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.”