Going into the 2022-2023 season, Esworthy, the current vice president and assistant captain of the team, was unsure if the team was set up for success. He and Eagan Callahan ‘23, the club president at the time, took matters into their own hands last summer, scheduling practices and games and hiring a new head coach.

Despite beginning the season with a losing streak, resulting in the team being placed last, the entire season turned around after Winter Break. In the 2023 portion of the regular season, the team was undefeated, which secured them the final spot in the playoffs, a feat the club had never accomplished.

In their first playoff game, Elon Club Hockey, the eight seed, played against St. Joseph’s, the number one seed in the tournament. The game had an incredible turnout, with more than 200 Elon students, staff, faculty, and community members in attendance to cheer on the Phoenix.

“Playoffs were way more way more exciting than the regular season. The energy was there; the atmosphere was different. We felt like we had something to play for,” Esworthy said.

Although the odds were against them, the Elon team played a fantastic game, pulling out a 3-2 win. Simply making the playoffs was an unlikely achievement for this year’s team, and the upset of St. Joseph’s was the biggest win in the club’s history.

Their season has since concluded with a loss in the second round, but the team is already preparing for next year. Club members constantly recruit new players that contribute to the team’s sense of community. Team members come from different backgrounds, have varying experience levels, study across many departments, and are involved in various Greek and non-Greek organizations on campus. Esworthy is the incoming team president and captain and has high hopes for the upcoming season.

If you are interested in joining the team, please get in touch with Mason Esworthy at jesworthy@elon.edu

With intramural sports, students can play recreational sports with their peers, roommates, greek organizations or even strangers. Campus Recreation & Wellness offers 20 different sports on the intramural level, which consists of individual, dual and team sport leagues as well as one-day tournaments. Students sign up together and play against other teams at Elon.

Aside from allowing students to be active and have fun with friends, intramural sports have positively contributed to campus life at Elon. Participants and student employees feel part of a community through their involvement in intramural sports.

“I love working for intramurals because I can be a part of a place that fosters community and healthy competition between students,” said Noah Levine ‘23, intramural sports official.

Forming their own teams allows students to make the entire experience their own. Regardless of whether students have played the sport before, they are welcome to join an intramural team.

Many students reconnect with sports from their pasts through intramurals, as it is a low-stakes way to get involved without the time commitment of club sports.

After taking a break from volleyball during high school, Katie Piller ‘23 began playing again through intramural sports, participating in indoor 6s volleyball and 4s sand volleyball.

“It was great becoming closer friends with my sisters who played on the Intramural team, and I loved that other members came to games and cheered us on,” Piller said.

Intramural sports foster teamwork and communication both on the field and behind the scenes. The officials who make intramural sports possible are quite a close-knit team of their own.

“Intramurals have brought me a lot of new friendships that I know I can rely on. It’s a really safe space, and we always have a lot of fun. I love spending time working with Intramural Sports but also having the ability to be social! It truly has changed my Elon Experience,” said Hunter Salzberg ‘24, intramural sports official.

Registration for Intramural Block 4 opens on Monday, March 20. Sign up on IMLeagues until March 30, and follow along with the schedule to show the teams some support.

Inspiration can truly strike anywhere. For Pheriby Bryan ‘25, three waves of inspiration that struck throughout the fall and winter of 2021 changed her college experience and dance career trajectory.

As a dance performance and choreography major, in the fall of 2021, Bryan was presented with the opportunity to apply for the Rhodes Grant. This new research grant provided by an Elon faculty member would fund and assist a student’s research exploring a topic of their choice through creative expression. At first, she was not interested in applying until one day, in her dance studio, she noticed that a song was stuck in her head.

After a deep dive across the internet, Bryan realized that the song was a hymn she sang with her high school choir at a funeral for a student who unfortunately died by suicide. A few months before this, a student Bryan knew at Elon also passed away, and these deaths heavily impacted and inspired her. Thinking of her personal connection to the hymn and both students, whom she wanted to honor, she began developing not only a research topic but also an inspiring performance.

Bryan is researching how young people are impacted psychologically and physically when someone they know commits suicide, specifically in the college or high school atmosphere, and her findings will be depicted in a performance.

Bryan began her proposal for the grant and was moved on to the second round of applications when her third piece of inspiration hit — a vulnerable journal series about a teenager’s mental health struggles and journey. The author is not any teenager, but William Burleson, a peer of Bryan’s from high school. After reading Burleson’s journal, “,” Bryan realized the potential impact her piece could have and made it her mission to continue the conversations he began.

“I feel like this piece I’m creating is an extension of his work, and what his work showed me is that the more people talk about mental health, the more lives are saved,” Bryan said.

This past fall, Bryan worked closely with her mentor, Associate Professor Jen Guy Metcalf, and began her official undergraduate research. One of the main steps in Bryan’s research process is reaching out to connections in various fields, such as therapists, dancers, Elon faculty members, and even student employees. This September, Bryan began working for Campus Recreation & Wellness as a SPARKS Peer Educator in the mental fitness focus group.

Although she began her research before joining the SPARKS team, Bryan said that she has been able to take what she’s learned through her on-campus job and apply it to her project. She said her main takeaway from SPARKS is the language she uses to create an inclusive, comfortable, and respectful environment with those involved with her project and the community. Bryan says that working with SPARKS, particularly about mental fitness, has inspired her to put her own needs first, such as food-prepping for a long day ahead.

“It has been powerful to see Pheriby thrive as she incorporates her passion for mental well-being into her study of dance and then creates a research focus. She is living out the mission of our department ‘holistic well-being for students, faculty, and staff.’ There’s nothing more engaging than solutions created for students by students,” said Charlotte Williams, associate director for Campus Recreation & Wellness

With Burleson’s permission, Bryan decided that the title of her final project would also be “Semicolon,” a grammatical symbol representing an author’s decision to continue a sentence rather than end it.

Although a seasoned dancer, Bryan is primarily serving as the choreographer for the piece, as well as the research behind it. Eight dancers will tell the stories that Bryan has learned throughout her research, continuing to save lives through artistic expression while memorializing those we have lost.

However, this summer, four students — Caroline Moses ’24, Margaux McBride ’24, Josie McWhorter ’24 and Delaney McDowell ’25 — came together with hopes of starting up the team again. They wanted to provide a space and community for other young women to learn and play rugby. The four navigated through various hurdles but were able to build the team from the ground up, making it a collaborative effort.

Many other students showed interest in joining the team, despite most having no rugby experience. Although Moses and McBride are the only team members who knew how to play before this fall, observing the team at practice, one would have no idea that most players just picked up the sport.

Practices are full of high-intensity gameplay, perfecting technical skills and, most importantly, cheering each other on. Asked to comment on the team’s progress, Emerson Wells ’23, said, “Everyone is coming from the same base level of understanding, or a lack of understanding, about rugby. So, it’s been cool to all be on the same page and all grow from not knowing anything to now being able to play a game.”

In talking to team members, it was clear that regardless of whether they had even heard of rugby before this fall, each member was glad to have it in their life. This fall, the team has become a tight-knit community, having fun on and off the rugby pitch through paint nights, surprise birthday parties and team dinners. A few people referred to the team as a family, and in talking to various members, this is certainly a shared sentiment— the bond and sense of community the members have is strong.

Both new and seasoned team members discussed the physical and mental benefits of being a part of a club sports team, ranging from stress relief, getting in better shape, gaining leadership skills and confidence, and having a sense of community.

“It actually has helped my mental health a lot; coming to practice is the highlight of my week because I know that I’m going to have a good time and I always leave feeling better than when I came in,” said Ivy Montague ’23.

Niya Kelly ’25 adds to this, explaining that her first year of college had its rough patches but that now with the club in her life, she feels like she has found her place at Elon.

Despite most players being first-timers on the rugby pitch, the team has made many advances and has even won against other women’s teams in games. With a new coach helping improve the team’s technique, their next goal is to have enough players to do 15-a-side games, or 15s, in the spring semester. Sam Schwamberger ’23, comments on the team’s progress, expressing how important it is to have both women’s and men’s club rugby teams on campus.

“Rugby has been a huge part of my life, so to be able to experience it with Elon is really fun, and I’ve met some pretty amazing people,” said Margaux McBride ’24.

If you are interested in joining the Women’s Club Rugby team, contact Caroline Moses, the club president, at cmoses@elon.edu. Regardless of any prior experience, there is a spot for anyone and everyone willing to learn.