Students in Loyola’s newest club sport hope it will also sail into the university’s identity.
Jessica Monzon, sailing team captain, and several other students began the process in 2007 to get a sailing team chartered on campus.
Monzon, accounting junior, who sailed in high school for Mt. Carmel Academy in New Orleans, thought it would be a great idea to get several students together with a similar interest in sailing and possibly compete with other area universities.
“I sailed in high school, and my friends, some who graduated already, just thought it would be a lot of fun to start a sailing team at Loyola,” Monzon said.
After several months of going through the chartering process with the Student Government Association, which included writing a constitution for the organization, Monzon and other members of the sailing team were able to call themselves an official club sport as of fall 2007.
“We were really excited to get the team started because we wanted to start competing as soon as possible,” Monzon said.
The next issue the team faced was where they were going to practice.
Unlike the hockey club sport at Loyola that practices in Baton Rouge, La., the sailing team was able to find a spot in the New Orleans area where they could practice.
The team practices every Friday, at the Southern Yacht Club in New Orleans, right on the edge of Lake Ponchartrain, paying $200 a semester to use the facility and its equipment.
“When were competing, we like to add on a couple of practices in the mornings during the week,” Monzon said.
As far as competition, the sailing team has been able to compete against Tulane University and the University of New Orleans.
So far, the sailing team has participated in three regattas, or races, placing high in the first two.
On Nov. 7, the team participated in the “Back to the Bayou” regatta, hosted by both Tulane and UNO. Overall, the team placed 7th out of 10 boats that participated in the race.
They will continue to participate in more races in the coming year.
Monzon said the sailing team is always looking for more students to participate.
“We’re having a lot of fun right now. It’d be great if more people could join us,” Monzon said.
Jauné Jackson can be reached at [email protected].
