I had a wonderful conversation with someone who works at the athletic department, and I thought I would share the notes of what we talked about. It's pretty long so bare with me!
1. We mostly talked about the elevate campaign and what it's about and some of the projects that are for happening for specific programs and how they are going.
A. Tennis
- The project for new tennis courts is underway (see link below). The indoor tent/bubble is temporary because it is much more expensive to keep it permanently.
- Locker rooms were renovated for the tennis team that is located in north court.
Video of new tennis court renovations:
B. Golf
- renovations/upgrades are being done currently
- At independence golf course (where they practice), they are putting coach's offices.
- A facility with locker room and lounge space
- Private area for driving range that is only accessibly to the team
C. Football program
- I asked him about Rocco's comments and he responded saying that Rocco’s comments were inaccurate. Richmond does have a "vision" but it is realistic to the resources and culture of who we are as a school. When I asked about JMU as a reference we should be following, he said that JMU is trying to be more of an FBS program, whereas we are focusing on competing to be the best FCS program.
* I completely agree with this sentiment. We are competing very well with the resources we have and there is no need to spend money on potentially superfluous things since we are limited with the funds.
- I asked about a specific football facility and he said that there is no need for football facility at the time being.
- However, locker room, sports medicine room, and weight room renovations will occur following 2017-2018 football season
3. Basketball program
- Claims we have the best arena in the A10 (renovated a few years ago)
- Possibly other projects down the road
4. Lacrosse
- The first goal of the administration was to establish the program. An endowment was created to fund the program at a basic level.
- We talked about fully funding all sports as a long-term goal, but specifically with lacrosse it is to achieve the maximum level of scholarships for the program
- Locker rooms specifically for lacrosse will be built in 2017-2018 by renovating the old football locker room.
- I got the sense that the school definitely recognizes that we can compete in lacrosse, and while the program is new, is getting a lot of support.
5. Baseball
- First project is to renovate Pitt field with new grand stands, press box, etc.
- Creating an indoor batting cage is in plans
2. Funding - we talked about funding and how money is given in general.
- Money can be donated to the University for specific projects or the athletic endowment which goes towards scholarships
- He said it was a goal to fully fund all sports... no timetable as to when that will happen.
- Fully funding lacrosse (both men and women) seems to be first priority.
- Only basketball (men and women) and football are currently fully funded
- Since we have limited money for athletics (compared to the Alabama's and Ohio State's of the world) funding goes to what is needed at the time. So if the athletic department sees that a program can compete with the help of resources, it will be given priority. Evaluating program success is done both short-term and long term.
* I interpreted this as programs like lacrosse seem to have the ability to compete at a national level more quickly and resources like fully funding scholarships, renovating locker rooms, etc. can help them achieve that. Whereas Men's Tennis for instance, it may be more difficult to achieve national recognition so money allocated to the program will be done so more sparingly.
- When asked about long-term vision for spider athletics, he said "finding areas of opportunities". So this sort of reinforces the previous point.
- We currently have 2700 spider club members and counting
3. Athletic Director - He's not really in the loop with the final decision to hire the president, but through my discussion he believes that Dr. Crutcher really values athletics and will be looking for an athletic director to progress our athletics forwards. I asked what the athletic director should do.
Response:
- Assess the athletic department, how things are operating, and push forward
Thanks for reading!
1. We mostly talked about the elevate campaign and what it's about and some of the projects that are for happening for specific programs and how they are going.
A. Tennis
- The project for new tennis courts is underway (see link below). The indoor tent/bubble is temporary because it is much more expensive to keep it permanently.
- Locker rooms were renovated for the tennis team that is located in north court.
Video of new tennis court renovations:
B. Golf
- renovations/upgrades are being done currently
- At independence golf course (where they practice), they are putting coach's offices.
- A facility with locker room and lounge space
- Private area for driving range that is only accessibly to the team
C. Football program
- I asked him about Rocco's comments and he responded saying that Rocco’s comments were inaccurate. Richmond does have a "vision" but it is realistic to the resources and culture of who we are as a school. When I asked about JMU as a reference we should be following, he said that JMU is trying to be more of an FBS program, whereas we are focusing on competing to be the best FCS program.
* I completely agree with this sentiment. We are competing very well with the resources we have and there is no need to spend money on potentially superfluous things since we are limited with the funds.
- I asked about a specific football facility and he said that there is no need for football facility at the time being.
- However, locker room, sports medicine room, and weight room renovations will occur following 2017-2018 football season
3. Basketball program
- Claims we have the best arena in the A10 (renovated a few years ago)
- Possibly other projects down the road
4. Lacrosse
- The first goal of the administration was to establish the program. An endowment was created to fund the program at a basic level.
- We talked about fully funding all sports as a long-term goal, but specifically with lacrosse it is to achieve the maximum level of scholarships for the program
- Locker rooms specifically for lacrosse will be built in 2017-2018 by renovating the old football locker room.
- I got the sense that the school definitely recognizes that we can compete in lacrosse, and while the program is new, is getting a lot of support.
5. Baseball
- First project is to renovate Pitt field with new grand stands, press box, etc.
- Creating an indoor batting cage is in plans
2. Funding - we talked about funding and how money is given in general.
- Money can be donated to the University for specific projects or the athletic endowment which goes towards scholarships
- He said it was a goal to fully fund all sports... no timetable as to when that will happen.
- Fully funding lacrosse (both men and women) seems to be first priority.
- Only basketball (men and women) and football are currently fully funded
- Since we have limited money for athletics (compared to the Alabama's and Ohio State's of the world) funding goes to what is needed at the time. So if the athletic department sees that a program can compete with the help of resources, it will be given priority. Evaluating program success is done both short-term and long term.
* I interpreted this as programs like lacrosse seem to have the ability to compete at a national level more quickly and resources like fully funding scholarships, renovating locker rooms, etc. can help them achieve that. Whereas Men's Tennis for instance, it may be more difficult to achieve national recognition so money allocated to the program will be done so more sparingly.
- When asked about long-term vision for spider athletics, he said "finding areas of opportunities". So this sort of reinforces the previous point.
- We currently have 2700 spider club members and counting
3. Athletic Director - He's not really in the loop with the final decision to hire the president, but through my discussion he believes that Dr. Crutcher really values athletics and will be looking for an athletic director to progress our athletics forwards. I asked what the athletic director should do.
Response:
- Assess the athletic department, how things are operating, and push forward
Thanks for reading!
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