Basketball season now in full swing

The Coker College Women opened their season against UNC - Pembroke on Sunday and had difficult time finding their rhythmn. On Monday night, the Coker Men's basketball team held off the very determined Morris team from Sumter for the opening home victory. The women head to Rock Hill for a game against Winthrop University on Tuesday night.

Prospective Students

Really enjoy talking to prospective students about the opportunity of joining the learning community at Coker College. Coach Dave had a recruit and his parents in from Miami on Sunday and I got to talk with them about academics, classes, etc. Coker is a subject, like Hartsville, that I enjoy talking about. Our small campus, like our small city, can be one of THE right places for people. As we leaving the discussion my major advice to the student was to go with his gut as he looks at colleges. If the school feels right then you will have motivation to make it right. If it does not feel right there really is no reason to pressure yourself into a situation that does not feel like you. In higher education there are a lot of choices. For many, Coker could be THE right choice and I enjoy sharing information with students that can help them see the possibilities.

Getting into the important short rows

A quick look at the calendar shows that the Coker College Fall 2009 semester is quickly coming to an end. You can feel the end approaching as you read FACEBOOK lamentations about all the work that is suddenly coming due in classes all over the campus. You can see it in the posters announcing book buy backs (hope the students don't sell until after they use them for final study).

Complicating the work load is the fact that there continues to be a great deal going on outside the classroom. The basketball teams will be opening their regular seasons. This weekend A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM has a performance on Saturday evening and the closing performance on Sunday afternoon. Next week on November 18 there is a Speech Contest. The night before is a Faculty piano and voice recital. On Sunday, November 22, there is a performance by the Coker Singers of Requiem and the night before that the students have their Winter Formal at the Hartsville Country Club.

After today there are six Monday, Wednesday, Friday classes left in the semester. There are four Tuesday/Thursday classes left in the semester. Time does disappear and that is why many are feeling the end-of-semester pressure, including faculty.

Nothing to do -- often heard but not always the case

Recently, Jon Driggers, former dean of students at Coker, sent an email out to students, staff and faculty that listed some of the places students could find things going on at Coker and maybe even in Hartsville. We are in a small city. There is often the feeling there is nothing to do but we have a slogan in Hartsville that calls for residents and visitors to "Expect Pleasant Surprises." This is the email that Dean Driggers sent:
Have you had the feeling there is nothing for you to do in your free time? You will find some of the resources that list student events on campus:

The Campus Life Calendar: Have you had the feeling there is nothing for you to do in your free time? You will find some of the resources that list student events on campus:

The Campus Life Calendar: http://www.coker.edu/campuslife/calendar.asp
The Campus Life Facebook page: www.facebook.com/cokercampuslife
Athletics Website: www.cokercobras.com
Cultural Events Calendar: http://www.coker.edu/culture/0910/index.htm

From August - October over 167 programs were held in the Campus Life area alone(SGA, Campus Life, Residence Life, RSOs), 54 of these programs were held between Friday-Sunday.

Please check the calendars for upcoming events!





And, if there are not enough events, I usually tell my students they can always use their free time to prepare for classes.

Coker Soccer Wins Conference Championship and Coker Basketball Plays Division 1 Pitt

The Coker College men's soccer team had an amazing week as they won three games capping the success with the Conference Carolinas Championship on Sunday afternoon before one of the largest crowds ever to watch Coker soccer. Coker and Belmont Abbey were tied a 0-0 after regulation and after the first overtime and after the second overtime. The penalty kicks decided the game with Abbey missing after Coker converted and the 0-0 goes down as a 6-5 win for Coker in a hard-played match by both schools. Jubilation would be a good word to describe the feelings of the players and the fans as Coker has had quite possibly the best season in men's soccer history. It was really good to see former Coker players in the fan section.

BASKETBALL
The Coker Men's basketball team opened their 2009-2010 season with a game in Pittsburgh, PA against Division I Pitt. The game generated a great deal of enthusiasm among both players and fans and while Coker came out on the short end of the score, Facebook comments from students said this was a great trip. The game generated some good publicity in the Pittsburgh papers as the reuniting of Coach Dan Schmotzer with some of his TCU friends from the old days made good feature material for the reporters.

Volleyball
On the women's side, the Coker Volleyball Team ended their season over the weekend with a victory over Queens of Charlotte.

Coker Inducts 14 New Omicron Delta Kappa Members

The Coker College ODK Circle inducted 14 new members on November 4th in a ceremony held at the Drengalen House on the college campus. ODK is a leadership honor society and Coker has had a chapter since 2003.

A group of family and friends attended the initiation event along with members of the Coker ODK circle. Melinda Norris, a business professor at Coker is also the ODK Faculty Advisor and she offered important words on the importance of personal leadership in developing a personal legacy of service.

Among the new members are: Taylor Adams, Hannah Beard, Shannon Smith Flowers, Sarah Folsom, Amy Hall, Jordan Heydt, Kyria Hoffman, Anna Lippard, Askley Meador, Brandi Nichols, Robert O'Hara, Lisa Potoka, Amanda Warner, Robert Wyatt.

Coker Men playing in Conference Soccer tourney

I know that a post should be original in nature but with lots going on and with the Coker Sports Information Department working hard on getting the news out, I thought it would be okay to share their release about the conference tournament opening game. This game will be November 3 in Anderson:

Cobra Men Ready for Conference Carolinas Tournament
by Christian Stryker, SID Coker College
11/2/2009
Read this article on the web at http://cokercobras.com/article.asp?articleID=1837.
Hartsville, S.C. - All season long the Coker men's soccer team has made history and as the Conference Carolinas Soccer Tournament begins on Tuesday, they are hoping to continue to make history. The Cobras are seeded fifth in the tournament , their highest seeding in school history, and will have play nationally ranked #13 and fourth seed Anderson University.
Kick-off is set for 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 3 at Anderson University.
The Cobras lost their only contest against the Trojans back on Oct. 24, 2-0. Even with the loss, Coker had several good scoring opportunities, but were unable to capitalize.
Leading the Cobras offense is junior forward Daniel Shrizad (Orlando, Fla.) with seven goals, while freshman Eric Stiefield (Eustis, Fla.) has scored six goals on the year with an assist. Holding down the defense is freshman goalkeeper James Sweeney (Huntingtown, Md.). Sweeney has allowed just 15 goals in almost 1500 minutes of play, while making 42 saves with a 10-4-2 record including seven shutouts.
To stay up-to-date on all the latest news, scores and bracket busters for the Conference Carolinas Tournament, visit the Conference Carolinas Tournament website.
Visit cokercobras.com for the latest news and info on Cobras Athletics.