A BVU Division III Tradition Encompassing Two Generations
Mother and daughter share ties through BVU softball victories, academic rewards, and the thrill of being student-athletes at the NCAA Division III level.
When Peyton Gross decided to attend Buena Vista University and play softball, her mother, Joy Gross bought BVU license plates. It made sense, as Joy, like Peyton, played softball for the Beavers.
“I got the plates because I knew I’d be there and around softball a lot,” Joy says. “I had to represent.”
The plates say “84 CHAMP” as Joy played first base on the only BVU team to earn a national title, as the Beavers defeated Trenton State to earn the 1984 NCAA Division III Softball Championship. That BVU team was the first inducted as a team into the BVU Athletics Hall of Fame, an honor that came in 2017.
The team joined Joy, a 1986 BVU graduate who was inducted 17 years earlier as an individual who played three sports: softball, basketball, and tennis.
She explains her decision to attend BVU in the fall of 1982 in terms of size, academics, and athletics.
“A lot of people don’t understand that NCAA Division III institutions don’t award athletic scholarships,” Joy says. “It doesn’t matter, because you’re going to school for the whole package. I wanted a school that was the right size for me. I wanted a great academic program and I wanted to be able to participate in athletics.”
Joy, a special education teacher and coach, found a circle of friends immediately in the softball program. “If you saw one BVU softball jacket, you saw six or seven,” she says.
Peyton has enjoyed a similar experience as her suitemates are members of the softball team. A high school valedictorian who pitched for her mother’s softball team at IKM-Manning High School, Peyton sought an athletic experience that complemented what she’d discover as a business major who has concentrations in finance and management. She’s also an accounting minor and Dean’s List regular.
“With my mom being a high school teacher and coach, I know you must balance academic work with the time you put in for sports,” Peyton says. “At NCAA Division III, school comes first. You put in the time in class. Coach (Mandie) Nocita always tells us, ‘Your academic work comes first.’”
Peyton, who has won 27 career games thus far as a Beaver, notes how she and her teammates have cracked open the books on bus rides home. They’ve discussed class projects with one another when not scoring runs or retiring opposing hitters.
“Softball has helped me with time management,” says Peyton, who is 6-4 this season in the pitcher’s circle for a team that has raced to an 18-8 start. “I know that when I’m in softball, or training in the offseason, I have to be productive in the hours I’ve got available.”
The size of BVU’s campus, Nocita’s enthusiasm, and commitment for her players on the diamond and in the classroom resonated with Peyton, who visited other institutions before choosing a school that happened to be her mother’s alma mater. It elicited a sense of pride for Joy and husband, Paul, regulars in the BVU cheering section.
“This is what we wanted for our daughter,” says Joy, who shoots photographs at BVU games and shares them on the fans’ Facebook page. “She’s been able to excel in the classroom because she’s in that classroom with her professors. It’s the experience I want for every student-athlete at BVU, a school I love so much.”