Troy University Athletics
Athletic Director Update - Nov. 11, 2012
11/11/2012 1:58:00 PM | General
Athletic Director Forum - Nov. 11, 2012
Seizing the Opportunities
What a GREAT DAY TO BE A TROY TROJAN! On this glorious, sunny Sunday morning Trojan fans can proudly reflect on an outstanding weekend for Troy University.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention on this Veteran's Day weekend that all of the great opportunities that we are afforded in our great United States are as a result of the selfless, dedicated service and sacrifice of our armed forces, past, present, and future. THANK YOU to all veterans and active duty military and their families for all you do to preserve our freedom and rights!
Congratulations to Coach Don Maestri and the Troy men's basketball team and to Coach Larry Blakeney and the Troy football team for their successful weekends!
Both of these programs SEIZED THE OPPORTUNITY to win high-profile games against nationally recognized programs on our Troy campus. While the coaches and players deserve the bulk of the credit for winning the games, each of you who attended one or both of these events can share in the credit for the victories. The fans definitely created home court/home field advantages for both teams; the students, alumni, military guests, and other Trojan fans really made a difference in cheering on our teams. Thank you for your support of Trojan Athletics!
The Friday night coming out party for Trojan Arena and the 2012-13 men's basketball team could not have been scripted any better.
In front of the largest crowd to ever watch a basketball game at Troy (5,120), our Trojans defeated perennial SEC basketball contender Mississippi State 56-53. The beautiful new Trojan Arena was a hit with the many fans who were getting their first view of the facility.
In addition to the exciting play on the court, fans were entertained by the fantastic video board production, an incredible sound system, and of course the always outstanding performances of the Sound of the South band and the Troy cheer squad.
Our team fed off of the energy of the crowd, and we want to continue to have great crowds at both our men's and women's basketball games in Trojan Arena.
Not to be outdone by the performance of their fellow student-athletes Friday night, our Trojan football team defeated Navy 41-31 yesterday at Veteran's Memorial Stadium. Navy was riding a five-game winning streak and had already become bowl-eligible. Our Trojans are now 5-5 and only one win away from bowl eligibility with two regular season games remaining.
With the backdrop of Veteran's Day and the 237th birthday of the United States Marine Corps, there was a very heavy military influence to yesterday's festivities. The crowd of 24,321 was the fifth-largest crowd in Veteran's Memorial Stadium history.
Just as in the basketball game Friday night, our football team fed off of the cheering and energy from the crowd yesterday. We ask that you return next Saturday afternoon for our Homecoming game against Arkansas State to cheer on the Trojans towards a sixth win of the season to make us bowl eligible.
The Troy volleyball team seized its opportunity to finish in the upper echelon of the Sun Belt Conference this weekend as they reached the 20-win plateau and guaranteed at least a third-place finish in the league. Good luck to Coach Sonny Kirkpatrick and the Trojans at the Sun Belt Tournament this week at Western Kentucky.
In addition to enjoying the two exciting games we had on campus this weekend, I had the opportunity to visit with many Trojan alums and fans this weekend, as well as what will hopefully be some future Trojans. Among the larger groups I got to spend some time with this weekend were:
· The Troy Foundation Board – It was great to spend some time with this distinguished group who are the catalysts for helping us raise the private funds that make it possible to advance Troy University.
· The Trojan Warriors – The passion for Trojan Athletics success with this engaged and active group is contagious. I enjoyed speaking with them about my first six weeks on the job and some of our initiatives in Troy Athletics as we move forward.
· Football Recruits & Families – We had a large group of football recruits on campus Saturday that were very engaged and interested in becoming a part of our Trojan Family. My primary message to them was: 1) We are committed to providing all of the necessary resources for our student-athletes to be successful in the classroom, on the field of play, and in the development of life skills; and 2) That as a part of this commitment, our North End Zone Project, is a primary focus for us and the intention is to have it ready for occupancy prior to the 2015 season, if not sooner.
I also had the opportunity to visit with many former student-athletes, some of which had not been back to campus in quite a while. I informed them that cultivating our former student-athletes in all sports is going to be a priority for our department. We are looking at having a T Club Weekend in the spring to correspond with our T-Day Football Game and a baseball and softball home weekend. This event is still in the planning phase, but the plan is to have a T Club golf event Friday and dinner/social events on both Friday and Saturday nights.
In addition to having many of our alums, donors and fans on campus this weekend, we also had several of our current business partners on campus.
We had corporate executives from Adidas (our apparel and footwear partner), Daktronics (our video board and scoreboard partner), IMG (our corporate sponsorship and multimedia rights partner), and Strategic Marketing Associates (our licensing partner) here to discuss our partnerships going forward, with the focus being on increasing revenues and exposure for Troy Athletics.
I hope that you all have a great week. Remember to proudly wear your Trojan apparel and join us for Homecoming this upcoming weekend. We need every one of you – and your Trojan friends – in the stadium Saturday for our football game against Arkansas State. This game presents us another huge opportunity to reach out and seize a sixth win and bowl eligibility.
GO TROJANS!
John Hartwell
Troy Athletics Director
Athletic Director Update Archive
Nov. 1, 2012
Seizing the Opportunities
What a GREAT DAY TO BE A TROY TROJAN! On this glorious, sunny Sunday morning Trojan fans can proudly reflect on an outstanding weekend for Troy University.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention on this Veteran's Day weekend that all of the great opportunities that we are afforded in our great United States are as a result of the selfless, dedicated service and sacrifice of our armed forces, past, present, and future. THANK YOU to all veterans and active duty military and their families for all you do to preserve our freedom and rights!
Congratulations to Coach Don Maestri and the Troy men's basketball team and to Coach Larry Blakeney and the Troy football team for their successful weekends!
Both of these programs SEIZED THE OPPORTUNITY to win high-profile games against nationally recognized programs on our Troy campus. While the coaches and players deserve the bulk of the credit for winning the games, each of you who attended one or both of these events can share in the credit for the victories. The fans definitely created home court/home field advantages for both teams; the students, alumni, military guests, and other Trojan fans really made a difference in cheering on our teams. Thank you for your support of Trojan Athletics!
The Friday night coming out party for Trojan Arena and the 2012-13 men's basketball team could not have been scripted any better.
In front of the largest crowd to ever watch a basketball game at Troy (5,120), our Trojans defeated perennial SEC basketball contender Mississippi State 56-53. The beautiful new Trojan Arena was a hit with the many fans who were getting their first view of the facility.
In addition to the exciting play on the court, fans were entertained by the fantastic video board production, an incredible sound system, and of course the always outstanding performances of the Sound of the South band and the Troy cheer squad.
Our team fed off of the energy of the crowd, and we want to continue to have great crowds at both our men's and women's basketball games in Trojan Arena.
Not to be outdone by the performance of their fellow student-athletes Friday night, our Trojan football team defeated Navy 41-31 yesterday at Veteran's Memorial Stadium. Navy was riding a five-game winning streak and had already become bowl-eligible. Our Trojans are now 5-5 and only one win away from bowl eligibility with two regular season games remaining.
With the backdrop of Veteran's Day and the 237th birthday of the United States Marine Corps, there was a very heavy military influence to yesterday's festivities. The crowd of 24,321 was the fifth-largest crowd in Veteran's Memorial Stadium history.
Just as in the basketball game Friday night, our football team fed off of the cheering and energy from the crowd yesterday. We ask that you return next Saturday afternoon for our Homecoming game against Arkansas State to cheer on the Trojans towards a sixth win of the season to make us bowl eligible.
The Troy volleyball team seized its opportunity to finish in the upper echelon of the Sun Belt Conference this weekend as they reached the 20-win plateau and guaranteed at least a third-place finish in the league. Good luck to Coach Sonny Kirkpatrick and the Trojans at the Sun Belt Tournament this week at Western Kentucky.
In addition to enjoying the two exciting games we had on campus this weekend, I had the opportunity to visit with many Trojan alums and fans this weekend, as well as what will hopefully be some future Trojans. Among the larger groups I got to spend some time with this weekend were:
· The Troy Foundation Board – It was great to spend some time with this distinguished group who are the catalysts for helping us raise the private funds that make it possible to advance Troy University.
· The Trojan Warriors – The passion for Trojan Athletics success with this engaged and active group is contagious. I enjoyed speaking with them about my first six weeks on the job and some of our initiatives in Troy Athletics as we move forward.
· Football Recruits & Families – We had a large group of football recruits on campus Saturday that were very engaged and interested in becoming a part of our Trojan Family. My primary message to them was: 1) We are committed to providing all of the necessary resources for our student-athletes to be successful in the classroom, on the field of play, and in the development of life skills; and 2) That as a part of this commitment, our North End Zone Project, is a primary focus for us and the intention is to have it ready for occupancy prior to the 2015 season, if not sooner.
I also had the opportunity to visit with many former student-athletes, some of which had not been back to campus in quite a while. I informed them that cultivating our former student-athletes in all sports is going to be a priority for our department. We are looking at having a T Club Weekend in the spring to correspond with our T-Day Football Game and a baseball and softball home weekend. This event is still in the planning phase, but the plan is to have a T Club golf event Friday and dinner/social events on both Friday and Saturday nights.
In addition to having many of our alums, donors and fans on campus this weekend, we also had several of our current business partners on campus.
We had corporate executives from Adidas (our apparel and footwear partner), Daktronics (our video board and scoreboard partner), IMG (our corporate sponsorship and multimedia rights partner), and Strategic Marketing Associates (our licensing partner) here to discuss our partnerships going forward, with the focus being on increasing revenues and exposure for Troy Athletics.
I hope that you all have a great week. Remember to proudly wear your Trojan apparel and join us for Homecoming this upcoming weekend. We need every one of you – and your Trojan friends – in the stadium Saturday for our football game against Arkansas State. This game presents us another huge opportunity to reach out and seize a sixth win and bowl eligibility.
GO TROJANS!
John Hartwell
Troy Athletics Director
Athletic Director Update Archive
Nov. 1, 2012
Eric Newell Postgame Press Conference (Louisiana SBC Tournament)
Thursday, May 07
Eric Newell Postgame Press Conference (Coastal Carolina Games Two and Three)
Friday, May 01
Troy at Coastal Carolina Game One Highlights
Friday, May 01
Eric Newell Postgame Press Conference (Coastal Carolina Game One)
Friday, May 01