As the confetti fell in Van Noord Arena on the evening of March 21, a sigh of relief came over Calvin co-director of athletics Jim Timmer. Calvin College had just completed hosting the women’s basketball NCAA DIII National Championship, a process that had taken 16 months of planning and preparation by Timmer and hundreds of others at Calvin and the NCAA.
“I did not feel a sense of relief until the confetti went. At that point everything was done,” said Timmer. “We felt like the women of the championship, the student athletes, the coaches and the fans had had a wonderful experience, and that was confirmed to us and the NCAA in their comments to our committee that it was a great experience for those athletes.”
It was the first time Calvin had hosted a national championship since 1988 in the Calvin Fieldhouse. With the upgrade of Van Noord Arena in 2009, Calvin became an ideal location for a national championship.
“Going back to the first time I saw (the Van Noord Arena), the thought goes through your head: ‘I can’t believe a better place to host a final four in volleyball or basketball,’” said Timmer.
The process began when Calvin, with the help of the West Michigan Sports Commission, was awarded the bid in December 2013. From that moment forward, a committee was formed and the planning began.
Timmer took on the role of tournament director, while co-director of athletics Nancy Meyer was tournament manager.
“We watched Hope [host national championships] over the past few years, saw the experience our women’s volleyball team had at Hope, and thought wouldn’t it be great to see our athletes at the highest level competing?” said Timmer. “You don’t know if your teams will get in, but we thought we could offer something back to the NCAA—to showcase our campus, to showcase our facility, and showcase the talented people we have at Calvin.”
The planning committee also had a chance to show off the city of Grand Rapids to the four teams that advanced to the national semifinals: George Fox University (Newberg, Ore.), Montclair State University (Montclair, N.J.), Thomas More College (Crestview Hills, Ky.) and Tufts University (Medford, Mass.). While the games on Friday and Saturday were the highlight of the championship weekend, the teams also took part in a social and a service project and banquet.
On Wednesday evening, the four teams visited Gerald R. Ford Museum in downtown Grand Rapids for a dessert social. The teams were allowed to tour the museum to see the career of President Ford and his role in the tumultuous politics of the 1970s. Later in the evening, the Calvin River City Improv group treated the teams to a comedy show.
On Thursday, the teams took part in a community service project. Calvin hosted the Special Olympics, giving the four teams the opportunity to run drills and play basketball with the Olympians. “The Special Olympics clinic was a big hit,” said Meyer. “It gave the teams enough autonomy to put their brand on it and their spin on some of the drills, but it had enough structure so they didn’t have to be stressed.”
Later in the evening, the teams attended a banquet at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park. They listened to speaker Tori Murden-McClure, a former DIII athlete and now the president of Spalding University, who is known for her many adventures: cross-country skiing to the South Pole and rowing solo across the Atlantic Ocean, to name a few.
“(McClure’s) a very good speaker; she had a really good message for DIII and the importance of athletics and her experience as a DIII athlete,” said Meyer. “She has a real heart for DIII athletics, and she has a fun story and interesting message.”
The games then took place on Friday and Saturday, with Thomas More claiming its first women’s basketball national championship with an 84-64 win over George Fox. While the games were certainly fun to watch, Meyer took joy in the community that came together to make the hosting possible.
“I think that was the highlight for me, seeing the student involvement—the students that were involved were phenomenal,” said Meyer. “Without our support staff … I just don’t know; we’ve run tournaments, but they did so much work. I think the college did a great job as a college coming together to host a good event.”
While the college is both excited and relieved to have hosted its first national championship in 27 years, the process will start over again soon as it prepares for the 2015 women’s volleyball national championship this fall.
“I’m really glad we got to do basketball first,” said Meyer. “We learned a lot and our committee learned a lot. I was so impressed with our committee, and the work that everyone did, pulling their weight and doing their job.”
Calvin has also been chosen to host the 2017 women’s basketball and women’s volleyball national championships.
