Despite his success in his 23 years at Madison College filling different athletic department roles, Jason Verhelst isn’t about to take a victory lap.
He wants to tackle several areas, including the student-athlete time at Madison College. “I want them to leave here and say, ‘Gosh, that was the best athletic experience I ever had,” Verhelst said.
As the new athletic director, Verhelst wants to enhance the student-athlete participation, an area he knows well. As a former Division I athlete, he swam at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on a athletic scholarship. Because he has a similar perspective, it makes it easier to connect with the athletes.
“You can be relatable. So you can relate to other student-athletes and know what their experience is,” Verhelst said.
Verhelst is determined to build off this awareness of what works or doesn’t work for the athletes, committed to enhancing the current student-athlete’s participation.
Having a similar perspective and attitude as the current athletes helps.
“Having an athletic mindset. So many of these student-athletes are willing to work hard. They’re willing to work hard in the classroom, the volleyball court or wherever they are competing.
“Having that ability to just work with your head down and constantly try to improve. Nobody’s perfect, but trying to constantly improve and make yourself better — I think, comes from being an athlete.”
In addition to knowing his 180 athletes, as a former student-athlete he can connect with them.
During his time at UW, Verhelst learned time management skills, a skill set he wants to hand down to his athletes.
Balancing college homework and athletics, Verhelst knew when he had to get stuff done. “Knowing when you have to do it and knowing that if you don’t do it during that time, it’s not going to get done.”
However, his department knows some students might struggle with higher-level homework assignments. Last year, they implemented a four-hour-a-week study hall.
As interim director, Verhelst recognized that participation in Division II would allow the athletes to compete with higher-tier teams, and he primed the college for entering that division.
Division II offers an alternative to the larger and better-funded Division I and the scholarship-free environment offered in Division III.
However, competing in Divison II comes with a new set of challenges, mainly fundraising, and trying to drum up as many scholarships as possible. While Division II athletes in other states typically have their tuition waived to lessen the financial burden of college costs, Wisconsin does not offer tuition waivers.
As a result, Madison College Athletics is trying to focus on offering as many scholarships as possible.
Right now, the department can supply one full-time scholarship to each of its sports, which is about $6,000, but they can divide it into smaller increments For example, four students could be awarded $1,500 each.
Some schools they compete against have more funds available for scholarships. Verhelst said last spring, one of the teams faced another Division II opponent that had 24 scholarships. The athletic director makes the case that through more scholarships, the better opportunity they have to be successful.
“I’m really excited. It’s a huge transition for our department to Division II. For all our sports. So I think this year (we’ll look for) tell-tale signs as to how we are going to move forward. We only want better competition,” Verhelst said.