Paw Prints E-Newsletter 8/25/2016 3:42:00 PM

Paw Prints E-Newsletter: Volume 26

From The Director of Athletics' Desk...

The weather might still be HOT here in beautiful Western New York, but the summer is officially over for Daemen Athletics. The fall preseason training programs are basically in full swing. On Monday, August 15, we welcomed our soccer and volleyball teams back to campus and this past Monday our women's triathlon and cross country teams returned to campus. Next Monday, August 29, men's golf and women's tennis will start their preseason workouts. The hardworking and extremely resourceful staff of Daemen Athletics had an outstanding summer and it was great to see the student-athletes notice the changes we have made to enhance their experience, which is truly the focus of everything we do.

To create better learning, training and competitive experiences, this summer we remodeled existing space to create coaches offices and student-athlete meeting space for the tennis and golf programs. As you read in the July issue of Paw Prints, we've partnered with The Park School and Williamsville Junior Football to secure our own practice and match fields for soccer. In September, we will launch a new triathlon room equipped with the latest equipment purchased through the grant Daemen received from the NCAA and USA Triathlon. This new space will not only be available for our Daemen athletes, but it will also be rented out to local multisport training groups, creating another source of revenue to support our growing athletics program. Daemen Athletics has used outside revenue to fund all of our recent facility and field enhancements as well as the growth of our athletics staff. It has allowed us to grow athletics here at Daemen while keeping a nearly flatline operational budget request from the College.

As some of you may have read this past Sunday, the Buffalo News featured Daemen's growing athletics program in an article on using college athletics as a way to attract new students. The article reported the expansion of Daemen's overall recruiting footprint due to its increased investment in intercollegiate athletics. This fall, Daemen Athletics welcomed student-athletes from Romania, Colorado, West Virginia and Germany. They joined student-athletes from California, Illinois, Ecuador and Chile. In addition, the Canadian market remained a strong one for us with new recruits joining returning Canadian athletes. While we were appreciative of the news coverage, the article compared athletics here at Daemen with Division I athletics. As loyal Paw Prints readers know, Daemen is an NCAA Division II institution and Division II's overall philosophy is vastly different than the approach of a Division I college or university. We are fortunate in Division II to place great emphasis on academics and the overall student-athlete experience. It is not just about wins and losses and we are focused on using athletics as a way to motivate all involved to become the best versions of themselves in the classroom, in sports and in their communities.

As is the case with most reports on college athletics, the article also spurred some comments of "why would you invest in athletics when the athletes don't care about school?" I have been living with the "dumb jock myth" since I was a kid and am truly so, so tired of it. Like most negative stereotypes, it is really misinformed. Regulations adopted by the NCAA in the last ten years make it very difficult if not impossible to be performing poorly in the classroom and still compete for a Division II school. It is worth repeating specific Daemen facts that simply make the dumb-jock myth untrue.

At most, if not all, of our local colleges, student-athletes perform better in the classroom than non-student-athletes. This is especially true at Daemen.
Daemen student-athletes have higher cumulative GPA's than non-student-athletes; this is especially true for underrepresented populations on campus.
Daemen retains student-athletes at a higher rate and student-athletes graduate at a higher rate than non-student-athletes.
Daemen student-athletes represent nearly 10% of the undergraduate population and 10% of the College's Dean Lists recipients.

So, don't believe the soundbites that are caused by SEC and Big 12 football or ACC basketball schools or a cheating programs elsewhere in college athletics. Those are exceptions not the rule. Just like the Greek System and other entities on campus, there are bad actors in every area that unfortunately taint the whole pool. The real story of college sports is that if done right, it is a venture (similar to art, music and student-government) that can help schools attract, keep, graduate and inspire students.

Lastly, I'd be remiss not to mention the huge success of our our 4th Annual Wildcat Golf Classic presented by RP Oak Hill Building Company, Inc. A huge thanks to all our participants and sponsors. We once again doubled our fundraising efforts from this event and 100% of the proceeds raised go to support the student-athletes here at Daemen. We hope to see you there. A special thanks to Amanda Zanghi and Vivian Heverley who chaired this year's event. Their extra efforts and attention to detail made it a special day and a great party!

As always, if you have any questions or comments about Daemen Athletics, feel free to email me at bniland@daemen.edu and remember to BE FIERCE!

Bridget Niland
Director of Athletics

UPCOMING EVENTS
August 26 - Men's Soccer @ Buffalo - 7:00 PM
September 1 - Men's Soccer vs. Lock Haven - 4:30 PM
September 2-3 - Volleyball @ Ram Fest Tournament
September 3 - Men's Soccer vs. Ashland - 2:00 PM
September 5 - Soccer Doubleheader @ Le Moyne - 11:00 AM / 2:00 PM
September 5 - Triathlon @ Central Region Collegiate Qualifier - 7:00 AM
September 9-11 - Daemen College/Hyatt Place Volleyball Classic

FOR A DETAILED LISTING OF UPCOMING EVENTS,
CHECK OUT OUR COMPREHENSIVE ONLINE CALENDAR

IN THE NEWS...

AUG. 25 - WOMEN'S SOCCER PICKED SEVENTH IN ECC PRESEASON POLL
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AUG. 24 - DAEMEN VOLLEYBALL PICKED FOURTH IN ECC PRESEASON POLL
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AUG. 24 - WOMEN'S TENNIS PROGRAM TO HOST CAMPUS KIDS DAY ON OCTOBER 1
READ MORE

AUG. 23 - MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY PICKED FIFTH IN ECC PRESEASON POLL
READ MORE

AUG. 23 - WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY PICKED THIRD IN ECC PRESEASON POLL
READ MORE

AUG. 22 - WOMEN'S TENNIS SITS SEVENTH IN ECC PRESEASON POLL
READ MORE

AUG. 15 - 2016-17 SCHEDULE SET FOR WOMEN'S BOWLING
READ MORE

AUG. 12 - WILDCAT SOCCER PROGRAMS LAUNCH GIVE FOR GOALS CAMPAIGN
READ MORE

AUG. 10 - BANKER ANNOUNCES 2016-17 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
READ MORE

AUG. 8 - MACDONALD ANNOUNCES 2016-17 MEN'S BASKETBALL SLATE
READ MORE

AUG. 4 - FALL SCHEDULE SET FOR WOMEN'S TRIATHLON PROGRAM
READ MORE

AUG. 2 - NILAND RANKED AMONG WNY'S MOST INFLUENTIAL WOMEN FOR SECOND STRAIGHT YEAR
READ MORE

MAKE AN IMPACT TODAY BY GIVING A GIFT TO THE WILDCAT ATHLETICS ASSOCIATION

Did you know there are over 123,000 men, women and children waiting for life-saving organ transplants? Did you know that 100 people in WNY need blood every day?

You can provide hope to those in need by becoming an organ, tissue or blood donor through Unyts. Visit unyts.org/checkyes to register as a donor today.

UNYTS is a proud corporate partner of Daemen College Athletics.

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From The Director of Athletics' Desk...

Bridget Niland Director of Athletics

MAKE AN IMPACT TODAY BY GIVING A GIFT TO THE WILDCAT ATHLETICS ASSOCIATION

Bridget Niland
Director of Athletics