VIDEO: MUW Surpasses Goal of Student Athletes

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI)- Mississippi University for Women is kicking off its academic year with five new sports teams.

There are even more student athletes enrolled than originally expected.

It’s the first time in 15 years the school will be competing in intercollegiate games, and the number of students ready to compete has been surprise to everyone on campus.

“It’s just been more than we ever imagined from the very beginning, we may have thought we would build to this over time but it’s just starting as we’re kicking this off,” says University President James Borsig.

And there are no signs of slowing down.

“We have planned very conservatively and thought for these first five sports that we would have about 80 students who would want to compete for us, and the reaction has been overwhelming,” says Borsig.

Volleyball, basketball, soccer, baseball, and track and field.

The university started recruiting last spring and brought in a little over 110 students athletes.

After a tornado in 2002 destroyed the school’s Pohl gym, the school ended it’s intercollegiate athletic programs.

To the university, this is a new beginning.

“This is a fresh start, we are really starting a new era of intercollegiate athletics, we’re doing it with a collegiate model with an athletic director with coaches that are devoted to coaching,” says Borsig.

University President James Borsig says school spirit throughout the campus and community has already grown.

“The impact on community spirit inside the university and around the region, has already been overwhelming because there’s just so much interest in watching students compete,” says Borsig.

Even alumni have joined in on the fun-

“It’s been overwhelming and just the buzz throughout our Alumni and we’ve got Alumni chapters who are going to be tailgating at away games and our local alumni are going to be setting up events for home games,” says Borsig.

He says administrators never expected such a high turnout so soon in the program.

“I think we’re a couple years ahead of where I thought we’d be at this point, and that’s the good news,” says Borsig.

The schools first home game is for its men’s soccer team on August 23rd at 6pm.