, they are the most successful within the conference! The ladies won 15 regular season titles and 14 overall conference championships. Go champs!

But the golf teams, the softball team, the wrestling team and the American Football team also managed to win several titles. Given the success of the Mocs, the university’s athletic program is being appointed as a ‘national top 100 athletic program’ by the NACDA ‘. Yes Mocs!

Want to see more fun stuff from and about the Mocs & Lady Mocs? The university has its own youtube channel where you can find everything about the student athletes!

Academics

Studying must be done as well of course. The campus has its own motto, ‘Faciemus’, sounds a bit like a Harry Potter magic spell, doesn’t it? In English it means, ‘We shall Achieve’. A nice motto if it is up to us!

The campus offers about 200 different courses in all kind of different directions, the entire range can be found here. The courses are divided into the following main directions:

  • Business
  • Engineering
  • Nursing
  • English
  • Chemistry
  • Accounting
  • Psychology
  • Music
  • Education

To offer students even more, UTC has recently entered into a partnership with Kangnung National University in South Korea. Students can always take a semester or two there too!

Enough to do at UTC. Do you want to become a student athlete in the USA, just like Daphne? Or would you like some more information about this process? Contact us and we will be happy to help you!