Special interview for Chowan Today
Metamorphosing
Simultaneously entering the realm of NCAA competition and
installing a new athletic director has reached the very core of
Chowan College athletics. In this interview with Athletic Di
rector Diane Morea, Jan Lefevre, Chowan Today editor, asks Morea
about upcoming changes, growth and plans for the future.
Lefevre: As the new athletic director, it is your responsibihty
to lead the athletic life of the college. What do you see'on the
horizon for Chowan’s future athletes regarding NCAA affiliation,
conferences and programs?
Morea: We just made history last week with Chowan College
voting for the first time at an NCAA convention. So, we’re
now officially in the record books. What that means to us, first,
is that we are affiliated with an institution that establishes a
fairer practice and playing field for everyone and supports the
philosophy of Division IH, including non-athletic-awarded aid
and the support of a liberal arts education.
Secondly, what that means for us conference-wise, is that
we have been accepted into the Atlantic Central Football
Conference. What that will do for our football program as we
look to hire a new coach and build a new stadium, is to really
generate excitement, enthusiasm and a new feeling about football
on campus. The NCAA is also looking at expanding the i -
championship opportunities in football because the one area in
championships that doesn’t have an equal playing field is
Division HI football. Not enough schools have the opportunity
to participate in post-season play with the ciurent structure.
That is a priority. Also, with the new football conference,
we’re looking at Coach-of-the-Year Award, player-of-the week
awards, all-team selection, etc. as a part of conference structure
that gives student athletes more meaning to their playing talents
and ability.
My hope is, for the rest of the teams, that we will have the
opportunity to join a conference. Yes, we are going to go back
and talk with the Dixie Conference. We did some extensive
talking with some of the Dixie Conference schools and the
commissioner at the [NCAA] convention. I think it was very
important that Chowan College show them, with the attendance
of myself, oiu' faculty athletic representative and the president,
that we are very, very committed to wanting to be a part of
their conference, wanting to play by the rules and wanting to
make the changes necessary to be a good conference member.
The future of Chowan athletics is based on all that, along
with structural reorganization, reorganization and expansion of
facilities and expansion of opportunities, especially on the
women’s side. That just means bigger and better things.
Lefevre: Chowan is readying itself for student body growth by
preparing a strategic plan for physical plant expansion. In your
opinion, what are the most critical athletic facility needs at this
time?
Morea: The most critical need at this time, especially with the
board’s approval to go forward with a new student center in the
location of the current football stadium, is the need for a new
football facility. Along with that, opens the opportunity for
some expansion in facilities such as, a weight training facility for
all sports; such as, a reorganization of the athletic training room
into a larger space; such as, the need for more office space for
our coaches, and expanded areas for laundry facilities and
cleaning and storage of athletic equipment and apparel.
One of the really important things is a field maintenance
plan to upgrade our current fields; to have real grass growing and
to have it green; to have a regular plan for aeration, fertilization
and watering during the summer; to provide a real showcase for
our student athletes.
Lefevre: With your prior marketing experience, 1 imagine that
you might have a plan in mind to increase Chowan’s athletic
facilities use beyond institutional needs. Have you given it
much thought?
Morea: One great opportimity is that Dan Surface will become
the assistant athletic director after June 1, and the main focus of
his job will be the Helms Center operation and game-day
operations for athletic events. Helms Center operation will
include community and external programming and the marketing
of the internal facility for outside groups. A basic problem is
that we have a large need ourselves for this facility and we can’t
always fill our own needs. But, there are times during the year
that we can make this facility available to other groups and we
need to have some policies and financial guidelines in place in
order to do that. One of his jobs will be, along with myself, to
sit down and develop those policies and market the center
effectively when it’s not in use by our athletic teams.
Lefevre: With time demands for practice and travel placed on
student athletes, how does Chowan provide assistance for its
participants with academic tutoring or time management?
Chowan athletics
Morea: Tutoring and academic assessment and assistance are
provided for all student athletes at Chowan by professionals in
the field. Is it enough? No, not currently. Our coaches are
responsible for supervising team study halls. This is just one
area where we need additional academic assistance. But, we
need the assistance for all of our students, especially our
incoming freshmen who are making a major transition to college
life.
Lefevre: Do you visualize any changes in Chowan’s athletic
programming that would bolster students’ chances for success
in college and beyond?
Morea: I think the biggest opportunity for us will be to get
into conference play. It would assist our Efforts in aiming for
conference championships and post-season play. As full
members of the NCAA, we now have the opportunities to go
into post-season play, but it’s much more difficuh as an
Independent to get that post-season bid. A post-season bid is
important for anybody; it’s a chance to go to a championship,
it’s a chance to put everything on the line, it’s a chance to get a
championship ring. Whether it is a conference championship
or a national championship, it’s an accomplishment that
athletes strive for, to get to the highest level possible and be
the most successful — to be the champion.
There’s a big area of debate right now in Division HI about
automatic qualification; what the requirements should be in the
future for conferences to get into the championships and how
many bids should be allowed if a conference has more than 14
teams. It [getting into a conference] would be a real opportu
nity for us and a real opportunity to be successful. You’re
talking about media exposure, you’re talking about alumni
pride, you’re talking about school pride and you’re talking
about rallying arotmd an area that is experiencing success. It
filters down all over campus,
Lefevre: In order to reward special efforts of student athletes,
how would you like to alter recognition programs?
Morea: We need to award academic achievement. We need to
be successful in the classroom as well as on the playing field
and that’s a priority here. Many of otu' student athletes will
not go on to the pros, very few of them will. So, we need to
emphasize to them the importance of being successful in the
classroom and the need to perform well in all facets of their
life. We want them to recognize good feelings about giving
back to the community and helping others who need their
assistance through such programs as Special Olympics,
YMCA, YWCA, Big Brothers-Big Sisters, church youth
groups. Habitat for Humanity, etc.
Lefevre: How do you view the connection between athletic
programs and various physical education majors at Chowan?
Morea: We have a sport management curriculum in the
physical education core and our hope is to continue to utilize
some of those sport management students as interns to learn
about athletic management and what happens behind the
scenes. It [the internship] provides an opportunity for the
students to experience first hand what all goes into
being a manager and how to run a program. An
athletic program is a very complex program
because you’re dealing with not just students, but
with athletes and egos, administrators, faculty,
alumni, prospective students and their parents,
community members and other outside constituen
cies. There’s a lot that goes into the public
relations aspect of athletics. We also provide
student athletic trainers with on-the-job experience
while assisting our athletic teams with the
prevention and care of athletic injuries.
Lefevre: In your opinion, what are some of the
critical issues facing Chowan athletics today and
what are the solutions?
Morea: We do have some critical issues such as:
expansion issues; full-time coaching issues dealing
with the aspects of recruiting, coaching and
teaching; budgetary constraints that I hope we’ll
be able to address in the future. Costs such as
staffing, food, travel, equipment and field mainte
nance continue to rise.
Lefevre: Given the opportunity to speak to
Chowan’s alumni, what would you like to say to
them?
Morea: There’s excitement on the horizon. The
pride that has been out there about athletics at
Chowan College is re-energizing and resiufacing as
a four-year institution. Come back and see us;
come back and support us — not just in a
financial sense, but in a physical sense as well.
We’re going to move forward and we’re going to
continue the Chowan tradition of academic and
athletic excellence.
Football enrolls in Atlantic Central conference
Athletics Director Diane Morea announced Chowan’s acceptance into the new Atlantic Central Football
Conference November 17. Beginning with the inaugural 1998 fall season, the ACFC will start with six mem
bers: Chowan College, Ferrum College, Frostburg State University, Methodist College, Salisbury State Univer
sity and Wesley College, all members of the NCAA Division HI. Annual and weekly awards will be presented
during the 1998 fall season with a Championship Trophy award beginning in 1999.
“I am delighted with the development of the Atlantic
Central Football Conference and Chowan’s position as a charter
member,” President Stanley Lott stated. “Competition in the
context of a conference will elevate the level of play and result
in a stronger program; one that will be more attractive to
prospective students and that will be more rewarding for the
coaches and current players.”
Morea added, “This is a great opportunity for the contin
ued growth of our football program. Along with the proposed
stadium, the new football conference will provide our football
staff and players the chance to take our program to a new level
of competition that includes award incentives and the real
possibility of NCAA post season competition.”
“Conference affiliation will now allow our players to
receive All-Conference recognition awards and the opportunity
to play for a Conference Championship,” declared Dan Surface, assistant athletics director and former head
football coach. “This will be a positive influence on our program, and our recruitment efforts of student-athletes
to Chowan.”
Dr. Michael Welch, Commissioner of the Dixie Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, will administer the new
football conference. Assisting Welch on the Executive Board will be Ferrum Athletics Director Ted Kinder,
Morea, and Rita Wiggs, athletics director at Methodist College.
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