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Kirk Swanner: Undergrad Athlete Turned Coach

Her Campus Placeholder Avatar Mikaela McShane
Her Campus Placeholder Avatar Maria Losada
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at FSU chapter.

Name: Kirk Swanner

Age: 30

Hometown: Weston, FL

Graduated: 2006 (undergraduate), 2012 (master’s)

Occupation: Civil Engineer

Hobbies: Coaching, traveling, playing various sports

 

Kirk first got into coaching while pursuing his master’s degree in engineering at Florida State University. After playing rugby as an undergraduate, he wanted to stay involved with it even after he passed the age of eligibility to play on the schools team; he decided to give coaching a try and he ended up loving it.

 

Her Campus (HC): So Kirk, when you aren’t working or coaching, what do you like to do with your time?

 

Kirk Swanner (KS): I have always loved sports, so I like to get outside and play pretty much anything whenever I can. I also love to travel and would love to have more time to see the world.

 

HC: I’m sure coaching is a big time commitment; does it influence your relationships with friends or women?

 

KS: Coaching can be time consuming but I enjoy it. I don’t have a girlfriend right now so no worries there.

 

HC: How do you feel about this coming season? What needs to happen for the team to be as successful as possible?

 

KS: Well, this is going to sound cliché, but I don’t care about winning and losing; I care about whether or not we play well. You can win a game and not play well and that’s worse than playing your best and losing.

 

So in order for the season to be a success, it will require the guys to show up and give it their best effort at every training session and to absorb the information and progress. Then, on the weekends, the results will take care of themselves.

 

Don’t get me wrong; I am a competitor and I like to win. But winning is a by-product of the environment of the team. In order for the team to be successful, they will need to create an environment of hard work, competition, and playing well. In order to do that, the players will need to show up and give it their best effort.

 

HC: What is your ultimate goal for the team?

 

KS: Our goal for the spring semester is to qualify for the conference finals. This will give us a chance to win the conference, and we think that’s important.

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Third year Editing/Writing/Media & International Affairs Major.FSU Campus Correspondent Reader, Runner, Coffee lover."Everyones life ends the same way. It is only the details of how one lived and how one died that distinguish one man from another." ~Hemingway 
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Maria Losada is a senior at Florida State University pursuing a double major in International Affairs and Editing, Writing and Media. She is driven by her passion for writing and seeks to inspire others through it.  She loves learning about different cultures, languages, and especially enjoys tasting international cuisines!  On her down time you can catch her dancing salsa, reading articles from Her Campus FSU, or daydreaming about her next travel destination. She hopes to live in Washington D.C.  and work for an international development agency."Little by little, one travels far."