I’m pleased to announce the addition of three sports
programs to our NCAA Division III lineup—men’s and women’s swimming, and
women’s golf. These new teams will give us a total of 22 men’s and
women’s intercollegiate athletic teams.
Among the benefits of
adding sports teams, national research shows, are enhanced recruitment
and retention of students. We expect these sports to add to our
attractiveness for prospective students, while positioning us favorably
among our peer institutions.
Mike Ginder, assistant swimming
coach at Bucknell University, has been named our first men's and women's
swimming coach. Mike has served as assistant coach at Bucknell
University since 2012. Previously he was an assistant swim coach at
Georgetown University and Catholic University. He began his coaching
career at Washington and Lee University, where he was a former standout,
team captain and 16-time NCAA All-American swimmer. We welcome Mike to
our athletic program.
The men’s and women’s swimming programs are
made possible through the generosity of Trustee O. L. Everett and
former Trustee John Lingo. Recruiting is underway now with the goal of
competition beginning in the fall of 2017. The College’s existing
25-yard, eight-lane swimming pool, located in the Batten Student Center,
will serve as the training facility for these student-athletes.
Once
again, we see the power of philanthropy at work, in establishing
competitive swimming at Virginia Wesleyan and accomplishing so much more
for our academic and co-curricular programs. The College is grateful
for the leadership gifts that have established swimming and made
possible important, recent additions to our athletic facilities. These
include stands at the multi-use Birdsong Field and enhancements to the
baseball complex to be named for Kenneth R. Perry in memory of
philanthropist Joan Brock’s father.
The women’s golf program
began competition this fall, building on the men’s program, which
recently garnered the College’s first national championship golfer in
that sport. The Old Dominion Athletic Conference currently hosts six
schools in women’s golf with Virginia Wesleyan being the seventh
program.
Both the men’s and women’s golf programs will be led by
Head Coach Rick Bidnick. A PGA Coaching Professional, Bidnick comes to
Virginia Wesleyan from the staff of Nansemond-Suffolk Academy.
Please
join me in welcoming the student-athletes who will compete in these
sports, along with their coaches and families, to the Virginia Wesleyan
athletic lineup.
Go Marlins!
