When I received the e-mail asking me to talk about my favorite teams to work with over the years, my immediate thought was “Picking a favorite team is like a parent picking their favorite child – you can’t do that.”
And when you have been in athletic communications for nearly half your life like I have, picking those favorite teams becomes even more difficult.

But, there have been teams and student-athletes that have given me fond memories over the years, so Ithink those are the ones I will talk about this month.

The first team that comes to mind comes from my time at Goldey-Beacom College, a small Division II school based in Wilmington, Delaware. I started my time with the Lightning in March, 2012 and within just a few days, there was one team that had made its way to the top of my list – and the team’s season was already over when I got there.

I believe it was my first day on the job or my second day, but I was sitting in my office and all of a
sudden, the entire Goldey-Beacom women’s basketball team was standing at my door. My first thought was, “I hope all of these students weren’t here to schedule a make-up exam.” (Side note: I also oversaw the Academic Resource Center at GBC during my time there.)

But, instead, they all wanted to make sure they introduced themselves to me and welcomed me to campus. While it was at the coach’s urge (which I am still thankful for), the fact that they all came up and did that is a memory I will always remember. The wins and losses of that team did not matter from that point on – I was happy to be a part of Goldey-Beacom College Athletics because of them.

Fast forward a few years to my time at UNCW and the softball team always holds a dear place in my heart. Sure, the Seahawks have set a school record for wins in a season during my time there and made their first-ever postseason appearance in 2017 with the National Invitation Softball Championship, but the personalities and character of the student-athletes in that program are what make me remember them fondly.

In addition, their kindness for others is something I always take away from the softball team and I was able to experience that first hand. When my wife and I bought our house in Wilmington nearly three years ago, we asked for help in making the move from the athletics department …and it didn’t take long to get that help.

Within a few hours of sending that e-mail, I received a text from the softball team’s associate head coach telling me that she was sending student-athletes to help over the next couple of days and that they would help with anything we needed with no questions asked. And they were a big help – we were able to get things packed in our apartment and get rooms in our house painted during that time with nearly 75% of the team coming to help for at least one evening with several student-athletes coming to help in multiple evenings.

The kindness did not go unnoticed on me or my wife for sure. It was something that I still fondly
remember even now that we have been our house for nearly three years.

One of the softball student-athletes in particular – Sarah Davis – has really made an impression on me during my time at UNCW. Sarah, who was one of the student-athletes who came to help at my house for multiple days, was a freshman when I first got to UNCW in 2014-15. But, it was something that happened during her sophomore year that caused us to become friends.

I made a decision to travel with the team to a non-conference midweek road doubleheader to Campbell and during the previous weekend’s home games, I wore a teal polo shirt in a game that saw Sarah pitch very well. However, I didn’t wear it to the road game at Campbell … and Sarah noticed.

Between games of the doubleheader, I was told that because she pitched so well during the previous weekend, Sarah wanted me to wear teal for any softball game I attended going forward. I took the hint very well – and wore teal for every softball game during the rest of Sarah’s career.
And that was the start of a beautiful friendship and another example of why being around the softball team was and continues to be so much fun.

In addition to Sarah, I became a big fan of another student-athlete during my time at UNCW because of her kindness and friendship. Madison Raque, a member of the UNCW women’s basketball team from 2014-18, and I became close over the course of her four-year career. It all started because during the first couple of years that I traveled with the team, she was the only one who would carry a conversation with me on the road on a regular basis. We became friends during her career, so when she got injured in the penultimate home game of her career, I was heartbroken. If there was one player who I would never want to see get hurt, it was Madison.

Madison’s friendship is something I truly treasure and I am glad we have kept in touch since she
graduated a year ago. So, hopefully, that answered the topic of talking about my favorite teams. It doesn’t mean if there are many wins or losses, but the experiences are what I remember.