Both of Union’s varsity basketball coaches played on the Warrior men’s basketball team as students and believe that athletics and wellness play an important role in education and in life.
Brian Carlson: Warrior women’s coach
“I really enjoy the challenge of finding the right combination of people to match up against those five on the other side,” said Brian Carlson. “I love finding the best way to get five people to work together on the court. They’re more than just players; they’re like family, and I love each one of them in a different way.”
Two years ago, Carlson joined Union’s staff as a part-time basketball coach for the women’s Warriors team in addition to his day job as a digital media manager for Christian Record Services. In his own experience as a student athlete, working on a team is important to building community.
“I played basketball on the varsity team for four years as a student at Union and made some great memories and friends,” Carlson explained. Becoming a Union Warrior after playing high school basketball for three years both challenged Carlson and enriched his life. “People picked and played defense harder and didn’t call as many fouls as in high school. It was a much more aggressive and physical version of the game,” he said. The men’s and women’s teams would travel together, sometimes as long as five hours. The long times they spent together traveling and working as teams fostered friendships among the players.
Now Carlson sees that same fellowship developing with the basketball players he currently coaches. “The more I’ve been involved with different levels of coaching, the more I see that the individual relationships with the players are more important than when you get the X’s and O’s right,” Carlson said. “Some of them have come from the same school, so they’re reigniting friendships they had in years past. They’re working together building these relationships and memories that you don’t get sitting in a classroom.”
As a coach, Carlson is very excited about the Fit for the Future campaign and the new facilities it will bring. His team has struggled with getting in Union’s Thunderdome for practice, as they share the single gym with three other teams and any health classes taking place during the day. “Having more availability to use the full court or full gym would be very helpful to me as far as planning practice,” he said.
In addition, Carlson said that having new and accessible facilities will be a big draw for prospective students. “If you’re trying to encourage someone to come to Union College, the nicer the facilities are, the more excited they will be,” Carlson stated. But gaining the interest of prospective students isn’t the only reason new facilities will be beneficial.
“As a coach building a team, your players have to be physically fit to play basketball,” Carlson explained. “The players need to be in shape and have lots of opportunities to lift weights and have a place to run inside in the winter.” Carlson also notes that greater access to maintain fitness would benefit students’ mental health. “Physical activity and mental health have a close tie together. I want the mental health of all to be taken seriously, to be respected and supported.”
Drew Mekelburg: Warrior men’s coach
“Coaching is bigger than basketball or wins and losses. It’s about growing young men into leaders,” Drew Mekelburg said. The 2016 Union graduate has coached the men’s Warriors basketball team since his days as a player—first as an assistant and now as head coach. “It’s developed me into more of a leader. I don’t just go in with a vision for the team and push us toward that vision, I allow the players to cast their own vision as well. I want them to feel it’s something they can buy into because they created it.”
“I grew up being on campus,” Mekelburg said. His parents worked at Union from when he was in kindergarten until he was in college. “I knew I wanted to be a part of that community someday. I visited a few other schools, but never seriously. I always knew I would end up at Union.” Teaching and coaching were both things he knew growing up that he wanted to do. Now, he teaches PE at Belmont Elementary on 14th Street and coaches the men’s Warriors team at Union.
As a coach, Mekelburg places a high value on mentoring his team and helping them grow personally. “Being there for these guys when they’re struggling with things on and off the court is great,” he said. “They’ve got to rise to the occasion and overcome those struggles, and I’m not going to do it for them but I am certainly going to encourage and help them along the way.”
One student Mekelburg coached came into his role as a Warrior wishing to be a star player without wanting to play as a part of the team. It was a hard road of butting heads, but Mekelburg saw that student grow into a better athlete. “He’s a strong leader on the team now, and it’s cool to see him in that role,” Mekelburg said. “He seems happy now and loves being around the team.”
One consistent challenge Mekelburg has faced both as a student and a coach has been the overcrowding of the Thunderdome, Union’s only gym. “When I played, there were times that we were practicing from 10 p.m. to midnight because that was the only time we’d get the court to ourselves,” he said. “Right now we share the gym with three other teams, sometimes four depending on the time of year, so having actual practice time can be difficult.” Union’s Fit for the Future campaign plans to rectify this problem by providing another gym and more weight room space for students and athletes to work out and practice.
“As a basketball coach, I’m excited for a bigger weight room so we can go in and have some team lifts,” Mekelburg said. “That’s something we’ve never done before because we’ve never had the opportunity. The research is there; being active helps you academically, emotionally, and mentally and it’s also a big deal in terms of the Adventist mission. The health message is a big part. So if we can put our money where our mouth is, that’s going to go a long way.”
You can find out more about how Union is building programs and facilities to help students grow physically as well as mentally and spiritually. Learn more at ucollege.edu/fit
Maria Kercher is a senior communication major from Lincoln, Nebraska.
