Our annual staff Christmas Party officially ended the fall semester today at lunch. Exams are completed, students have returned home. It was a busy fall with highs and lows very typical for Erskine Athletics. But there is a common light at all our staff meetings and parties. We have a group of coaches and support staff that truly care about their student-athletes and want what is best for all of them. I say it often, but we have an amazing staff. They are focused and passionate about what they do. When an opportunity like today comes when we can fellowship together it is a blessing (even though Coach Vahjen thinks she gets made fun of too much!). I am grateful for our group and all each has done at Erskine in their time here. Most people would have no idea what it takes on a daily basis to coach at this level with the resources that we have. And while not all 252 student-athletes had the best of experiences this fall, most did and for that I say thanks to a great group of leaders.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas. Don’t forget the reason for the season. Keep running the race and fighting the good fight. See you back here in 2011.

Losing stinks…as athletic director when our coaches go through tough losing streaks I find the need to encourage them. It doesn’t work so well for me as a coach. I am a miserable self-encourager. Our men’s basketball team has gotten off to a horrendous start this year, not only not winning a game but not really even being close to a win. There are plenty of excuses for that; we are really young, a fairly tough early schedule, 4 guys we are counting on who haven’t even played yet, and on and on, but the truth is we just are not very good yet. We haven’t practiced well and thus have played lousy in games.

As Mr. Han says in the Karate Kid,”there are no bad students, just bad teachers.” So clearly I know where to place the responsibility for this poor start. My emotions run the gamut from embarrassment, anger, humility, and even to desperate moments of wanting to just run away. But every time that last feeling has hit me over the past month I am reminded why I got into coaching in the first place. I seriously considered going to seminary after college until I learned about a man named James Naismith. A devoutly Christian man, Naismith saw his ministry in athletics so along the way created the game which today is causing me so much love and turmoil. So I got into coaching to teach the game and try to represent Christian moral values as a ministry. Sometimes that “tough love” passion I have is harsh but it is still founded upon Christian principles. My problem is that winning, like with most people, is highly important. With me, it has been far too important at times, to the point where my self-worth is based upon it. That is not the way it should be. I know people that support Erskine athletics aren’t happy that Erskine basketball has had only one twenty-win season in the past 30 years but that is probably a much deeper problem than the current coach or our current team. I have had former coaches and alumni at Erskine tell me that we need a new coach but there have been 5 different coaches in that 30 year period, so change hasn’t proven to be the answer.

What appears to be the answer to me or at least what I feel convicted to do, is to keep fighting. I knew coaching at Erskine would be an uphill battle. I trusted God when I decided to leave a conference championship team to come to Erskine. At the time I had no idea so much losing would come our way but I have learned a very important lesson. I’ve come to realize, in my ever-progressing effort to follow what God wants from me, that Jesus doesn’t want us to be comfortable all of the time. If we don’t face adversity, i.e. losing, we could become complacent and turn our eyes from Him. Losing will always stink. Yet from that “stinkiness” has come some fine young men who have learned that life is hard and you better be prepared to keep fighting when you get knocked down. Twenty-seven young men haven’t learned that lesson very well yet this year, but they will. I hate losing but I also know that there are lessons in it. It has at times caused great misery for me and my family but by the grace of God it has never broken me. I want that to be the legacy of this year’s Erskine basketball team. We will not let losing break us, but instead it will make us fight harder to grow into the basketball players and people God intended. But hopefully that fight will include some wins, because honestly, losing….STINKS.

In 1954 a Christian organization was founded on the basic premise of furthering the cause of Jesus Christ in the lives of athletes. The development of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) has grown rapidly over the past 56 years to the point where FCA impacts nearly 2 million people annually as the organization has grown into the largest sports ministry in the world. The idea of impacting the world for Christ is not lost on us at Erskine. While I have been involved with FCA since my days as a collegiate athlete, I was impressed 12 years ago during my first week on campus that then FCA president, Adam Hare, was one of the first people to introduce himself to me. Even then, FCA was drawing nearly 75 kids to weekly huddle meetings.

Through the past few years we have seen tremendous leadership in FCA by students like Matt Herring, Kendal Shaffer, and current leader Shawn Glover. Those three leaders also were and, in Shawn’s case, still are, inspirational leaders on their teams. They have led growth in FCA on campus by not excluding non-athletes from the organization. In fact, a large proportion of those attending FCA weekly are not student-athletes. Some would argue that FCA is for athletes and coaches only but in fact the vision of FCA is to use the influence of athletes and coaches to impact the world for Jesus Christ. I learned that lesson many years ago when I was asked during my college years to speak at a youth retreat at a church in Tennessee. Upon the invitation I asked the youth pastor what it was I supposed to talk about. I was instructed to talk about how a competitive athlete could be a practicing Christian. That seemed like a fairly tall task for a college student who had never even thought about it before. For so long I had never thought an athlete could display their Christianity through the avenue of sport. My attitude towards athletics changed because of that retreat talk. I realized that demonstrating Christian morals and values needed to be part of my athletic existence, and I could use my sport as a platform to impact other people in following Christ.

So I am in awe of Kendal, Matt, and Shawn who learned that lesson far earlier than I. Because of their actions, FCA is booming at Erskine. So much so that one night in September, 19 young people gave their lives to Christ on campus. It didn’t matter whether they played sports at Erskine or not. What mattered is that they all joined together to play on the best team of all. On God’s team, losing will never be the issue. So keep “Unleashing the Power” Erskine FCA; what a tremendous movement of God you are a part of.

Thanksgiving week is here so I’m going to join the chorus of people writing about for what they are thankful. We should do it more than just this week but this holiday reminds us to be thankful for our bountiful blessings.

I am thankful for:

The Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come. We don’t deserve any of the blessings we have.

Our coaching staff…. I am extremely lucky to work with an incredible coaching staff. They all should be paid and appreciated more. Most people have no idea how much time a college coach puts into their craft. I always smile when I hear fans come to games and know exactly what the coach should do better, as if that coach hasn’t spent hours thinking about it. So thanks Erskine coaches for putting your hearts and souls into your teams and the impact you make on your student-athletes.

Flying Fleet student-athletes who spend long hours practicing and playing representing Erskine and still have to put in the hours to succeed in the classroom. You can find the true student-athlete at Erskine because I can assure you nobody cuts them any slack on our faculty.

Aramark Facilities…since Aramark took over the facilities at Erskine the Galloway Center has never looked better. Our facility is first-rate and looks great everyday.

Randy Moore…you can’t list all that Randy Moore does for Erskine Athletics, it’s absolutely incredible.

Erskine Athletic Training Staff…they have such a hard job but do it so well, everyday.

Bart Walker and Thomas Holland…we have a small support staff who are asked to do so much.

Dr. Gid Alston…the chair of our department is a great role model and mentor.

Dr. Richard Taylor, Dr. Larry Nycum, and Steve Southwell…Faithful Fleet

“The Fleeter”…still running after all these years.

Maggie, Hope, Jenkins, and Max…nobody has it better than me.

Happy Thanksgiving!

‘So you want to be a coach?’ It is a question I often jokingly ask coaches on our staff when we find ourselves dealing with crazy issues or our way too busy lives. It is 10:00 pm on a Sunday night and I just experienced a weekend that made that question come to my mind. My personal and professional lives intertwined me in a long weekend. It all got started Friday night as our men’s basketball team played East Carolina University in Greenville, NC. It was a great experience for our team, playing a Division I Conference USA opponent in front of a huge crowd on opening night. Don’t be fooled by the final score, ECU scored the final 12 points of the game in the last three minutes to make the score lopsided but they got all they wanted from the tiny Division II Fleet in the game’s first 37 minutes. The game lasted until after 10:00 pm so our team left Greenville at 10:20 pm, arriving back in Due West at 4:30 am.

I got to bed at 5:30 am and was up at 8:00 am to attend my daughter Hope’s district championship soccer game in Seneca, SC. Despite losing, I was a proud dad watching Hope play with the Abbeville All-Stars boys’ team. She wasn’t excited about the loss or the runner-up trophy with a boy on it, but it was an awesome experience. We made it back to Due West at 2:00 pm to give me time to get a 30 minute nap before heading to basketball practice. Our practiced lasted until 5:00 pm. Within an hour, Hope and I were in our car headed to Charlotte. My mom spent the last few days in the hospital and although reports were that she was fine, I had to see for myself. We drove to the wrong hospital before finally getting it right and seeing my mom at 9:30 pm. We made it to my parents’ house late in the night with plans of staying in bed for a while on Sunday morning. My body didn’t get the plan and my back started screaming at 7:00 am, probably some repercussions from being on a bus for 13 hours on Friday. Hope and I went to see my mom at the hospital on Sunday morning (as she was being released!) before departing to Banner Elk, NC to watch our women’s volleyball team play in the conference championship against Lees-McRae. Despite losing to the Bobcats, our volleyball team had an incredible season of which we are extremely proud. I know the empty feeling they had after Sunday’s loss but that will soon be washed away with great feelings about the season. Hope and I left Banner Elk just before 4:00 pm on our way back to Due West. We ran into a load of traffic on I-85 so ended up taking more back roads than usual before pulling in our driveway at 8:00 pm.

So here I am, over 1500 miles in a bus and car, 3 very tough sports losses, a recovering mom, numerous hours of quality time with my daughter, way too much fast food, and legs that can’t get anymore stiff. I ask “so you want to be a coach/administrator?” Other than being away from my wife and boys for the weekend I would have to say a resounding “yes.” I got to witness three competitive athletic events that didn’t turn out the way I wanted but nonetheless all the travels were well worth it. I am tired from thinking about this weekend but this way of life is truly what I signed up for. Maybe I can do it all again next weekend. First though I think I will take two aspirin and try to get some sleep.

We have not seen our shortage of successes this fall. Friday was cross country’s turn to get in on the action. This has been a culture-changing season for our men’s and women’s cross country teams. Coaches Rick and Mary Wilson brought a new attitude to the program so Friday was a measuring stick to see if that change of attitude was making a difference on the course. The Wilson regime had already paid dividends this fall way before Friday. The men’s and women’s teams have quickly become a part of the Erskine athletics family. They have shown up at athletic events donning their cross country apparel as they supported other teams. They have run in mass through the streets of Due West (which of course landed us in hot water with the local police force). You could see a pride developing amongst the team this fall which was not readily apparent in the past. So Friday was not a tell-all for what kind of season it has been but it certainly would benchmark progression. It was a pretty good benchmark.

Erskine cross country records fell by the wayside at McAlpine Park in Charlotte on late Friday afternoon. Liz Loftis broke Jessica Martin’s school record 5k with a 20:02. Liz didn’t even run cross country at Erskine as a freshman but her improvement this year has been dramatic. Only seven seconds behind her was Katie Henderson at 20:09 and only 11 seconds behind her was Katie Moore. With the females running in the low 20 minutes, they have all three knocked huge times off their career best this season. The men’s 8k record fell as well on Friday as junior Chaz Culbertson broke Adam Groblewski’s record. Chas’s all-conference performance knocked 1:20 off his personal best this year but that was small compared to Robert McCarthy and Matt Diaz who shaved 2 minutes off their personal best. The signal from the cross country championships was clear; Erskine cross country will soon be a force to be reckoned with inside the league.

Runners are definitely a different breed. The sport they love is often used as a punishment by coaches for other sports. I don’t know much about running. I have for the past 25 years been a jogger, but running and racing is something foreign to me. I can go out and jog 10 miles without much problem, but ask me to run any of those 10 miles under a certain pace or try to catch someone going up hill, and you will not find me too interested. I have a comfort zone in jogging, which is a far cry from being a runner. Because of that I have enormous respect for cross country runners. What they do to test their limits is incredible. Regardless of the weather or how they might be feeling that day, they push on. There is no comfort and little fanfare. I applaud our cross country program this season! I think we may have a new nickname for you guys, the "Flying Feet".

Every Sunday morning on our family’s way to church just before 9:00 am we pass a cemetery. Many times sitting in that cemetery is a man seated in a lawn chair. I have never met the man and I don’t even know his name but in my mind I know a little bit about him. I know he has lost someone he loves; so he comes each Sunday to sit, talk, and reminisce. It could be a wife, a friend, or a family member but I always deal with two feelings on those Sundays. The first is that I am really sad for him. The second is that I hope I have such a wonderful relationship with someone in my life that they will take time out of their living world to sit with me and remember the great times. As former N.C. State coach Jim Valvano once said, “spend most of your time with the people who will cry at your funeral.” Relationships are what life is all about. Athletics allows for players and coaches to have numerous opportunities to form relationships with people. Like all of life, some times those relationships are strained but sometimes they are special, and sometimes…. they are both.

This week is the final time our Fall student-athlete seniors will play for the Erskine Flying Fleet. They might be “Flying Fleet Forever” but the reality is their relationships with their teammates and coaches will change. As a coach I have been a part of many senior night festivities. I had a difficult time last February when I watched 7 very special young men to me play their final home games in Due West. So it is from a different perspective that I watch soccer and volleyball teams go through their senior nights. Women’s soccer coach Gary Winchester saw two seniors, Amanda Tinker and Si’Ara Washington, play their final games at Huggins Field last Tuesday night. Amanda is injured but Coach Winchester started her and allowed her to play the opening seconds of the game. Her face as she left the field said enough about how much she appreciated the gesture. Amanda and Si’Ara were both a part of Coach Winchester’s first team at Erskine so they will always have a special place in his heart. The men’s soccer team had a ceremony of their own on Tuesday. Andy Castano has played two years after transferring from Spartanburg Methodist and has been a key player in Erskine’s rise to second place in the league this year. But the other senior on the men’s team was even more special. Nik Papapierus played for Coach Warren Turner in 2003 at Greenville High School. Nik ends a player-coach relationship that has seen the pair win a state high school championship and miss winning a Conference Carolinas regular season championship by one goal on Saturday. Nik will no doubt always be one of Coach Turner’s favorite players. Much the same feelings will be felt by Volleyball Coach Heather Vahjen in regards to her senior Alison Albers. Alison will be the first volleyball player at Erskine to graduate since re-starting the program two years ago. Alison has been a key part of the quick rise of volleyball to 2nd place in Conference Carolinas in only their second year.

All five of these seniors will be missed for their abilities but it will be much deeper than that for their coaches and teammates. Those relationships will change. Hopefully they will keep in contact with their coaches and a few teammates but it will still be different. There time as collegian athletes will never be replicated in their lives. But maybe one day the relationships they have formed will be strong enough to warrant sitting in a lawn chair and reminiscing.

We are on the brink of a first in Erskine Athletics this Fall. We are going to host 1st round tournament action in men’s soccer and volleyball barring unforeseen circumstances. Never in the history of Erskine as a NCAA Division II member in Conference Carolinas have we hosted two first round tournament games in the Fall. It is even more exciting because our volleyball team was picked to finish sixth in the conference (currently 2nd) and men’s soccer was picked to finish last (currently 4th). In other words, our Fall sports are overachieving on preseason predictions. It doesn’t stop just with those two sports. Women’s soccer, as I noted two weeks ago, has been tormented by injuries to key players all season, yet they picked up a win at Coker on Saturday to guarantee at least a seventh place finish in the league and a spot in the tournament. Our men’s and women’s cross country teams ran Saturday at Lenoir-Rhyne and nearly every runner turned in their best performance of the year. We have teams that are exceeding their expectations, which is a wonderful thing.

The essence of sports is getting the most of one’s abilities but it gets to another level when players and teams surpass others expectations. Our women’s volleyball team is only in their second year of existence. No one could have expected such a dramatic rise to the top from Heather Vahjen’s squad. And it was in early August when men’s soccer coach Warren Turner wondered, out loud to me, if his team would win a game. Yet, here they are competing at the upper echelon of Conference Carolinas. I am struck by how much the landscape of Erskine Athletics is changing. We expect to be good now. We didn’t expect that ten years ago but now every team takes the field thinking Erskine should win. It is exciting because everyone likes to win. It reminds me of the quote, “What happens when your reality exceeds your dreams?”

Conference Carolinas has an award for the top athletic program each year amongst its institutions. We have never dreamed of winning what is coined as the Joby Hawn Cup. The past two years we have finished 7th in Joby Hawn Cup standings, which is the best Erskine has ever done in its history in the 12-school league. This year our goal is to finish 5th. Thanks to five overachieving sports this Fall, we will find ourselves in 5th or higher by Fall’s end. It is a great start to a year we expect to be special for Erskine Athletics. And what do we do when our reality then exceeds our dreams? We set those dreams higher. So don’t be surprised in the near future that our goal will change to finish first in the Joby Hawn Cup. In the meantime, way to go Fall sports and good luck in your upcoming tournaments. For volleyball and men’s soccer, the excitement and energy in Due West will definitely be unprecedented. It’s gonna be fun!

The end of classes on Friday began fall break at Erskine. As I walked home Friday evening I thought how quickly the first half of the semester had gone. It seems like we just started the fall semester yesterday. I got a bigger taste of the pace of time later that night when my brother sent me a text with the news that I was missing my high school reunion, my 30th. Could that be possible? It struck me how quickly 30 years had passed as I stayed awake in bed much of the night. Time is strange for me. For the past twenty years I have worked in collegiate athletics. The student-athletes stay the same age, I don’t, but somehow I missed that part. I am no longer young and time passes so quickly now. I was reminded of time as well this past Thursday night as my wife, a national certified personal trainer (translation, she is in better shape than me) held a “Fitness Fight against Cancer.” Our men’s basketball team and women’s lacrosse team took part in an event that attracted more than 100 people into Phillips Gym. Cancer has affected many if not most families. My wife lost her mom to cancer two years ago and 14 years ago to the day on Friday one of my best friends lost his battle to the disease. Time stood still for a moment when both of those special people passed away, but the reality is that the memories with them don’t ever fade. A semester, two years, fourteen years, or thirty years, time goes fast but memories don’t. I still remember playing basketball and baseball in the state tournament 30 years ago, still remember my mother-in-law’s face at my wedding reception and playing golf late into the Louisville, Kentucky night with my friend. Time can go as fast as it wants; I will keep clinging to those memories.

So Friday morning new memories began. The men’s basketball team began the official season at a 5:30 a.m. practice. Fifteen freshmen and a transfer joined 9 returning players at the first practice. We have conditioned for the past month but it’s not quite the same until every player is on the floor at the same time with a basketball. It wasn’t much different than 12 years ago when we started practice on October 15th at 6:00 a.m. with my first team at Erskine. Most of those players were freshmen just like they were 12 years later. We are quite a bit more talented than we were 12 years ago but much hasn’t changed. They are still 18-year-olds chasing dreams. A former player of mine, Jeff Wiersma, chased his dream 12 years ago. He became one of Erskine’s all-time leading scorers and rebounders. I know Jeff is proud of his accomplishments at Erskine. Jeff is today a husband and dad of two young boys and a professional with the Milliken Corporation. I don’t remember much about Jeff’s heroic performance against #2 nationally ranked Queens College his senior year, but I do remember a young man who faced adversity and fought through it as a player and now uses those same lessons on a daily basis as a great father and husband. We will see those young men emerge this year as well. I don’t know how many games we will win this year, but I do know those games, win or lose, will have a large part in creating successful men and lasting memories.

Unfortunately, this season is going to go by way too fast for all of our teams. I hope our athletes will relish their opportunity. It is hard when you are 18 years old to realize how fast 30 years will go. My prayer is they embrace every second, every practice, every opportunity. But most of all, I hope they build memories that last forever so that when 30 years do go by for them, they will lie in their bed at night and re-live how wonderful those times were. Time doesn’t stop so we better make the best of the time we have.

Injuries are a part of sports. Anyone who plays the games long enough experiences some type of injury. Collegiate athletes play at a high level and most end up at some point during the course of the year in our athletic training room. Often teams with the most success are the ones who avoid key injuries during their season. Coaches do everything they can to prepare athletes for the rigors of the physicality in their sport. Sometimes it works, sometimes freak plays get in the way and injuries occur.

Our women’s soccer team has been bitten by the injury plague this season. Three standout players, Amanda Tinker, Molly Harpe, and Emily Brown have suffered season-ending injuries in games this season. Bailey Miller, another standout player, has missed several games. Because of these injuries, a season of high expectations has turned into a massive struggle for Coach Gary Winchester’s squad. Until Saturday that is, when a short-handed squad played its finest game of the season, defeating Newberry, 1-0, at Huggins Field. The players were incredible but the most noticeable thing on Saturday was the three team members out for the season. Being an injured team member is hard on anyone. No athlete likes to suffer and watch from the sideline as your teammates fight for a win especially when you are an excellent player. Yet Saturday was special to watch. Gary Winchester is a demanding coach but instructions for the Flying Fleet players came Saturday from more than Coach Winchester. The wounded Fleet of Tinker, Harpe, and Brown were doing much of the instructing and encouraging of teammates. They didn’t spend their time sulking on the bench about their injuries. Instead they got involved in the game the only way they could, as coaches. The win was a proud moment for Erskine women’s soccer and those young women had much to do with it even though their prolific skills could not be used on the field.

It is said that losing doesn’t just build character, it reveals it. I would say the same for injuries. People often show their character when hurt. Over the years I have seen many young people have season-ending injuries and no longer participate in team activities possibly because of they have lost their self-worth by not being able to play anymore. Last basketball season, Marko Latinovic, a senior from Serbia went down with a season-ending knee injury and completely changed his role on the team. Marko went from a star forward to a star encourager and spent much of his time mentoring a freshman who had taken his place. It was an incredible selfless act from a senior who would never play another collegiate game. I saw the same type of character from Molly Harpe, Amanda Tinker, and Emily Brown on Saturday. They won’t get any of the credit that Kimrey Angotti-Smith received from her goal or Casey Craft from her assist or Si’Ara Washington for her shutout in goal, but they were highly responsible for the win. Marko Latinovic will heal soon from his knee injury and have a successful professional playing career in Serbia. And Molly and Emily will return next year as two of the league’s best players. Good things will happen to all of them but we have already seen a clear vision of outstanding character, a trait that will long outlast any athletic career.

The NCAA requires its member institutions to conduct a self-study of its intercollegiate athletics program every five years with the purpose of enhancing integrity amongst members. Erskine will be required to complete its third Institutional Self-Study Guide (ISSG) by June 2011. It will also be my third journey through what I originally deemed as a tedious process. I first worked on an ISSG in 1998 while athletics director at St. Andrews College. I was fairly new to collegiate athletics administration so I was extremely fortunate to have a Vice-President at St. Andrews named Bill Loftis who did most of the work for me especially on the documentation. Erskine completed its first ISSG in 2000 under the direction of athletics director Chip Sherer. Chip’s work was such good quality that by 2005 little had changed in Erskine Athletics and therefore few revisions were needed. Now here it is 2010 and we begin the process again. The problem is however, that this time, much has changed with both participation and operations and the process will be far more complex than it was in 2005. Hopefully the effort and the outcome will help us on our journey to enhance integrity in Flying Fleet Athletics.

I decided Friday to begin preliminary work on the ISSG. My first task was reviewing the 2000 and 2005 documents. It was these documents that inspired my blog this week. And one word stood out, growth. In 2000, Erskine athletics reported that 135 student-athletes participated on sports teams. The Erskine student body was comprised of 495 students, meaning 27% of the student body participated in sports. The number of athletes grew to 170 in 2005 as the student body reached 545, meaning 31% of the student body were athletes. The 2010 numbers are decidedly different. This year 250 students at Erskine out of a student body of 530 have a link to intercollegiate athletics. Today 47% of Erskine students participate in athletics, up from 27% ten years ago. We project that within our 14 sports teams we will have 280 student athletes in the fall of 2011. If that happens, Erskine Athletics will have doubled its participation levels in eleven years. There are many positives to that increased participation level but there are also many fears. My fears as we began to grow five years ago were that we would see a gradual decline in academic excellence and a gradual increase in disciplinary problems. Every collegiate athletics program deals with disciplinary issues, but the reality is that we dealt with just as many seven years ago when I first became athletics director as we do today (please hear the knock on wood).

So what about academic excellence? Erskine Athletics has long been recognized with high graduation rates, and we definitely didn’t want to see that drop with higher participation numbers. Last spring we saw half of our student-athletes make the Conference Carolinas Presidential Honor Roll (3.0 GPA or higher). But the more telling sign came with the release of our graduation rates for 2010. The data lists our student-athlete graduation rate at 77% while the graduation rate for all students is 69%. Considering student-athletes are factored into all students, it is safe to comment that the graduation rates for Erskine student-athletes is quite a bit higher than the rest of the student body. As the late and former President of the NCAA Myles Brand once said, “In God we trust, for everything else bring data.” We have data that supports we can grow and not lose ground on academic quality. We know it will always be a challenge but it is a major focus for all of our coaches.

I know the ISSG will unveil many changes needed to be made in Erskine Athletics. It will be a long process but by June I think all of our department will be the better off because we went through it. Flying Fleet Athletics is quite different than it was ten years ago. Change is good and so is growth. I hope someone undertakes this task in five years and finds growth still at the forefront of Erskine Athletics. Go Fleet!

Sometimes in bad situations good moments and good people arise. Saturday was Homecoming at Erskine. Everything was set-up for a great day. The weather was beautiful and our fall sports teams were performing well. Our volleyball team picked up two road wins, both cross country teams performed admirably at the USC-Aiken Invitational, and our men’s and women’s soccer teams were headed for conference wins, which by all counts would make for a perfect day. But with 26 minutes remaining in the Erskine-St. Andrews women’s soccer match, St. Andrews senior Marie Savage went to the ground screaming in pain as her body went one way and her ankle went another. It was a gruesome dislocation and probably one of the harshest injuries I have witnessed in sixteen years of NCAA Division II athletics. Any chance of a perfect day was out the window as all in attendance watched this young student-athlete suffer. But like I said, sometimes in bad situations good moments arise.

Almost before Marie had hit the Huggins Field turf, our head athletic trainer Adam Weyer was by her side. The severity of the injury was clear to even my untrained eye so there was no question Adam realized before anyone the extent of what had happened. Immediately after Adam reached the scene, St. Andrews head men’s coach Stevan Hernandez was kneeling to comfort Marie. As Adam worked on her ankle, Coach Hernandez, a long-time friend of mine, did a remarkable job of calming her despite the immense pain. Stevan’s quick response to the situation caught me off-guard especially since he was mentally already preparing for the upcoming men’s game. An ambulance was immediately called to the scene. As the ambulance came on to Huggins Field the Erskine women’s soccer team walked down to the St. Andrews bench and both teams walked together to the entrance gate where the ambulance would exit. The two teams faced each other in line in preparation to cheer for their fallen comrade as she left the field. While the EMTs’ care for Marie on the field delayed the ambulance exit, the two teams came together, formed a circle and prayed. It was one of those moments where you don’t have to be an athletic director to be proud. There were goose bumps a plenty among spectators as well. It was a genuine act by both teams, not prompted by anyone but the players themselves. As Marie was finally escorted away to Self Regional Hospital (where hours later she was released and returned home on the St. Andrews bus) the two teams circled around their coaches. I listened as Erskine coach Gary Winchester told his players how proud he was of their actions. “I may yell and scream at your play, but you are first-class all the way in my book,” stated Winchester. Meanwhile St. Andrews coach Rohan Naraine assembled his troops asking if they wished to continue play. Seconds passed and the Knights emerged ready to continue. It was impressive resolve on St. Andrews part to play on after what had just happened to their teammate, and no one would have blamed them for calling it an afternoon.

At that point the final score had no significance. Players from both teams will shortly forget the final score of the match but both teams’ actions will long be remembered. We pray for Marie Savage to have a full recovery from her serious injury and hope her surgery goes well. But for a moment Saturday her injury allowed all of us in attendance to see that sometimes bad situations can bring out the best in people.

“Spirit” can be defined in many different ways. Energy, soul, personality, attitude; all those words come to mind when we try to describe “spirit.” Friday night proved an exciting one for Fleet Athletics but it also demonstrated the uniqueness of “spirit” in Division II athletics. The exciting part was watching our women’s volleyball team move to 5-0 in conference play by thrashing Queens University of Charlotte. What set that scene apart from any other typical athletic event was displayed in the stands. The raucous student section was led by a loud and supportive men’s soccer team seated at center court. Up above them to the right was our cross country team decked out in classy t-shirts representing their sport. In the right hand corner, a large group of baseball players were assembled, while in the far left corner of the bleachers sat our women’s lacrosse team. Seated just to the left of the lacrosse team was the men’s basketball team who were just right of the women’s basketball team. The women’s soccer team assembled in the front row in close proximity of our enthusiastic men’s soccer team.

It wasn’t formally intentional that these teams were all seated together in their own section, but it demonstrated something special about Erskine student-athletes and/or Division II athletes for that matter in two ways. First, seeing each team sitting together demonstrates a unity of group that all coaches desire to have on their teams. While players don’t have to like each other to be successful on the playing field, it certainly enhances team chemistry if they all get along. Secondly, as nearly half of the Erskine student population participates on intercollegiate athletic teams, the reality is that teams have to support each other. Sport teams realize that supporting others is the best way to attract fans of their own at games. So they all bond together without probably even talking about it to help create “spirited” atmospheres, in this case it was at our volleyball team’s match.

I have witnessed that “spirit” in other areas already this year. Our cross country team members joined new coaches Rick and Mary Wilson to re-design our cross country course this fall. Last Saturday, the team hosted the Erskine Invitational where each runner did much more than just run. They mowed, picked up rocks, trimmed branches, and performed various sorts of course set-up in preparation for the race. Once the race started, the Erskine runners got help with mile splits and directions from 26 members of the Erskine men’s basketball team, each awaking before the sun came up on a Saturday morning. The “spirit” was rolling! We saw it again in men’s soccer last week when the Flying Fleet men’s team defeated Lander for the first time in 20 years. The feat was made more amazing by the fact that the Fleet played 75 minutes with only 10 men on the field. Only a team with a special “spirit” could achieve that type of result.

The culmination of Friday night came on match point as the entire student (athlete) section rose to their feet cheering loudly. It is nice to have parents and local fans cheering for you, but to see your own student-athletes, who well understand the pain and toil it takes on a daily basis to compete at NCAA Division II, that’s just special. As I observed it all from across the Galloway Center, I got chills at the awesome scene. We are the Erskine Flying Fleet and we have a true sense of “spirit.”

‘What do you do?’ That question is typically asked of you when you meet someone new. As if what you do will somehow define you as a person, which it never should, but we ask anyway. It is a common question but a little strange when it came from my 8-year-old son walking to the beach one day in July. I was a little taken aback by the question since he has been alive all seven years I have been athletic director at Erskine. After I had answered him by simply saying I was an athletic director, he shot back “but Dad what do you do? I know you are the athletic director, but what do you do?” I didn’t see the need to endlessly bore him with all the paperwork that is required by NCAA or Conference Carolinas so I just responded by telling him that I make sure the games get played and people have fun. He seemed okay with that answer, but as I sat on the beach that afternoon I thought, “What do I do…. or more importantly what do we do as an athletic department at Erskine?” By days end I came up with a list of four major components on which I basically want our athletic department to focus. I shared these with our student-athletes at our annual pre-season meetings just so there is no question about what we aim to do. I am not going to say that we always accomplish these four components well, but it is our goal to do so.

Compete at a high level at Division II- The hope for all of our teams is that they play at a very high level. We have alumni and former coaches who regularly bark about how teams aren’t as good as they were back in the day or don’t win enough games. I am sure those are valid points but the reality for those who play and coach at Erskine is a desire to be able to compete on a daily basis with Division II programs today. My first two years at Erskine almost every one of our teams finished last in conference play in their respective sports, but what was worse was that in most competitions we were losing by huge margins. Games were not competitive. We have made major strides in this area, primarily because of leadership at Erskine the past few years who committed to supporting athletics and allowed our teams to have improved resources than we did tens years ago.

Compete with Class/Sportsmanship- Obviously every athletic director will push for teams to win and lose with class. Nobody wants to be a “bad winner or loser” but at Erskine because of our Christian mission we should be seeking to end a competition with a high level of sportsmanship. This is easier said than done because competitive, passionate people struggle to take the “classy” road when they are over zealous with a win and when they are frustrated with a loss, including the person writing this. The overpowering desire to win is what has led most coaches into the profession, and it has led most of our student-athletes to be able to play at the college level. There is a fine line between being a competitor and being a good sportsman. We are going to work on this on a daily basis. Most of the emails and phone calls I get in the course of the year are in reference to sportsmanship. We aren’t going to be perfect but we are going to seek to improve it every day.

Academic Excellence- Academics have been a lifelong pursuit of mine. All of our coaching staff wants our student-athletes to excel in the classroom and earn degrees. At every institution there will be a friction between some faculty and athletics. We have faced that friction at Erskine but we have also worked hard to fight against the stereotype of the “dumb jock.” Last spring half of our student-athletes achieved a grade point average of 3.0, half of 250, fairly impressive. Our graduation rates have been some of the highest in South Carolina over the past decade. We will continue to attempt to recruit quality student-athletes who desire a strong balance between athletics and academics. As the NCAA commercial goes, “Most of our student-athletes are going pro in something other than sports.”

Achieve the first three in a Christian environment- The greatest benefit of coaching at Erskine is being in a committed Christian environment. We are going to seek to honor God in all we do and we are not going to apologize for that. Jesus may not care who wins or loses a game, but He does care that our student-athletes and coaches are maximizing the gifts He has given them. We are not perfect by any stretch of the imagination but fortunately the grace of God has allowed us to coach and play using the gifts we have been given. We are fortunate to be able to interact with young people at a critical time in their lives and watch them grow and prepare for their future lives. If along the way they come to realize how important it is to have Jesus along for the ride, it makes coaching even more worthwhile. We have seen that happen here many times and it is wonderful to witness and experience.

So that’s what we aim for in Erskine athletics; it’s what we “DO”, our philosophy. Those four goals will always guide us even when we don’t do them so well. Bear with us if we seem negligent in any of the four, but we are trying. As for that inquisitive 8-year-old, he turns 9 on Thursday. Happy Birthday Jenkins Peeler! Being a good husband to your mom, and being a dad to you, your sister and brother bring joy to my life everyday and if truth be told, you four are what I really “DO.”

The start of every of academic year brings with it a sense of renewal and hope. There always seems to be the hope for the remarkable in athletics and we certainly have that desire for our teams this year. Yet there is so much more to Erskine athletics than how our teams perform on the playing field. The NCAA has introduced a new “Life in the Balance” initiative for Division II, which seems highly appropriate. While major colleges can singularly focus on the goal of winning with alumni and donors pitching in millions and millions of dollars, NCAA Division II focuses more on the student-athlete experience. The balance between athletics, academics, and community involvement is the core of this new initiative. We all need balance in our lives. Erskine coaches and student-athletes all must keep their eyes on this balance all the while trying to honor God in all they do. We expect our teams to be competitive, excel in the classroom, and be active members of the community. As one of our coaches mentioned to me last spring as our student-athletes volunteered at a local elementary school field day, there is so much more to an Erskine student-athlete than just what people read on our website. Too often all that one can devise from the website is a team’s record and statistics. While the world will define our student-athletes by their records, we define them by who they really are.

The idea for this blog was hatched last May in a Ramada Inn parking lot in Florence, SC. Our baseball team had just lost to Mt. Olive in the NCAA Southeast Regional after taking a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the 9th inning. Instead of sulking in the rooms of their hotel only a few hours later, the baseball team joined Coach Kevin Nichols’s three children, my three children, and Adam Weyer’s son in a wiffle ball game in a deserted field next to the parking lot. The game continued on past dark and thus the game was re-located from the field into the lighted parking lot. As darkness settled in on the game, Coach Nichols looked at me and said, “This is the part of college athletics that people don’t understand. This is what it is really about.” How true. Watching a 21-year-old All-American outfielder try to throw heat past my 11-year-old daughter, Hope, or a 3-time Conference All-Academic infielder get tagged out at first base by the coach’s 7-year-old son, Brick, is a special memory and experience for the players and coaches, and you realize there is so much more to our student-athletes than what you read about on our website.

So here it is, a weekly blog to try to tell you more about Erskine athletics than just what you read in articles about our competitions. These are remarkable young people who wear “Erskine” across their chest for the Flying Fleet, around 240 strong in 2010-2011. You should have an opportunity to know more about them. My goal is to provide that and to provide more of an inside look at what happens on a daily basis in the land of the Fleet. Or you could describe it as “….the rest of the story.” Hopefully you will gain a better understanding about our “Life in the Balance.”