Friends of Wellesley College Athletics supports current student-athletes and provides opportunities for alumnae and the College community to pursue lifelong interest in athletics and fitness. Where can you find Friends of Athletics 'In Action' the Wellesley Athletics community? Almost everywhere! Here are a few of the projects and programs sponsored by Friends of Wellesley Athletics.
Funds from Friends of Wellesley Athletics supports the purchase of practice gear for all 13 varsity programs at Wellesley College. Student-athletes might notice the Friends of Athletics logo on the back of shirts!
In Fall 2019, Friends of Athletics supported the purchase of covered benches for the soccer field, helping to shield players (and their equipment) from the elements during games.
Friends of Athletics supports recreation and club sports programming at Wellesley, including the equipment available for all students at the Butler Boathouse.
Friends of Athletics sponsors PERA's annual end-of-year athletics awards ceremony for student-athletes, held in Tishman Commons. The event includes ice cream for all student-athletes in attendance and is a celebration of the accomplishments of the year. A reception for all senior varsity and club sport athletes takes place prior to the ceremony. The Linda K. Vaughan Award and the Honor Award are presented along with the annual department awards for student-athletes.
Friends of Athletics supports the purchase of warm-up and travel gear for all 13 varsity programs.
Friends of Athletics provided start-up funds for the varsity softball program in 2005. It didn't take long for the Blue to field a successful team, as Wellesley won its first NEWMAC Championship just two years later in 2007.
Friends of Athletics supported the renovation of the Friends of Athletics lounge in the Keohane Sports Center as part of PERA's KSC branding initiative. The project included new furniture, paint and graphics in a popular studying location for student-athletes and hangout for Keohane Sports center visitors.
The varsity weight room on the bottom floor of the Keohane Sports Center continues to expand and improve to support the strength and conditioning needs of our student-athletes thanks to the generosity of Friends of Athletics.
Friends of Athletics supports annual training trips for our varsity programs, allowing teams the valuable experience of competing and training out of region. Here the lacrosse team can be seen during a trip to Colorado Springs in 2016.
Friends of Athletics sponsors an Athletics reception each year doing Reunion, allowing past teammates and generations of Blue student-athletes to gather together for an afternoon.
Funding from Friends of Athletics saw the installation of two new scoreboards at the athletic fields in the Spring of 2021, one on the soccer field and another at the softball field (pictured).
In Fall 2020, Friends of Wellesley Athletics and Wellesley Recreation teamed up to sponsor Walktober, a 42-day fitness challenge that united over 2,590 Wellesley College students, faculty, staff and alumnae in a 42-day fitness challenge. With the support of Friends and the Wellesley College Alumnae Association, the program returned in 2021 and saw nearly 2,900 community members join the challenge!
