Paw Prints E-Newsletter: Volume 38

Paw Prints E-Newsletter | 8/31/2017 9:06:00 AM

From the desk of the Director of Athletics…

If this Paw Prints had a soundtrack, you would hear a SLOW CLAP as you read it. Today, Thursday, August 31^st is officially OPENING DAY for the 2017-18 year of Daemen Athletics sport season. Men's Soccer kicks it off (pun intended) against Le Moyne College on our newly built grass field at 1 p.m. today. The women's soccer team has their turn on the field tomorrow at 2 p.m. against St. Michael's of Vermont. The women's volleyball team starts their quest for a second-straight NCAA tournament appearance tomorrow in Pennsylvania against Ursuline. Our regionally-ranked women's cross country team and their male counterparts start their season tomorrow with an invitational race at Beaver Island State Park in Grand Island, N.Y. By next Friday, September 8^th, women's tennis, and men's golf will have started their fall 2017 seasons as well. This year Daemen Athletics will be live streaming more home contests than ever before, thanks in large part to the newly launched East Coast Conference Network. For all the latest news, including live game stats and video go to www.daemenwildcats.com and please follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

We are entering our third year as an active NCAA Division II member school. Excitement has been building across all areas of Daemen Athletics during the past few weeks as we welcomed our fall sport athletes back to campus. Daemen has brought on campus a record number of fall athletes, of first-year athletes, of international student-athletes and overall athletes here. Our recruiting footprint has grown so wide that we cannot possibly list of all the places our athletes hail from, but we are welcoming athletes from Brazil, The Bahamas, Sweden, Northern Ireland, Norway, Mexico, Australia, Oregon, Minnesota, Indiana, and Washington. They join returning student-athletes from California, Illinois, Germany, Spain, Ecuador and Chile. One of the many benefits of Daemen pursuing NCAA membership is the assistance of the NCAA brand to attract students from a wider range of residences. "Hats off" to our head and assistant coaches who have worked hard to maximize the leverage of the NCAA brand and recruiting a record number of student-athletes to campus.

While bringing talented student-athletes to campus is important, equally important is ensuring their academic success here. As we have discussed at our staff meetings, Daemen Athletics is not just about the four years the athletes spend with us, but also the 40 years after. Our goal is not only building programs that are competitive but also to assist student-athletes in using their time here on campus to become the very best versions of themselves. A key component of that goal is walking across the graduation stage with diploma in hand. Once again, Daemen Athletes have retention and graduation rates more than ten percentage points higher than general Daemen students. For as much as we will be watching which teams excel on the field, course, lanes or court, we also keep a close eye on the competition for the highest team GPA and who earns spots in the 3.0 or 4.0 clubs.

The start of the 2017-18 season marks the official end to Daemen Athletics' summer 2017 activities. We held a record number of camps and other revenue generating activities both on campus and off this summer. Our summer track series sponsored by Lawley Insurance was a huge success as interest and participation continues to grow, and our partnership with the Park School of Buffalo led to an increase in soccer camps. All-in-all, Daemen Athletics raised over $100,000 in external revenue this summer. These monies have allowed us to grow athletics here at Daemen while keeping a near flatline operational budget for the third year straight. Daemen Athletics will continue to offer camps, clinics and health and wellness activities for the community throughout the academic year. More information at www.daemenwildcats.com.

Lastly, I'd be remiss not to mention the huge success of our the 5th Annual Wildcat Golf Classic presented by RP Oak Hill Building Company, Inc. A huge thank you is owed to all of our participants and sponsors. We once again increased our fundraising efforts from this event to an all-time high, and 100% of the proceeds raised go to support the student-athletes here at Daemen. A very heartfelt thanks goes to Vivian Heverley who chaired this year's event. The extra efforts and attention to detail by Vivian and her team 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

Sophomore volleyball player Cristina Apostol was mic'd up for practice. Click the play button for the full video. Watch more videos from Daemen Athletics at YouTube.com/daemensportsinfo

IN THE NEWS...

AUG. 2 - DONAHUE IS ECC NOMINEE FOR NCAA WOMAN OF THE YEAR AWARD
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AUG. 16 - MEN'S BASKETBALL CONFERENCE SCHEDULE ANNOUNCED
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AUG. 16 - WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CONFERENCE SCHEDULE ANNOUNCED
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AUG. 16 - ANNUAL GOLF OUTING RAISES OVER $30,000
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AUG. 21 - WOMEN'S TENNIS PICKED 7TH IN ECC PRESEASON POLL
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AUG. 22 - MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY PICKED 3RD IN ECC PRESEASON POLL
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AUG. 22 - WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY PICKED 3RD IN ECC PRESEASON POLL
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AUG. 23 - WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL PICKED 2ND IN ECC PRESEASON POLL
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AUG. 24 - MEN'S SOCCER PICKED 10TH IN ECC PRESEASON POLL
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AUG. 25 - WOMEN'S SOCCER PICKED 8TH IN ECC PRESEASON POLL
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AUG. 26 - GIVE FOR GOALS PROGRAM SUPPORTS DAEMEN SOCCER TEAMS
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AUG. 29 - WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY OPENS SEASON IN REGIONAL RANKINGS
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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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