For those of you hiding under a rock (or in a library), UF is a sports school. Well, in the minds of many, a football school at least. And basketball too. The running joke is whenever the football team lost last year, we could remind our opponents that “at least we’re a top 10 public university!” We could begin reminding ourselves that we don’t have to be just a football school, though. Maybe we’re a baseball school or a gymnastics school. A lot of sports go unnoticed, unappreciated — sports that have been top-notch for a long time. These sports deserve attention too.
This is not to say that the football team does not deserve recognition — the Gators are having a surprisingly successful season. Coach Dan Mullen has done a fantastic job, turning things around a year or two before we could have hoped. However, there are still a number of underappreciated sports.
Take the baseball team. It won the National Championship in Omaha in 2017, and this spring the team made it to the College World Series semifinals — not too shabby. With this run (see what I did there), one could argue that we are now a baseball school. I mean, are we still holding on to the football team’s 2009 National Championship? (Or 2007? Or 1996?) We can move on…
Similarly, the softball team has been stellar for years now, constantly attending the NCAA Championships, winning the SEC title and breaking NCAA records with win streaks. And winning back-to-back national titles a few years ago is pretty impressive as well. The amount of records set by this team should immediately warrant our becoming a softball school. Considering I went to Tim Walton’s three-day UF softball camp at the age of 7, I feel as though I have a deep connection with this team. Very deep.
Women’s basketball is another great example. Did you even know we had a women’s basketball team? This program has been in the shadow of its male counterpart but has made strides lately. More importantly, the coaches and players are high quality and have been making the rounds this semester in order to inspire elementary school kids around town.
Florida tennis has been successful, with the men’s tennis team making it to the NCAA Elite Eight for two of the last three years under the leadership of coach Bryan Shelton. Could UF become a tennis school? Quite possibly. (And that’s not even mentioning the multiple national championships won by the women’s team.)
Lacrosse roared out of the gate under coach Amanda O’Leary, having been in existence only nine years with eight conference championships. And this year’s team could be her best yet. (Confession: Despite her best efforts in the year I lived next door to coach, I still don’t get the rules. A ball, some sticks and a goal. I’ve got that much down.)
The gymnastics team has been wildly successful as long as I have known. During my glory days as a 9-year-old gymnast, my mom would drive me from Tampa to see meets along with my fellow gymnast friends. (These were shortly after the glory days of 7-year-old softball. So much sports glory, so little time.) Now, those gymnastics meets are fun, let me tell you. Those girls put on an amazing show, a paradox of impeccable beauty and unformidable strength.
The same is true for the volleyball team and its two decades of wild success under Mary Wise. Of course, gymnastics and volleyball aren’t much of a hidden secret — thousands pack the O'Connell Center for those events.
Now let’s get crazy.
The swimming and diving teams at UF have produced 85 Olympians, resulting in 32 gold medals, 18 silver and 14 bronze. In fact, the Florida Gators have been represented at every summer Olympics for swimming and diving since 1968. No summer Olympic swimming and diving team has had to go without at least one UF alum for the past 50 years.
And track and field… where to start? Maybe coach Mike Holloway? During his 17 years at UF, we have won 14 SEC titles and eight (count ‘em, eight) national titles. By my math, that’s really good.
Gator athletes are smart too. In each of the last 16 years, more than 100 students have made honor roll. Now that’s fantastic!
With all of these teams in mind, try going to an event for a sport you’ve never watched before. I’m going to. (As for the excellent golf teams, don’t blink: They each only have one home tournament.) So whether you're going to cheer on the women’s basketball team or watch a few tennis matches, see all of what UF has to offer. Of course, be sure to continue to cheer your heart out at The Swamp for every home game. Just don’t forget about the rest. We’re known as a sports school for a reason.
Hannah Whitaker is a UF English sophomore. Her column appears on Mondays.
