By Ryan Walker

Huntington University has a lot of great qualities for our athletes here on campus. There are many different things that contribute to HU’s unique t campus life and culture. What are some of the factors our student athletes considered when choosing HU?

Freshman pitcher Joey Butz from Heritage Christian High School had several offers from HU, Ball State, Chicago State, Salem University and many other small schools, and yet he choose HU.

“I choose Huntington because it’s easy to focus on baseball and school,” Butz said. “It’s small, which doesn’t allow for many outside distractions.”

Because HU is small and in the NAIA, teams have to work harder than other big schools to have nicer equipment, uniforms, talent and other program funding. Butz is no stranger to hard work and loves the daily grind of playing for a smaller university.

“I liked Huntington baseball over the rest because of how the baseball program is blue collar,” Butz said. “Nothing Is given to us. We do everything ourselves.”

Joey also stated that the team gets along well, and he mentioned the team chemistry. And that’s all very true, as the baseball team goes above and beyond in fundraising and organization, thanks to head Coach Mike Frame, who does a terrific job with the program.

HU also has its academics and the sense of community on campus, where you will feel a friendly vibe as soon as you step foot on campus. Do student athletes think this another reason to come to HU? Katie Springer of the women’s golf team thinks so.

“I choose Huntington primarily for the education I knew I was going to get,” Springer said. “Being able to continue my golf career was just an added bonus. The sense of community is what really sticks out to me. Everyone is so friendly and welcoming.”

I recently conducted a survey asking athletes to vote on which aspect of HU persuaded them to come here the most. The highest percentage was 59.3%, which goes to the coaching staff/team success, and the second highest at 22.2% was that HU is Christ-centered. There are many ways that HU stands out from other universities and is nonetheless a great place to go to school and further your athletics.