Women’s basketball keeps busy outside of winter season
For most Wofford students, summer break is a time to relax, spend time with friends and family, and for some, take summer courses or work an internship after a busy school year. For many winter and spring athletes, this time is used to decompress from a long season and intense training.
Members of the women’s basketball team use their summer to juggle any combination of these commitments: workouts, internships, classes, and time with friends and family.
Guard Elena Pulanco ’22, a sociology and anthropology and art history double major, used this past summer to fulfill graduation requirements and enjoy life during summer conditioning and practices.
“I took Dr. Rodrick’s Western Civilization class over Zoom, spent time with my basketball teammates, and had the opportunity of moving into the Village for the last time,” said Pulanco.
She also began an internship with Sharpen as a marketing intern. And that was just in June.
As July rolled around, Pulanco undertook both familiar and unfamiliar adventures: “For the first time ever, I went to Disney World and Universal’s Islands of Adventure with my best friend.” She then added, “After my Florida adventure, I spent a month at home in Englewood, NJ. There’s nothing like a home-cooked meal and having family Bananagrams game nights.”
Pulanco wasn’t the only busy member of the women’s basketball team this summer. Guard Niyah Lutz ’22 worked as an admissions intern on campus. Lutz, a finance major, gave campus tours to prospective students and worked on projects that have continued into her senior year.
“I was extremely grateful for this opportunity, as it allowed me to make some lifelong friends and also to continue it throughout the school year,” said Lutz,
Fellow guard Jackie Carman ’22 spent the summer interning for the Communications Department.
“I worked on interviews and writing short stories about the accomplishments of fellow Wofford students,” said Carman. “I also was helping with social media and Wofford Today.”
Their busy schedules extend into the school year and regular season as well, with most of the team being involved in other extracurriculars on top of playing basketball. Pulanco, Lutz, and Carman are all members of the Student Athletic Advisory Council (SAAC), with Pulanco serving as Co-President. Carman is involved with Wofford Women of Color (WWOC), and Pulanco also serves as Vice President of Wofford Asian and Pacific Islanders (WAAPI).
Reflecting on their experiences thus far into college and life in general, each student-athlete pointed back to two main traits that have brought them success: time management and organization. Carman, a double major in Spanish and International Affairs with a concentration in Latin American and Caribbean Studies, believes she would not be able to be as involved on campus as she is without these skills.
“I have learned the importance of time management and prioritizing tasks,” said Carman. “I do not think I would be able to take on an academic load like this if it wasn’t for sports teaching the importance of time management.”
For Pulanco, organization, specifically Google Calendar, keeps her grounded and able to handle the many tasks and responsibilities that pile up every day, even throughout the summer.
“I have (Google Calendar) on my laptop and on my phone,” Pulanco said. “It keeps track of all my homework, exam dates, meetings, practices, birthdays, and other reminders – so everything.”
For Lutz, a combination of time management and organization has proven helpful: “I write down everything I need to do that day, when I need to do it, and how much time I should spend doing it. I know that sounds a little weird, but it works for me.”
The juggling act that appears to be the life of a college athlete hopes to bode well for the team as they prepare for the upcoming season.
The team hopes that experiences gained via internships, classes and life in general, along with the training in the gym and on the court, will propel the team to not only further collective success as they look to build off the program’s first trip to the Southern Conference championship game, but also as individuals as they graduate from Wofford and enter the real world.
Pulanco summed up the notion of a student-athlete perfectly: “I love the idea of being able to apply myself in different ways. For me, it’s about making the student experience better for whomever walks through Wofford’s doors. I want to make an impact knowing that I have helped to make this place better than I found it.”