Hillsdale students compete in a regatta this October: Courtesy | Emma Barillari
Hillsdale offers students the opportunity to harness the elemental forces, swordfight, and master the vertical. If none of the obvious clubs and sports appeal, here are four niche sports on campus that are still great ways to get some exercise and take a break from the daily academic grind.
Sailing: Harness the Wind
Of all the sports on campus, only one of them combines the forces of nature with a piratical atmosphere, senior and Hillsdale sailing club president Alya MacManaway said.
“Come for the pirate vibes,” MacManaway said. “Sailing is epic. You get to be an explorer or a pirate. It’s the only sport where you are working directly with an element, an elemental force, to get speed in the direction that you want to go. I guess that’s a little bit of a Francis Bacon-y way to put it, but still.”
The sailing club meets in the early fall and late spring on Baw Beese Lake to practice sailing and racing in two 14-foot sailing dinghies.
The sailing team also travels every year to compete against other colleges such as The Ohio State University. Getting out of the Hillsdale bubble and spending time with other sailors is a highlight of these trips, MacManaway said.
“It’s always different, and it’s always entertaining,” MacManaway said.
While the sailing season is currently over, MacManaway said that the club will always be happy to have people dedicated to learning how to sail come spring.
“As the sailing team has progressed and we have new members, people that don’t necessarily have a lot of sailing or racing experience, I’ve found that now I am motivated by being able to provide the same opportunities that I had for the next generation of sailors,” MacManaway said.
Epee Fencing: Strength and Strategy
Blending athleticism and strategy, modern fencing is a sport that has been evolving since the late Renaissance, sophomore Ava Carlson, the founder of Hillsdale’s fencing club, said.
“When people think sword fighting in the movies, it’s all showy and theatrical, but fencing is not like that at all,” Carlson said. “It’s actually one of the fastest sports that’s out there. I mean, in the Olympics, the only object faster than the tip of a fencing weapon is a literal bullet.”
Electronic scoring strips changed modern Olympic epee fencing, Carlson explained. Instead of each hit having to be obvious, as in the past, the electronic system registers each hit to a very close margin.
“You still get the thrill of a sword fight,” Carlson said. “But fencing is so much more thrilling than anything in a movie because of the speed and athleticism, the speed at which you have to make decisions. Everything just got faster after the advent of electric scoring, which makes it more fun.”
Fencing is an expensive sport. Carlson said buying enough equipment has been a challenge for the club, especially since it is still in a new club with only partial funding. There is currently a waitlist for students to join since equipment is limited.
Still, Carlson said students should consider signing up if it sounds like fun.
“I just love the speed and athleticism,” Carlson said. “Epee fencing just has a lot of deception and strategy and trying to manipulate your opponent, all within a very athletic framework. Fencing is a great sport for anyone.”
Rock Climbing: Nowhere to Go But Up.
If solving problems and overcoming challenges while getting a good workout sounds appealing, junior Andrew Schmidt recommends indoor rock climbing.
“I’m a math guy,” Schmidt said. “I like really hard math problems that are going to take me hours, days, weeks. It’s the same with climbing. I like the slow challenge. Rock climbing isn’t a fast sport. You can kind of sit with it, you can think about it, take your time, come back, get better.”
Schmidt started climbing last summer when he was doing research in math in Auburn, Alabama. He had access to a gym, and one of his friends introduced him to the sport.
While Schmidt said that he doesn’t consider himself an expert, he was able to see himself progressing over the summer. He said those skills transferred over to the climbing wall in the Roche Sports Complex when he started climbing again this fall.
“When I’m climbing, I’m absolutely not thinking about school,” Schmidt said. “It’s one of relatively few things that I can say about which is really nice at Hillsdale.”
The rock wall on the first floor of the Splex is open most afternoons or evenings, although hours sometimes vary. Gear — climbing shoes and harnesses — are available for student use, Schmidt said.
Historical European Martial Arts: Renaissance Fighting
Aside from the basic coolness of swords, having a better chance of survival in a freak time-travel incident to the early Renaissance should inspire would-be swordfighters to come check out the Historical European Martial Arts club, senior Tobias Sommerville said.
Historical European Martial Arts is a weapons-based martial art based on medieval and early Renaissance books and treatises on fighting, Sommerville said.
“It allows you to put yourself into history, experiencing something from a previous age in a way that most cannot,” Sommerville said.
In contrast to Olympic epee fencing, HEMA is less developed as a sport, Sommerville said, because the focus is on preserving and recreating historical skills rather than constantly evolving within a specific set of competitive constraints.
“Also, I am a man, I’m inherently drawn to swords,” Sommerville said. “They’re epic.”
Sommerville said that anyone with an interest in swords or history, should come by to see what it’s like.
“It definitely looks a lot different than most martial arts,” Sommerville said. “It’s more elegant, but that’s mostly because these aren’t sharp, so you don’t see body parts flying everywhere.”
While there’s nothing wrong with playing pickleball, the participants said the more niche sports gave them an opportunity to become part of a unique world and learn skills that they found refreshing.
And, after all, you could learn how to be a pirate or a knight.
