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WEDNESDAY, DCTODER 11, 2017 | PAGE 11
SPOR
Mike Ward, Elon’s new deputy athletics director, watches the Elon University football team win its fifth-straight game, defeating William & Mary 25-17 on Saturday Oct. 7.
ALfC MANDELL | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHEf?
Phoenix hires new
deputy athietics director
Erik Webb
Sports Director 1 @ErikWebbElon
E lon university athletics
DIRECTOR Dave Blank announced
last month that he would be adding a
new position to his staff the same time
he announced who would be filling the role.
Mike Ward was named the deputy ath
letics director for Elon University Sept. 18.
With his bacl^round, it might be surpris
ing to sports fans why he made the move to
Elon.
Ward came to Elon from large Southeast
ern Conference (SEC) schools. Most recent
ly, Ward was at the University of Tennessee
at Knoxville where he served as the senior
associate athletic director for sport pro
grams and administration. Prior to that, he
was the associate athletics director for com
pliance and administration at the University
of Alabama. Ward said there was a driving
factor that made him want to move from an
SEC school to a Colonial Athletic Associa
tion school like Elon.
“They are all different, but they are all
the same size, and they are all run the same
way,” Ward said. “Elon gave me a chance to
continue to grow by going some place that
maybe looks a little bit different than those
schools, but has a lot of the same goals... re
ally, it gave me a chance to come in and con
tribute to the vision and the mission.”
“Ward brings broad and successful expe
rience across a wide array of areas to Elon
Athletics.” Blank said in a press release. “He
is a talented, results-oriented administrator.”
ating a well-rounded experience for our
student-athletes and I am confident he will
have a positive impact across our depart
ment,” Blank said.
As he looks to leave a lasting impression
on Elon, Ward says he wants to develop a
bigger fan base.
“I think we’ve got to continue to get bet
ter at telling our story as an athletics depart
ment and as a Division I program,” Ward
said. “I think weVe got to teU the story of
how we continue to add value to the region
about how our entertainment experiences
here are a great experience for people who
live here in the region.”
According to Ward, that not only starts
with the residents of Alamance County, but
also with the students at Elon, too.
“I want to help fill that gap with the cur
rent generation of Phoenix Fanatics and
their leadership, and figure out what we, as a
active in making changes. I want to be a re
ally active listener for a little while and see
how we do things before we start to modify
anything”
Favorite things
Having only been at Elon for a couple
weeks, Ward says he’s already impressed.
“This campus is gorgeous,” he said. “I’m a
runner, and every night I run around cam
pus and feel like I find a new sidewalk or a
new lake or some part of campus that is just
stunningly well-kept. To get to experience
this every day while you’re here getting your
education, to have things like College Coffee
every Tuesday ... this is like Disneyland for
college students.”
After experiencing his first College Cof
fee last week. Ward said he is really apprecia
tive of all of the student experiences available
WARD BRINGS BROAD AND SUCCESSFUL EXPERIENCE ACROSS A WIDE
ARRAY OF AREAS TO ELON ATHLETICS. HE IS A TALENTED, RESULTS-
ORIENTED ADMINISTRATOR.”
on training.”
When it comes to athletics. Ward says
picking what sport is his favorite is like try
ing to pick between his children.
“I think we have two incredibly talented
basketball coaches of our basketball pro
gram, so I’m excited to see them,” Ward said.
“I’ve never been at a school with Division
I lacrosse, and so really excited about that.
Love softball and baseball; great way to
spend an afternoon on a spring day.”
Though he might not be able to pick his
favorite, coming from SEC schools has Ward
excited about one sport in particular.
“Football is important and football is
visible, so I think that’s been very exciting,”
Ward said. “I worked with Coach Cignetti at
Alabama and know what he’s capable of. He’s
a great coach. So part of what my job will be
is to tell people what to expect from him and
that’s a level of competitiveness that I think
you’re seeing in our team this year.”
Ward isn’t wrong. After a win this week
end, the Elon football team starts their sea
son 5-1
Personal notes
DAVE BLANK
ATHLETICS DIRECTOR
Ward’s goals
On a daily basis. Ward is unsure what his
role will be within the athletics department.
“I think it will evolve over time, and it will
be a slow start,” he said. “It’s a new position
here and really, best-case scenario. I’ll allow
Dave to work at a much higher level while
managing the day-to-day details of running
the department so he spend more time cre
ating the vision for Elon Athletics. I hope to
find ways to contribute to the student and
the day-to-day experiences that our student
athletes have.”
“Mike shares Elon’s commitment of cre
department, can do to support them,” Ward
said. “Do they want us to support them with
themed nights? With particular music? With
a curtain of distraction? All of those things,
which have to be student led to be authentic,
I think my job is to pull that out of them.”
Ward not only believes in the abOity to get
bigger attendance numbers, but also believes
in the Phoenix, and his goals reflect that.
“We’re going to think big, but start small,”
Ward said. “Our goal, and my goal, is to
graduate every student athlete and win every
championship. Those are audacious goals,
but if you set them any lower I think would
be a disservice to the caliber of student ath
letes we’re bringing into the program.”
Even though he believes that winning
every championship each year is unrealis
tic, Ward says he’s excited to try to bring the
Phoenix to that level.
“I’m excited to see what we do,” he said.
“I think for the first couple of months, the
difficult part is resist the urge to be overly
and would love to be able to show them off.
“I’d love to have a recruit here on a Tues
day morning for College Coffee and par
ticularly a recruit’s parents. It’s an amazing
experience ... I saw people from every dif
ferent area of campus. I saw the head bas
ketball coach out there at College Coffee
mingling with students. College Coffee is a
very unique tradition and a pretty special
thing that the university continues to invest
in things like that.”
One student experience that Ward is
really amazed by is the hands-on work stu
dents do for the athletics department on a
daily basis.
“I’ve probably learned more about the
caliber of students at Elon through the stu
dents who are helping interface with athlet
ics,” he said. “Our game production is almost
entirely student run. It’s really good. Being
able to see what students can do, what the
students in the communications school are
capable of, they’re leaving with really hands-
Ward completed his undergrad at the
University of Alabama, where he graduated
cum laude in 1999 with a bachelor’s degree
in biology and psychology. He stayed at Al
abama for another three years and earned a
Juris Doctor degree with a concentration in
business administration from the University
of Alabama School of Law.
After working as a lawyer, working for
the NCAA as the assistant director of en
forcement, and working at the University of
Oklahoma, the University of Alabama and
the University of Tennessee at Knoxville,
Ward was ready for a change. He said that
he came to North Carolina for a multitude
of reasons.
“I look at, you know, the livability of a
place, the culture of the department, the op
portunity and the leadership here, and those
are what really attracted me to Elon,” he said.
Livability is important to Ward as he
makes sure his two children will also be hap
py with the move. Ward and his wife, Beth,
have two Children - Xander is 14 and Avalyn
is 13.
“They will make the move next Friday,
and they’re excited,” Ward said. “I think they
are excited about the community. Looking
forward to them getting here and showing
them everything that this place has to offer.”