Summer of 2016 is in full swing for Daemen Athletics. While the rest of campus moves into vacation mode, our gyms and parking lots are packed with youths attending our sport camps and clinics.  Summer camp time brings many smiling young faces and much noise, but all of us at Daemen Athletics truly enjoy the energy that campers add to our facilities.  It is especially great to see our top notch coaches and student-athletes teach the campers the game and have fun at the same time. Having youngsters on our campus has been uplifting in a month that included many tragic and unsettling events.  This is where Paw Prints will take a bit of turn from its normal goal of keeping Wildcat fans informed of our latest happenings.  Sometimes events happen in the world that require some comment or reflection.  As we reflect on this past month, Paw Prints shares the following thoughts...
 
Tolerance and Understanding: The mass shooting in Orlando again highlighted the incredibly dangerous impact intolerance and bigotry have in our society.  As a society, we pray for the victims and then grapple with how we move forward, and I return back to the importance of providing people, in our case student-athletes, with experiences that allow them to meet others who may be different from them and find the commonalities that exist. My family and I happened to watch the movie Race shortly after the Orlando shootings.  As demonstrated by that movie, athletics often proves to be one of the best ways to provide such experiences. While the shortcomings of the NCAA are many, the organization has long recognized the power of sport to bring people together and to spread the values of diversity, inclusion and tolerance.  As Daemen Athletics plans for the 2016-17 academic year, we will continue to use the NCAA educational platforms to help grow those concepts within our programs. It is just a small step in a big world, but it only seems right to do something in respect for the Orlando victims and people everywhere caught in the crossfire of intolerance.

Missed Opportunities at Stanford and Vanderbilt: The unnerving reports of sexual assaults by both Stanford and Vanderbilt student-athletes sparked much deserved outrage and comment in both main-stream and social media. While blame was debated, I could not help to think of the missed opportunities lost on those campuses to educate student-athletes on the importance of respect and integrity.  It is hard not to think that somewhere along the way these young men took away a message that athletic and academic success are more important than compassion and integrity. The role of sport in a young person's life can lead down two very different paths:  humility, hard work and integrity, or above the rules, untouchable and conceited.  Daemen Athletics is truly trying to operate an athletics program that focuses on using sport to provide and advance education in their four years with us that will make them better versions of themselves in the forty years after. We are proud to be part of Daemen's Bystander Intervention programs that teaches both young men and women strategies for prevention of various types of campus violence.

Honoring a Great College Coach: A critical component to accomplishing education and character development through sport mentioned above is finding that special coach that sees their real success not in wins, losses, money and championships, but rather in the long-lasting positive impact they have on that student-athlete's life. Pat Summit of the University of Tennessee was one such coach.  While she certainly racked up wins and championships, as evidenced by this letter she was in the field of coaching for more than those accolades. As she succumbed to Alzheimer's this week, college sports lost a true educator (100% graduation rate for those student-athletes who completed their eligibility at Tennessee over her 38-year tenure!) and women coaches and athletes lost a mentor and pioneer.  Her lasting legacy will not be the wins and championships, but those she inspired to keep education and character development in college sport.

In closing, we hope that you continue to follow Daemen Athletics as we try to establish an education and character development based program here in Western New York.  Our largest fundraiser of the year is our Fourth Annual Wildcat Golf Classic presented by RP Oak Hill Building Company, Inc. on Thursday, August 11 at Glen Oak Golf Course in East Amherst, New York.  Complete details are available at daemenwildcats.com/wildcatgolfclassic.  Please remember that 100% of the proceeds raised at the golf tournament go to support the student-athletes here at Daemen.  We hope to see you there.

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!