Paw Prints E-Newsletter: Volume 64

4/15/2021 8:00:00 PM

From the Desk of the Director of Athletics...

To Our Daemen Wildcats Family:

I hope this email reaches you at a time of good health and happiness. By the end of this weekend, we will have seen 14 of our 17 intercollegiate teams return to competition - all since mid-January. It's been a whirlwind couple on months, but I am beyond grateful for the trust that our college leadership, led by president Gary Olson, has shown in our division to manage the many challenges that competing during a pandemic has presented. Thankfully, we've gotten to this point with (knock on wood) very minimal COVID-19 disruptions.

Along those same lines, I'd like to send a heartfelt thank you to the parents and families of our student-athletes. As a parent myself, I can attest that it's not easy sending your pride and joy off into the COVID-19 world. We've experienced nothing but great support from the families of our student-athletes. They've placed their trust in us to provide the kind of experience their loved one hoped for while keeping in mind their overall health and safety.

By now, I hope you had a chance to read our new strategic plan - The Wildcat Way - which launched last month. We've received a lot of positive feedback since publishing the document. Establishing missions, visions and goals was only the first step, however. Now we have to execute the plan and foster the development of championship-caliber student-athletes.

That's where you come in. We cannot accomplish the goals we've established without the support of our stakeholders. Whether you're an alumnus, a past or current faculty or staff member, a resident of the Amherst community, or a general fan of Daemen Athletics, we invite you to consider participating in Daemen Day of Giving which is coming up on Tuesday, April 20. This 24-hour, completely online giving campaign presents an incredible opportunity to invest in The Wildcat Way. Help us achieve our goals by making a gift of any amount. Gifts can be designated for any of several funds related to athletics, including direct donations to your favorite team. We have several fun challenges set up for our teams to participate in throughout the day, so your generosity can help unlock additional donations for certain programs. Every little bit will help us contribute to the college's overall goal of 350 donors.

In closing, last month's release of our strategic plan didn't allow me an opportunity to comment on the high-profile achievements of several of our programs. I want to congratulate coaches Mike MacDonald and Jenepher Banker as well as all of our men's and women's basketball student-athletes on their historic seasons. Daemen was the only NCAA Division II institution to win regional championships in both men's and women's basketball, and both teams advanced to their respective Elite Eight tournaments. I was fortunate enough to travel with our women's team to Columbus, Ohio. To see them compete against Lubbock Christian - a team like us that transitioned from the NAIA to NCAA Division II within the last decade - and to see the grit and determination on the faces of our student-athletes was truly awe-inspiring.

Not to be forgotten is our men's volleyball and women's bowling teams which both had incredible achievements. Congratulations to coach Don Gleason and his men's volleyball student-athletes who completed an undefeated season, finishing 10-0, in what was only the program's third year of existence. And, congratulations to coach Carrie Racsumberger and our women's bowling student-athletes who advanced to the final round of the East Coast Conference Championship, coming within just a few pins of advancing to the NCAA tournament for the first time. Both of these programs truly embraced the opportunity to compete this spring, even if their schedules were far from normal.

Thank you for your continued support and for this opportunity to keep you informed about the development of Daemen's Division of Athletics. GO WILDCATS!

Sincerely,