Oct. 2011
Greetings,
Immediately after our women’s soccer 2-0 victory over Rider earlier this month, I walked across the field as “Sweet Caroline” played over the PA system. Our student-athletes accompanied Neil Diamond to belt out the song that celebrates every Purple Eagles win. The good times for Niagara Athletics have never been so good. So good. So good. So good.
Five-plus years ago, I started on a journey on Monteagle Ridge, accepting the position as Director of Athletics at Niagara University. I told a group of season ticket holders shortly after my press conference in July that I would assess our results after five years and see the progress that we made. Truth be told, I didn’t feel confident enough or intelligent enough to look more than five years into the future.
In the middle of our sixth fall season and as hockey gets into full stride, I thought a state of the department is appropriate. We measure success in every area and even at first blush, the last five years have been an overwhelming.
First and foremost, we have improved the student-athlete experience at Niagara University. Facilities have improved drastically, with the renovations of Dwyer Arena, the O’Malley Weight Room and the Upper Level Gallagher Center. We will announce another facility renovation in the spring. We added Niagara Field for our soccer and lacrosse programs, going from the outhouse to the penthouse while providing recreation space for our club sports and intramural programs.
The ability to improve facilities hinges upon generating revenue from the outside and we have drastically improved our external revenue, doubling it over five years. Our external outreach has led to attendance records in men’s basketball and men’s hockey, a boom in annual giving despite a horrible economy and dozens of national TV appearances. We went 10 years without having national TV in the Gallagher Center and we had it three times in an 18-month span. Our website and webstreaming improvements will take another step this year and our social media efforts grow each day. More and more Niagara University alumni, friends, fans and parents follow the Purple Eagles due to the work we have done.
Our sport programs have won more team and individual championships in the last five years than at any time in our history. Women’s soccer, men’s basketball, men’s hockey and women’s volleyball all have played in the NCAA Tournament. The Gallagher Center hosted an NIT game for the first time in history and we won an NCAA Tournament game in men’s basketball for the first time in 37 years. Men’s diver
Ian O'Rourke has solidified himself as one of the most decorated student-athletes in Niagara history.
We found a home for our men’s hockey program – ending the days of wondering in what league we will be in or if we will have a conference tournament – and we have served as a driving force for our women’s conference, on the cusp of expansion to six teams and an Automatic Qualifier into the NCAA Tournament. Though controversial at the time, the move to Atlantic Hockey has been excellent and provides a bright future. I know our best days on the field, court and ice are still ahead of us.
We have had teams who had down years, no question about that. But we have performed our jobs each year with integrity and made our fans proud during a time when athletic departments at universities are exposed every week for rules violations and academic fraud. Instances of questionable ethics has not been us and never will be us. One of my first duties as Director of Athletics was to institute a Student-Athlete Code of Conduct, a document that lays out the rules and expectations of wearing a Niagara uniform.
Most importantly, we have created leaders and alumni who make us proud. Much of that credit goes to our coaches, a blend of people I inherited and others I brought to campus. We have enjoyed the benefit of keeping excellent coaches like
Peter Veltri,
Dave Burkholder and
Joe Mihalich while bringing in coaches like
Susan Clements and
Chase Brooks. We have increased our staff diversity significantly and provided role models and mentors for our student-athletes. We are building champions. We are educating minds. We are creating leaders.
I told my staff five years ago that we would work hard, have fun and win championships. We are well on our way. We need your support to achieve even greater levels of success, whether you buy tickets, give to the Purple and White Club, partner your business with us or send your children to school with us. With members of the PurpNation with us, the next five years will outshine the last five years in a blink. I’ve been inclined, to believe they definitely could. Go Purple Eagles!
Ed McLaughlin
@NiagaraPurpsAD
