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From the Desk of the Interim AD
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nogretheogre Offline
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Post: #21
RE: From the Desk of the Interim AD
(03-11-2021 08:47 AM)mrjoolius Wrote:  
(03-11-2021 07:56 AM)nogretheogre Wrote:  Not the sale of tickets themselves...its the fan attendance and alumni attention that matters. You have to build enthusiasm. A fun, winning atmosphere gets people and especially alums excited about Tribe sports. This is when the wallets come out.

Improving the arena environment and game-day-atmosphere does wonders for this. Winning is still needed, but hopefully a more raucous atmosphere improves recruiting to push the team to the next level.
Very much this. I've been harping on this for sometime. You make a good time, "place to be," experience at the venue and you will have a fan interest that withstands good and bad seasons. Sure, ultimately putting out a good product puts butts in the seats. But making a memorable experience will keep students, alums, and local families coming back and engaged. Putting out a ho-hum game day experience makes getting some extra studying in at Swem a viable alternative.

(03-11-2021 08:50 AM)Tribe32 Wrote:  Nogre, I tend to agree with you for the most part, but a new arena/stadium doesn't do much unless you put a winning product in front of the fans. Bubba's point above is on the money. We had a much better fan turn out in the 70s when we had a consistent winning product under the first Parkhill and had big name teams playing at our place in hoops. Same with football. As for the Alumni, the biggest and most enthusiastic fan cohort is dying off. Getting the local fan base to attend regularly, year in and year out is key. Another part that makes sense is corporate sponsorship. It still amazes me that we had such loyal fans 40-50 years ago when Williamsburg was half the size and now we struggle to get locals interested.

Attendance and a full arena in the 70s is hard to extrapolate to today and was not only because we were winning at the time. First off, in direct conflict with your point, Kaplan was BRAND NEW!!! Game day offerings here likely rivaled the best arenas for that era, so nobody thought twice about it. But also, we were the only game in town. ODU was D2. VCU was a brand new team. We were still competing against nationally known opponents. It was easy. Now, there are more peninsula locals who would drive to see ODU or VCU than to stay home and see the Tribe. Winning is a big part of bringing fans, yes, but we can not guarantee that without better recruiting. Recruiting is driven by multiple factors, and a half-empty bare-bones cavernous Kaplan itself is currently a net negative when you compare to other brand new flashy venues. Times have changed and young alums, the students, and the locals expect more. Just look at how many upgrades to the dorms and food halls on campus have popped up in the last decade.

We have to take a more holistic approach to build and maintain a successful program. There is more than one angle to work and we shouldnt half-ass it when we have the blueprint in place to aim high. It is not the only thing to work on, but its something that can be targeted and accomplished unequivocally. It should enhance the program symbiotically. Like I said...take our shot. If we miss, then we know where we belong.
(This post was last modified: 03-11-2021 11:32 AM by nogretheogre.)
03-11-2021 11:05 AM
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wmmii Offline
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Post: #22
RE: From the Desk of the Interim AD
(03-11-2021 08:54 AM)zablenoise Wrote:  Can someone with a little more knowledge explain how the reserve fund was drained so bad? Was Huge dipping into it for projects or were regular donors being alienated or both? And how long did it take to build up that level of a reserve?

The public data shows that fund raising dropped significantly from 4.1M to 2.6M. At the same time, the funds transferred from the Tribe Club to W&M Athletics increased from 4.375M to 5.45M.

Net result was 1.6M less was raised but over 1M more drawn down!

Yesterday the Interim AD sent our the following statement:

"FY2020’s lower donor participation and reduced donations resulted in a financial crisis for W&M Athletics. Compared to FY2019, the number of donors to athletics in FY2020 declined by 36%. Expendable gifts received also declined by 36% -- $1.5 million less than the prior year. It’s hard to overstate the pandemic’s impact, but we recognize the department could have been more effective in engaging our donors to meet our pressing needs. Since FY2015, existing reserves have been tapped each year to balance the budget. Those reserves are now depleted. W&M Athletics needs to excel in donor engagement, and as a community we need to understand that, with limited reserves, reduced support immediately yields financial crisis.

Fortunately, the Tribe has rallied to the cause in FY2021, which runs through June 30, with the number of donors already exceeding the FY2020 total by 13% and expendable donations received by 79%."
(This post was last modified: 03-11-2021 03:11 PM by wmmii.)
03-11-2021 03:10 PM
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NC Tribe Offline
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Post: #23
RE: From the Desk of the Interim AD
Interesting that they are blaming the pandemic for reduced giving. I can think of a couple of other things that happened which influenced my giving.
03-11-2021 03:24 PM
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WMInTheBurg Offline
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Post: #24
RE: From the Desk of the Interim AD
(03-11-2021 03:24 PM)NC Tribe Wrote:  Interesting that they are blaming the pandemic for reduced giving. I can think of a couple of other things that happened which influenced my giving.

They are also specifically accepting responsibility. " the department could have been more effective in engaging our donors to meet our pressing needs."
03-11-2021 04:05 PM
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jonaerose Offline
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Post: #25
RE: From the Desk of the Interim AD
A fairly-strongly worded letter in the inbox today

https://view.s6.exacttarget.com/?qs=48ce...dc2dc79a98
06-11-2021 10:40 AM
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WMTRIBE75 Offline
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Post: #26
RE: From the Desk of the Interim AD
(06-11-2021 10:40 AM)jonaerose Wrote:  A fairly-strongly worded letter in the inbox today

https://view.s6.exacttarget.com/?qs=48ce...dc2dc79a98
I sincerely hope, as we have read, that it was Jeremy Martin's sole decision to not interview for the full time Athletic Director position. If that is indeed the case, I totally respect his decision. Having said that, I truly wish that he was going to be our guy going forward. My sincere thanks to him for what he has done for Tribe Athletics during his interim tenure.
06-11-2021 12:39 PM
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Post: #27
RE: From the Desk of the Interim AD
(06-11-2021 12:39 PM)WMTRIBE75 Wrote:  
(06-11-2021 10:40 AM)jonaerose Wrote:  A fairly-strongly worded letter in the inbox today

https://view.s6.exacttarget.com/?qs=48ce...dc2dc79a98
I sincerely hope, as we have read, that it was Jeremy Martin's sole decision to not interview for the full time Athletic Director position. If that is indeed the case, I totally respect his decision. Having said that, I truly wish that he was going to be our guy going forward. My sincere thanks to him for what he has done for Tribe Athletics during his interim tenure.

I had the exact same thought.
06-11-2021 12:47 PM
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WMInTheBurg Offline
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Post: #28
RE: From the Desk of the Interim AD
This excerpt expertly summarizes the viewpoints of pretty much everyone here, in all of the various incarnations of the idea:

Jeremy Martin Wrote:Though understandable given the circumstances faced this fall, too often conversations with alumni and friends embraced existence as sufficient. If, as I believe and often say, we respect the competitor by providing as level a playing field as possible, then we disrespect our student-athlete competitors by perpetuating a lesser experience than we expect of William & Mary.

I hope William & Mary will never mistake existence for excellence in the experience we provide our student-athletes. At this institution, we should expect to excel in any endeavor we undertake. If that is what we expect, we should have the courage to reevaluate what and how much we can undertake to achieve this goal.
06-11-2021 01:32 PM
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Post: #29
RE: From the Desk of the Interim AD
(06-11-2021 01:32 PM)WMInTheBurg Wrote:  This excerpt expertly summarizes the viewpoints of pretty much everyone here, in all of the various incarnations of the idea:

Jeremy Martin Wrote:Though understandable given the circumstances faced this fall, too often conversations with alumni and friends embraced existence as sufficient. If, as I believe and often say, we respect the competitor by providing as level a playing field as possible, then we disrespect our student-athlete competitors by perpetuating a lesser experience than we expect of William & Mary.

I hope William & Mary will never mistake existence for excellence in the experience we provide our student-athletes. At this institution, we should expect to excel in any endeavor we undertake. If that is what we expect, we should have the courage to reevaluate what and how much we can undertake to achieve this goal.

What remains unclear, at least to me, is what form "providing as level a playing field as possible" takes. Dr. Martin correctly contends that "excelling less from trying to do too much" is a risk for W&M athletics, but what is the remedy?

One interpretation is it means revisiting the number of sports to be sponsored, but the letter and earlier data provided suggest Olympic sports' stakeholders are doing a better job at sustainability than spectator sports' stakeholders. If cutting Olympic sports doesn't level the playing field, what type of landscaping project does the College envision?
06-12-2021 08:22 AM
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Tribe32 Offline
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Post: #30
RE: From the Desk of the Interim AD
One of the first things that the new AD needs to tackle is all about what William and Mary wants to be in the future. I don't believe that Driscoll had much of a vision. Huge was clearly all in for football and hoops. My hope is that he/she is going to think long and hard about the geography we should be looking at. One of the biggest costs outside of scholarships is travel.
06-12-2021 09:17 AM
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WMSportsBlog Offline
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RE: From the Desk of the Interim AD
(06-12-2021 09:17 AM)Tribe32 Wrote:  One of the first things that the new AD needs to tackle is all about what William and Mary wants to be in the future. I don't believe that Driscoll had much of a vision. Huge was clearly all in for football and hoops. My hope is that he/she is going to think long and hard about the geography we should be looking at. One of the biggest costs outside of scholarships is travel.

Hopefully the new AD reads the articles we wrote on conference realignment & thinking through WM's short / medium / long term prospects & strategy -- we wrote those articles for him/her! 04-cheers
(This post was last modified: 06-12-2021 12:35 PM by WMSportsBlog.)
06-12-2021 12:35 PM
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wmmii Offline
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Post: #32
RE: From the Desk of the Interim AD
What we do not know is the impact of the gender equity (Title IX) study due out soon. Since we must conform to Title IX the resolution of this matter makes any meaningful discussion on finances or excellence difficult. Hopefully Athletics has developed strategic planning options for the new AD to consider after this study is public. It is my hope these options include more than one vision.

It seems we cannot reach Title IX compliance with roster adjustments alone and have excellence in men's programs. Therefore we either add one or more women sports or eliminate men sports or a blend of both.

There are different perceptions of excellence. It is clear that our swimmers when recruited accepted the facility situation that exist and came here with that condition. Therefore who should decide the standard for the "most level playing field" our student athletes or the administration? My perception is that the student athlete considers the coaching staff, the team chemistry, the academic needs, the facilities, excellence, and our conference affiliation among many facts in deciding if they attend W&M.

On the other side of the coin, our BB '21 recruits starting in 2/20 were given the perception of a renovated Kap by Oct 2022 which we now know will not occur. We have many constructions projects currently occurring on the campus that the College found money to fund plus a beautiful new track recently done and great scoreboard in Zable while the Kap sites idle.

Fans and donors exceeded all expectations in FY21 fundraising for many sports especially the Tribe 7. Using FY21 chart provided in From the Desk plus our forum info and comparing these to their FY19 giving at https://tribeathletics.com/news/2020/11/...etics.aspx shows that the targeted "Tribe 7" vastly exceeded what was raised in FY19 while meeting their FY21 fundraising goals! Two sports are amazing: Swimming raised 132K in FY19 and had a goal of 360K for FY21 which was vastly exceeded primarily due to their internal efforts. Track raised 171K in FY19 and was give a goal of 645K which they have also exceeded primarily due to their internal efforts.

Last fall the cry to arms was the need for transparency and giving the sports the opportunity to address their financial needs. We still miss true transparency in this process since we lack the Title IX report. Hopefully once that becomes public, the new AD can share alternative visons with the criteria needed to implement each vision. Then all of us can put our talents together to reach creative solutions so that nobody is happy but most are content-that is the result of compromise.

Need I remind all of us that "Cary Field" was built as a agricultural outdoor arena in the 1930's and W&M Hall was built as a convocation hall in 1970!
(This post was last modified: 06-12-2021 03:04 PM by wmmii.)
06-12-2021 12:36 PM
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Tribe32 Offline
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Post: #33
RE: From the Desk of the Interim AD
If you want to see what some other schools have done with gender equity and sports teams, go look at JMU, VCU and Richmond. There is no way we can keep the number of men's teams if we keep football. Adding women's teams is only going to make things worse in terms of budget.
06-12-2021 01:37 PM
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wmmii Offline
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Post: #34
RE: From the Desk of the Interim AD
(06-12-2021 01:37 PM)Tribe32 Wrote:  If you want to see what some other schools have done with gender equity and sports teams, go look at JMU, VCU and Richmond. There is no way we can keep the number of men's teams if we keep football. Adding women's teams is only going to make things worse in terms of budget.

VCU does not have football and Richmond not in CAA. A better comparison within the CAA would be Delaware.
06-12-2021 01:53 PM
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WMSportsBlog Offline
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RE: From the Desk of the Interim AD
We finally got some formal clarity on the actual, stated goal of W&M Athletics, and what Jeremy Martin envisions as the Tribe's future as he relinquishes his role to our new AD:

"A championship experience for every student-athlete and every fan establishes a clear standard across all of Tribe Athletics: competing for and winning championships. Further, it emphasizes the experience of Tribe athletes, students, and fans, which is of paramount importance to William & Mary as a whole as well as to the athletic department specifically. Every Tribe athlete should graduate – and we rightly expect that every Tribe athlete will graduate from William & Mary – having won a conference championship or participated in NCAA championship competition during his or her four-year collegiate career. Every fan should cheer on the Tribe from a facility that is, at a minimum, capable of hosting NCAA postseason competition and providing the type of game day experience that enhances the reputation of William & Mary and Tribe Athletics."

In summary:
#1 goal - A championship experience for every student-athlete and every fan

Secondary Goals:
- Every Tribe athlete should graduate
- Compete for a conference championships &participate in NCAA championship competition
- Facilities capable of hosting NCAA postseason

It's a safe assumption that the incoming AD will share this view, with his or her own spin on it.
06-12-2021 02:17 PM
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wmmii Offline
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Post: #36
RE: From the Desk of the Interim AD
(06-12-2021 02:17 PM)WMSportsBlog Wrote:  Secondary Goals:
- Every Tribe athlete should graduate
- Compete for a conference championships &participate in NCAA championship competition
- Facilities capable of hosting NCAA postseason

It's a safe assumption that the incoming AD will share this view, with his or her own spin on it.

This is one very important and talented person's personal opinion but we do not know if it is the majority opinion of the search committee or the President. Thus my hope that the Athletic department has developed strategic plans around more that this scenario!

What we probably could assume is that accepting that "facilities capable of hosting NCAA postseason" as an important goal would make swimming gone and probably gymnastics. Of course due to Title IX settlement last fall the women part of these must stay.
(This post was last modified: 06-12-2021 02:51 PM by wmmii.)
06-12-2021 02:47 PM
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62Indian Offline
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Post: #37
RE: From the Desk of the Interim AD
(06-12-2021 12:36 PM)wmmii Wrote:  What we do not know is the impact of the gender equity (Title IX) study due out soon. Since we must conform to Title IX the resolution of this matter makes any meaningful discussion on finances or excellence difficult. Hopefully Athletics has developed strategic planning options for the new AD to consider after this study is public. It is my hope these options include more than one vision.

It seems we cannot reach Title IX compliance with roster adjustments alone and have excellence in men's programs. Therefore we either add one or more women sports or eliminate men sports or a blend of both.

There are different perceptions of excellence. It is clear that our swimmers when recruited accepted the facility situation that exist and came here with that condition. Therefore who should decide the standard for the "most level playing field" our student athletes or the administration? My perception is that the student athlete considers the coaching staff, the team chemistry, the academic needs, the facilities, excellence, and our conference affiliation among many facts in deciding if they attend W&M.

On the other side of the coin, our BB '21 recruits starting in 2/20 were given the perception of a renovated Kap by Oct 2022 which we now know will not occur. We have many constructions projects currently occurring on the campus that the College found money to fund plus a beautiful new track recently done and great scoreboard in Zable while the Kap sites idle.

Fans and donors exceeded all expectations in FY21 fundraising for many sports especially the Tribe 7. Using FY21 chart provided in From the Desk plus our forum info and comparing these to their FY19 giving at https://tribeathletics.com/news/2020/11/...etics.aspx shows that the targeted "Tribe 7" vastly exceeded what was raised in FY19 while meeting their FY21 fundraising goals! Two sports are amazing: Swimming raised 132K in FY19 and had a goal of 360K for FY21 which was vastly exceeded primarily due to their internal efforts. Track raised 171K in FY19 and was give a goal of 645K which they have also exceeded primarily due to their internal efforts.

Last fall the cry to arms was the need for transparency and giving the sports the opportunity to address their financial needs. We still miss true transparency in this process since we lack the Title IX report. Hopefully once that becomes public, the new AD can share alternative visons with the criteria needed to implement each vision. Then all of us can put our talents together to reach creative solutions so that nobody is happy but most are content-that is the result of compromise.

Need I remind all of us that "Cary Field" was built as a agricultural outdoor arena in the 1930's and W&M Hall was built as a convocation hall in 1970!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm pretty sure that Cary Field was the name of a plot of land [owned by the Cary family] - the football stadium was built on top of Cary's field - the State would not pay for a football stadium so it was "sold"/ promoted as an agricultural exhibition arena. So, the good Lord "built" the field and the State built the stadium.
06-12-2021 04:34 PM
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Tribe32 Offline
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Post: #38
RE: From the Desk of the Interim AD
(06-12-2021 01:53 PM)wmmii Wrote:  
(06-12-2021 01:37 PM)Tribe32 Wrote:  If you want to see what some other schools have done with gender equity and sports teams, go look at JMU, VCU and Richmond. There is no way we can keep the number of men's teams if we keep football. Adding women's teams is only going to make things worse in terms of budget.

VCU does not have football and Richmond not in CAA. A better comparison within the CAA would be Delaware.

I wasn't trying to show CAA. I was just looking at schools nearby. In fact you pointed out what I was inferring. JMU: CAA, has a football team, and six men's sports with 11 women's teams. Richmond: CAA for football and A10 for everything else with 7 men's sports and 9 women's sports. VCU: no football with 7 men's and 8 women's sports.

We have 10 men's and 11 women's sports. It can't stay that way unless we have some 50 million or so in net new donations over the next five years. The fact that we saved the seven sports with a big donor push was a great accomplishment, but not sustainable. Something has to give.
06-12-2021 05:15 PM
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Tribal Offline
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From the Desk of the Interim AD
And, let's be honest, not only do we need to cut a few sports, very few will miss them. Aside from saving money, most Tribe fans don't care about gymnastics, tennis, or golf.

I'm a pretty big fan but have only attended basketball, baseball, football, and soccer events. I like track and watch it on TV but haven't made an attempt to attend. I'd be ok with 4 mens and 8 womens teams.

Sent from my SM-N970U using Tapatalk
06-12-2021 09:28 PM
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RE: From the Desk of the Interim AD
(06-12-2021 09:28 PM)Tribal Wrote:  And, let's be honest, not only do we need to cut a few sports, very few will miss them. Aside from saving money, most Tribe fans don't care about gymnastics, tennis, or golf.

I'm a pretty big fan but have only attended basketball, baseball, football, and soccer events. I like track and watch it on TV but haven't made an attempt to attend. I'd be ok with 4 mens and 8 womens teams.

Sent from my SM-N970U using Tapatalk

Seems unlikely cutting tennis is under consideration.

https://www.wtkr.com/sports/william-mary...n-campaign
06-13-2021 07:41 AM
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