“CVTC might not have those college-level sports, but playing at a place like The Sonnentag where it’s kind of that stadium feel will definitely bring that college athletics feel to CVTC…”
Technical colleges aren’t typically known for sports or extracurricular activities. But Chippewa Valley Technical College is turning that perception on its head.
Dom Hazelton, 18, a first-year Substance Use Disorder Counseling program student at CVTC, was looking for a way to connect with his fellow classmates. Their schedules didn’t always jive, so Hazelton wondered what the College had to offer.
Esports didn’t pique his interest. He wanted something more physical.
“I wanted to know what they had for physical sports,” he said. “One of my classmates is into football, and the other guys were like, ‘We’ll play!’”
At CVTC, football wasn’t an activity that was offered. That didn’t stop Hazelton. He contacted Erin Hazen, CVTC Student Clubs and Leadership Coordinator, to ask about the possibility of intermural flag football.
To Hazen, interest from Hazelton was like a touchdown.
“When I knew there was interest, I told the students to start planting the seeds to see if others were interested,” she said. “In the 1980s, CVTC had the Tech Tigers and some form of athletics, but since those ended, we haven’t had anything like that.”
Hazen had in her head that if 20 students were interested, she would do more research to create a league. It didn’t take long for more than 30 students to come forward. In March, the CVTC 5 v 5 Flag Football league began. Hazen coordinated with UW-Eau Claire to utilize The Sonnentag on Mondays from 8 to 9 p.m. through March and a couple of weeks in April.
Brayden Myers, 20, a Criminal Justice program student, was approached by Hazen to try out the new league.
“I’m not good at football,” Myers said with a laugh. “But my friends and I are doing it because it’s something fun to do. And that’s kind of the thought around being involved in these things at CVTC. Even if you’re not good at it, that’s OK. You just go and have fun.”
When Myers was looking at colleges to attend, he knew CVTC didn’t have physical sports at the time he applied. It didn’t deter him from CVTC, but now that football has been established, he think it could draw more students in.
“CVTC might not have those college-level sports, but playing at a place like The Sonnentag where it’s kind of that stadium feel will definitely bring that college athletics feel to CVTC,” Myers said.
PHOTO CREDIT: Utilizing AI in the creation of flag football at CVTC: The use of Artificial Intelligence helped Erin Hazen create the template used for the flag football posters. She also uses it to create the brackets and teams, saving her time. “Plus, a robot helps clean The Sonnentag, so that’s pretty cool,” she said.
