OTTERBURNE, MB – While the Providence Pilots are well-known for their competitive Soccer, Volleyball and Basketball teams – with the Women’s teams winning championship titles nationally in 2022 for Soccer (NCCAA) and provincially in 2024 for Basketball (MCAC) – a brand-new individual sport program is coming to Providence University College in 2025.
This fall, the Pilots will also have a Cross-Country Running team competing in the National Christian College Athletic Association, which will be led by head coach Caleb de Jong. The goal before the team’s official launch in September is to recruit at least five women and five men who will race at the NCCAA National Tournament in Indiana.
Originally from Winnipeg, de Jong earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Business Administration from Trinity Western University in BC, where he also competed in Cross-Country Running and Track and Field. Having now returned home from the West Coast, de Jong will be Providence’s very first distance running coach.
“Performances will fade, people will not remember championships or times; but people always recall how you made them feel. As my own coaches wanted to see me develop as a person – not just a runner – I want to help students learn, grow, and to have some fun along the way.”
Inspired by runners in de Jong’s family – namely, his father and older brother – as well as the Spartans’ coach during his time at Trinity Western, Providence athletes can expect an emphasis on creating lifelong experiences, enjoying themselves, and encouraging the Pilots’ three-fold aim of being Christ-centred, academically outstanding, and athletically excellent.
“It’s an exciting time. A lot of other teams are well established already, but because the Cross-Country team is just starting, the first few years of athletes will actually help to define the culture and vision of the program itself.”
While running is often seen as a solely individual sport, the community and comradery that students can expect to experience is also noteworthy. Though athletes each set different targets and milestones based on ability, they all train together and score as a team in meets.
“There’s a strong team component to competitions, where individual placings are combined to give a total score for each school. Normally seven people go to a race and the top five count toward a group’s results. It’s like golf where you want the lowest score, so you can’t just have one or two athletes carry the whole team.”
As for recruiting, this will be taking place over the next few months leading up to the summer, through making connections with coaches from high school teams and running clubs, monitoring race results from competitions, and considering self-recruitment forms that can be submitted via the Providence Athletics website.
“Running is about long-term athletic development and continuous improvement; getting better by learning to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. The best runners do enjoy races and performance, but they’ve also learned to enjoy the process. In many ways running is like life, and a lot of who I am is because of running.”
For more information about the Cross-Country Running team at Providence, contact Caleb de Jong (caleb.dejong@prov.ca).
