Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Summer School Has Begun, Interesting Time of the Year
5/16/2013 12:00:00 AM | General
May 16, 2013
Driving onto campus the past two weeks has been easy sailing. Finding a parking space hasn't been a problem with the lot wide open. Those two sentences equate to long days for me. You see, I like the days when the lines are long and a loop or two in the lot is the only chance to find a spot. Those days equate to student athletes buzzing around the Tom Oxley Athletic Center. When the parking lot is full you know the student-athletes are working on being better both in the classroom and in competition.
But my quick walk in provides enough time for me to formalize my day and remember that just because the student-athletes aren't here and just because we have possibly one game or one event to prepare for that I shouldn't be busy. This is the time of the year to prepare, to strengthen our plan and our efforts for 2013-14 and a year that will be drastically different as a member of Conference USA. If the meetings C-USA has held this spring are any indication, life at the Oxley will change drastically.
Like any off seasons, there are days mixed in that are definitely different. Some are fun and some not so fun. Last week, FAU Athletics hosted the fourth-annual golf tournament at Trump International and the ninth annual tournament. The words Trump International should say it all, but I'm not opposed to chiming in. It is a great day for the University and for FAU athletics. Participants have an opportunity to meet FAU student athletes and coaches working the event and all proceeds go to the Owl Scholarship Fund. That's a great combination, right? The Club and course is like no other place in south Florida and the smiles begin as volunteers, students, administrators, and participants exit their cars. There is a lot of work that goes into a fantastic day and a huge thank you goes out to all that helped make this happen.
Just as the glow of the tournament was wearing off, we received the announcement that President Mary Jane Saunders was resigning as FAU's President. I think Athletics Director Pat Chun said it best when he said "it was a sad day for athletics". President Saunders was a regular at the home games and she was someone the student athletes enjoyed seeing. When I think of President Saunders, I'm reminded that one of the first things she approved was to move forward with the football stadium project. Without that- the beautiful home of the Owls would not be standing on the north east corner of the University and the transformation to a first choice university would never have happened.
As with any news, I can elect to dwell on what others provide which often tends to be on the more negative side or I can look for the positives. So let's end this blog with the positives: 1. FAU baseball will play this weekend with an opportunity to secure a second seed in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. Next week they will have the opportunity to play for the SBC Conference Tournament Championship, which awards the winner an automatic bid to an NCAA regional. It also will be the program's final shot at capturing the SBC Tournament crown before moving the Conference USA.
2. The baseball team currently holds an RPI that would place them in the NCAA Regional but victories would improve upon that and better their seed.
3. Softball alum Blair Bodenmiller, a former FAU Student Athlete of the Year, just earned her law degree from Florida State University and was Editor of the Year for FSU's Law Review. How about that honor? (sliding into the negative - time sure moves fast. Blair left here three years ago and it seems like she was dusting off clay from diving at short last week).
4. Athletics Director Pat Chun and Sr. Associate AD Melissa Dawson returned from the C-USA meetings with the news that FAU would host the 2014 Softball Conference Tournament, May 8-10.
5. Former FAU baseball pitcher Mickey Storey was called up to the big leagues last week, with the Toronto Blue Jays.
6. Women's track is awaiting an individual invitation or invitations to the 2013 NCAA postseason event and will hear later this week.
