Daemen College : Athletics & Recreation : From The Athletic Director's Desk
From The A.D.'s Desk - Volume 2
Hello Student-Athletes, Alumni & Friends of Daemen Athletics!
With the recent completion of our spring semester, I feel that now is an appropriate time to reflect on the comings and goings of Daemen Athletics in the past few months, while also looking to the future. Our NCAA Division II application date looms in the near future (more details on that later), but first it’s important to acknowledge a few of our accomplishments.
In the first installment of this piece, I was happy to recap the accomplishments of our fall sports. We didn’t stop there! The winter and spring seasons saw our men’s basketball team share the regular season AMC Championship before winning the AMC Tournament and advancing to the NAIA Division II National Tournament in Point Lookout, MO. Our women’s basketball team also shared their regular season AMC Championship and earned an at-large bid to their National Tournament in Sioux City, IA. Additionally, coach Dave Skolen picked up his 400th career victory back in January. Our men’s golf team completed a very successful spring season with several top 5 finishes, highlighted by junior Kyle Harman who won medalist honors at the AMC Championship Tournament. Our track & field teams, both men & women, completed their second season of existence and with a full roster they’re poised for big things to come moving forward.
With commencement scheduled for May 19, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention and congratulate our senior class of student-athletes. Thank you for your hard work and dedication to Daemen Athletics in your time here on campus and best of luck in all your future endeavors. We are truly proud to say that 92% of our senior student-athletes will graduate this May, with the other 8% continuing work in additional semesters towards their respective degrees.
We were also able to accomplish several administrative goals this past semester. In January, we launched our new logo initiative in collaboration with our new corporate partner, ADPRO Sports. In April, we announced a licensing agreement with Strategic Marketing Affiliate, a collegiate licensing agency. Thanks to these steps, Daemen students, staff and fans alike can purchase Daemen Athletics apparel right on our website! We also unleashed a new publication called Paw Prints which will serve as the Official Newsletter of Daemen College Athletics. The first issue of Paw Prints came out in early May and was mailed out to each one of our athletic alumnae as well as our donors; an online version will be available soon as well.
To end the 2011-2012 athletic year, we held our annual awards banquet on-campus in the Wick Social Room on May 3, upgrading the event to include a full buffet-style dinner for the first time. The event was extremely well-attended as we honored members of each team for their hard work and dedication this past year. We also unveiled new traditions in naming a C.L.A.W. Award recipient, given to one student-athlete who best exemplifies the traits of character, leadership, academic excellence and work ethic, as well as formally establishing a Male and Female Athlete of the Year Award. Congratulations to seniors Courtney Donovan (women’s basketball - C.L.A.W. Award), Dom Mazzocchi (men’s basketball – Male Athlete of the Year) and Lindsay Miller (women’s soccer – Female Athlete of the Year) on taking home these inaugural awards.
Looking forward, I wanted to take this opportunity to update you on the progress of our NCAA Division II application. The application is due by June 1, 2012; we will have it submitted by May 25. As that date quickly approaches, we are working feverishly to put on the finishing touches. Thank you to everyone who has helped put it all together. It definitely isn’t a one-person job.
With that being said, we have had some announcements recently that help bolster our application. We have added men’s and women’s tennis and indoor track & field to bring the total sport count to 14 beginning in the fall 2012. What an exciting time to be here and to be a part of something so special!
As we add sports, the College administration has further supported our cause by adding three full-time staff members in the most recent budget. Kelly Brown, a Western New York tennis icon will lead our newly formed tennis program as a full-time head coach. Dan Dolan will become our full-time head women’s soccer coach and Assistant Athletic Director for Recreation & Facilities. Jessica Gorski will lead our men’s and women’s cross country and track & field programs as well as be our Assistant Athletic Director for Sport Administration.
In the past nine-and-a-half months, we have taken some big strides towards reaching our NCAA Membership goal, but we still have a long road ahead of us. In mid-July we will be notified of our application status. From that point, we will start work for the future. We will need to address facility issues and will continually need to address staffing concerns in order to align ourselves with the NCAA Division II Model. I strongly encourage you to stay in touch with what we’re doing – check out our web site, follow us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/daemencollegeathletics) or Twitter (@daemenathletics and @daemenAD). This truly is a defining time in the history of Daemen College Athletics!
Daemen College’s potential is endless. The role of athletics in the growth and future of Daemen College is vital.
Sincerely,
William Morris
Director of Athletics