Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Students Can Help Owls Take Flight
10/2/2012 12:00:00 AM | General
On Friday, I sat in my first `Staff Meeting' for FAU Athletics and what better meeting to attend than when the commissioner of the Sun Belt Conference, Karl Benson, is there. He was the first to speak at the podium and then Pat Chun followed. As I sat there, I found myself in a little inner dilemma. In these meetings, it's extremely important to keep it professional. And while I'm very good at doing so, the student side of me was bursting with excitement for the growing opportunities FAU has within the Sun Belt conference.
First, I realized that students aren't taking advantage of the geography of the Sun Belt Conference. As of next year, we will be the only Florida school in the conference, giving students the chance to travel and see different parts of the country. With schools in nearly every state in the southeast, students should be excited to travel to these locations and show off their Owl Pride. I've had opportunities to travel with the team and while seeing your school play is great, seeing different cities and taking in the culture of different universities is awesome. I guarantee you that no other school is like Florida Atlantic University; the food, the people, tailgating, etc, it's all different than FAU. Seeing what your conference is all about is something every student should do.
The greatest part of all of this though, is that students have the chance to see FAU grow within the conference. We get to witness the most fun part of college sports happen, the building of rivalries. While we don't have the history of such teams like Auburn and Alabama, this is the most opportune time to see a history between two schools grow. Rivalries take time and the fact that FIU is leaving the conference makes things a little tougher. Now it's time to extend what we've built and find another love-hate relationship.
In this meeting, I also learned that the Sun Belt Conference has had a lot of positive media this year. And while that accomplishment seems very small, that provides us students the perfect opportunity to help FAU's name grow within the conference. University of Louisiana Monroe got things started when they defeated Arkansas, then came Western Kentucky with their upset versus Kentucky, and while FAU didn't beat University of Georgia or Alabama, we did stop Alabama from their 3rd straight shut out game. Again, a small statistic, but it helps but it helps FAU put its name out there.
FAU has a lot of growing to do, but it's great that as students, we get to be an active part of it. Attending the staff meeting helped me realize just how vital the students are to the rebuilding phase of FAU. Current students are laying down the foundation of culture and tradition that future students will partake in. It's quite the big job for us and seriously guys, there's no pressure.
