By Rob Foreman
A rally for Ryerson Athletics was held in the front lobby of the Student Learning Centre Friday afternoon.
The event, attended by athletes, coaches, faculty and students was in celebration of the Rams’ historic year.
The men’s and women’s basketball teams were the first Ryerson teams to win gold medals at the OUA championships. But for the women, they took it one step further and brought home a silver medal from nationals while the men brought home their second bronze medal.
Basketball wasn’t the only sport that was recognized at the rally, the men’s and women’s volleyball teams also made strong playoff runs into nationals. For men’s volleyball libero Wesley Kosiba, the journey that he has been on with the Rams has ended on a positive note compared to where the team was in the past.
“It’s been a privilege, not only to see the growth of my team going from second-last in Ontario to second in the province and qualifying for nationals for the first time in the program’s history,” said Kosiba.
While the event was in celebration of Ryerson’s athletics, the athlete’s praised the fans – specifically, the Rams Pack.
When head of athletics Ivan Joseph had the podium, he said that the highlight of the year had nothing to do with the athletes.
“I love you guys to death, but it had nothing to do with wins or losses on a team, it was when our students decided to protect the MAC,” he said. “Showing up an hour before the [Rams versus Badgers basketball game] and creating standing-room only, that’s thanks to the Ram Pack.”
The Rams Pack, lead by Jared Armstrong, is Ryerson’s unofficial pep-squad. They helped bring excitement to games with their enthusiastic crowds covered in body paint and Ryerson colours.
Armstrong said he was proud of the attention that the school has received this year.
“We know how great this university is and now suddenly the rest of the country is taking notice, I’m so excited for what’s in store next year,” he said.
With the fan support that the Rams are now receiving and the tightly knit community within Ryerson Athletics, Adika Peter-McNeilly said that the family atmosphere is the best support system for the athletes.
“It’s crazy, like if you look around right now, we have athletes that play volleyball, we have athletes that play basketball, we have people from all parts of the administration at Ryerson,” he said.
“Seeing them and being able to mingle with them one last time to end off the year and congratulate each other for the type of season we had, it’s really cool.”
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