Norwich student athletes leave corps,
civilian lifestyle differences in locker room

By Michael McIntyre
Norwich Guidon Staff Writer

When students apply to Norwich, they are asked to make the choice between becoming a member of the Corps of Cadets or deciding to be a civilian student.

The athletic department leaves lifestyle choice to future athletes.

But through the eyes of the athletes, they look at one another as teammates.

Students' lifestyles do not affect their opportunity to become either great athletes or students, according to Norwich's Head Football Coach Michael Yesalonia.

In recruiting student athletes, the "corps versus civilian" lifestyle is not an issue, he said, adding that in the eyes of the athletic department, everyone is considered equal.

"They choose Norwich for their own reasons; whatever those reasons are, we tell them that they must respect each other's decisions, and they do," said Marc Klaiman, Head Coach for Lacrosse.

Head Baseball Coach Bill Barrale treats everyone on the team with the same values. The lifestyle that the student chooses does not give them an advantage or disadvantage on the team.

"The lifestyle they choose has no bearing on the baseball program," Barrale said, who has been involved with the team for the last two years.

In the time he has coached teams, Barrale said that teams have been split down the middle between corps and civilians.

"Corps or civilian does not really matter to me; the best baseball players will play," Barrale said.

As a former student athlete and a member of the Corps of Cadets, Yesalonia has a better understanding of that lifestyle than most.

It is the Corps of Cadets that Yesalonia believes makes Norwich unique.

"As a grad and a person knowing a lot about Norwich, I say we have something different than any other school you are looking at, and that is the Corps of Cadets," Yesalonia said.

It takes a special individual to be able to balance academics, athletics and responsibilities in the Corps of Cadets.

"It is how the individual handles rookdom," Klaiman said. "Rookdom does not bother (some of) them; others, it really affects them, and that may play a part in your focus on the field."

Regardless of what lifestyle each student athlete chooses, there is "no animosity towards them" on the playing field, Yesalonia said.

The student athletes in the Corps of Cadets and civilian lifestyle agree that everyone is treated equally in the locker room and on the playing field.

"It does not make me feel uncomfortable; there is no difference between us in attitudes," said Lynn Beedle, 22, a junior criminal justice major from Bethleham, Penn. "We are all friends; the only difference between us is that some of us wear a uniform."

As Henry Van Orman, 21, a senior communications major from Bennington, Vt., noted, athletic teams have their own identity.

"The hockey team last year really made a name for the school. This year, the football team is really starting to pick up some interest," Van Orman said.

Overall, the athletic department stresses the fact that the lifestyle a student chooses while at Norwich is not important to them.

"What I tell the coaches is that I want you to go out and find the best student athletes you can," said Tony Mariano, Athletic Director. "The decision of a lifestyle is up to them."

Back to Guidon index