Challenged and Changed

Change. One of the phrases Dordt has used recently is “Be Challenged.  Be Changed.” We talk at great lengths with high school age students that the college years are transformative.  It’s when you move from teenager to young adult.  You’re away from home and you need to make decisions for yourself. For a student-athlete they...

Remodeling Project

The Defender Way. About four years ago the Dordt athletic department sought to define the Defender Way and what it is/was.  It’s a term that was used to sum up Dordt’s unique approach to athletics and is summed up as a commitment to: The Great Commission and cultural mandate. The equipping of student-athletes to be...

Old Friends

Nearly 30 years ago a kid from Canada came to Dordt’s campus.  I crossed paths with him several times, but, I can’t say we were close friends.  More like acquaintances—we ran in circles that were parallel, but, probably didn’t intersect a lot. He’ll smile as he reads this because our lines did intersect at an...

Waiting

What a ride it’s been.  Like racing downhill on a bike, through a forest, with no brakes. That’s what this semester has been like dating back to late-August report dates for student-athletes through basketball games on Saturday, December 19.  Twists, turns, collisions, unexpected detours and a quest to get through about a four month span...

Fellowship

Late November and here we are.  I’ve heard 2020 described as a year we’ll forever remember and one we’d love to forget. In some ways that’s true.  But to say that would ignore the many, many good things that have happened since the calendar flipped from 2019 to 2020.  In late August I asked some...

Second Home

The story of how students end up at Dordt is always interesting. If I had a dime for every time a high school student said to me, “Yeh, I want something different—I’m not going to Dordt.” Or “Sioux Center is in the middle of nowhere, why would I want to attend there?” I would be...

Finishing The Race

The end is in sight. The cross country championships for the GPAC are quickly approaching and with it the conclusion to our fall season. Every race when I get cross country results I scan to check on a few runners.  You see, simply finishing the race can be a victory some days.  The place, times...

Ready

Five months. Five months since things got shut off.  Like flipping a light switch into the off position. For the first couple months my efforts were on finishing out the 2019-20 school year.  Interviews with seniors from all over the country, finishing out their academic careers in ways they never imagined. Throwback photos to fill...

Dad

Coaches and athletes share a special and complex relationship. The best coaches see something you may not see in yourself and push you until that something comes out and is evident for everyone to see.  I once heard a coach describe his job as walking alongside athletes at times, walking behind them to push them...

To My Team

I can’t believe the last two weeks. Terms like ‘social distancing’, ‘quarantine’, ‘shelter in place’ and ‘essential services’ were not a regular part of my vocabulary. Life is made up of big and little moments….we just don’t always know the difference when they are happening. Two weeks ago the Dordt softball team was cruising along,...