New schedules. New teammates. New environment. Making the jump to collegiate athletics can be a tough transition for any student.
For Governors State golfer Hollie Campbell, it was an adjustment for a different reason.
“The first time I went out with the team, I was mistaken for a parent by one of the players,” Campbell said. “It was a little intimidating because all the students were so very young.”
Campbell, 64, is no ordinary student-athlete. She’s earning her doctoral degree in counselor education and supervision and is taking advantage of a new rule instituted by the NAIA that grants her eligibility. Basically, students now have 10 full-time semesters to play four years of a sport.
So how did Campbell get recruited to the team?
“I’m the leader of the GSU Golf League,” said Campbell, who is in her ninth year working at Governors State. “It’s a combination of faculty and staff who just like to golf. We go out once a week and play nine after work.”
It was at one of those very events that golf coach Mark Haines became aware of Campbell, who was first introduced to the game by her husband Willie.
“(Haines) asked if I ever played college sports,” Campbell said. “(I said,) ‘No, I never played. I never even did any athletics in high school.’
” ‘You’ve got eligibility,’ ” he said.
“I didn’t even know what that meant, but I ran with it. So I went through the process with the NAIA and sure enough, I’ve got a lot of time to play golf.”
Well, as much time as a doctoral student who works full-time can afford. Campbell is still raw at the game, but continues to refine her swing playing for the second-year program.
“What I marvel about is her energy and effort to get better.” Haines said. “She’s out there fighting and wants to get better and improve.”
And there’s got to be some perks to being a college athlete, right?
“My husband’s getting a bigger kick out of it than I am,” Campbell said. “He started this whole thing. He’s such an avid golfer, a lot of people know him on the course. He introduces me and the next thing that’s out of his mouth is, ‘She golfs at Governors State.’ “
Despite a loaded schedule, Campbell plans to continue playing with the team until her graduation in May 2018.
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“It will be bittersweet,” Campbell said. “I’ll be ending the journey and will no longer be able to play sports, but I’ll walk away with two degrees — a master’s and a doctorate — and I’ll be hooded as Dr. Campbell.”
For Campbell, that’s par for the course.
Logan Malloy is a freelance writer for the Daily Southtown.