Athletic Director Forum - Trojan Tour '13 in Review, Mid-Summer Thoughts, & 53 Days to Kickoff

Athletic Director Forum - July 9, 2013

I hope each of you had an enjoyable and safe Fourth of July weekend. As for Troy Athletics, it remains a very busy time. Just because there are not athletic contests in the summer months, it does not mean the Troy Athletics coaches and staff take the summer off. Among the current items our coaches and staff have on their plates include:
·       Planning for the upcoming academic year to include marketing, promotion and game operations for all of our sports
·       Preparation of media guides, game programs, etc. for the upcoming seasons
·       Continuing academic support for our 180+ student-athletes who are in summer school
·       Continuing strength & conditioning training and athletic training treatment for those student-athletes who are either enrolled in summer school or staying in Troy to train
·       For many of our sports, most notably men's and women's basketball, July is a huge recruiting month
·       For fall sports such as football, soccer, volleyball and cross country, our coaching staffs are busy preparing August practice schedules and other preseason planning
·       We also still have several sports camps going on that allow our coaches the opportunity to showcase their facilities and evaluate young talent

We want to thank all of you who had the opportunity to get out to one of the nine stops on Trojan Tour '13 during the last week of June. It was a huge success, with almost 900 attendees and countless media covering the events of the week. It will definitely be an event that we have on an annual basis, and based on the feedback we have received we will likely expand the number of stops during the tour.

We are very appreciative for the time and effort Coach Chanda Rigby, Coach Phil Cunningham, Coach Bobby Pierce and Coach Larry Blakeney put into the event. Also, a huge thank you goes out to all of our "behind the scenes" help in putting on this event, including: Chuck Carson, Mike Murphy, Faith Ward, Andrew Dickenson, Adam Prendergast, Matt Mays and Jamaal "Smooth" Smith, along with the volunteers at the various stops who helped with set up, registration and driving attendance. The bar has been set and now our job is to make Trojan Tour '14 an even better event.

During the past month we have had a couple of personnel departures from our athletics staff: Ryan Nichols, director of annual giving, left to go into private business in Birmingham, while men's and women's tennis head coach Eric Hayes left to take the same position at Mercer University. Both Ryan and Eric made significant contributions to the success of Troy Athletics during their tenures and will be missed by us all. Change does give us the opportunity to look at our organizational structure, and we are looking at some changes in duties as we look to fill these positions. We wish Ryan and Eric the best of luck in future endeavors.

I would be remiss if I did not talk about the efforts of our student-athletes this summer. Not only do we have 180+ student-athletes in summer school, but we also have even more than that who are here on campus training on a daily basis to become bigger, stronger and better athletes in an effort to do their part to make their respective teams better. While there is certainly the reward of games/matches/meets for our student-athletes, there are many thankless hours of blood, sweat and tears that go into training to represent themselves, their team and Troy University in the best way they can. It is a full-time job to be a major college student-athlete in today's competitive environment. Thank you to all of our Trojan student-athletes for your efforts to be the best you can be!

For those of you not yet counting down the days, we are 53 days away from kickoff of the 2013 football season here at Veterans Memorial Stadium on Aug. 31 at 6 p.m. against UAB. We need to fill the stadium with Trojan fans and get the 2013 season off to a winning start. Make your plans to attend and bring some friends with you. Our team and coaches are working hard to ensure the product on the field is exciting and successful, and our staff is working to make sure that your game day experience is fun and action packed. We need you to work hard to make plans to attend – and when you come remember: Be Early, Be Proud, Be Loud and Be a Trojan!

GO TROJANS!

John Hartwell
Troy Athletics Director

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Athletic Director Forum - Trojan Tour '13 in Review, Mid-Summer Thoughts, & 53 Days to Kickoff

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