CASSIDY HERMAN
Special to The Leader
The new athletic director, Jerry Fisk, started making changes on Dec. 13, 2017. Almost two months in and he is proud of what he has achieved so far, and is excited for the future here.
Fisk arrived in Fredonia after holding the position as the assistant athletic director of event and facility operations at Elmira College. There, he was in charge of the athletic center multi-use off-campus facility.
One main priority Fisk obtained in Elmira and wishes to do so here as well, in a responsible manner, is provide the best student experience.
“I want to incorporate input and relationships with various stakeholders to make this possible,” said Fisk. “These stakeholders include alumni, coaches, faculty, student athletes and the community. Coaches need to feel the love, and I want to be able to provide them with the best products available.”
A few changes that Fisk has already made include basketball games and practices being moved from Steele Hall to Dods gym, coaches having a dress code and student athletes participating in “Celebrate Mondays.”
The move the basketball teams made seemed to be a good one. A group of girls from the women’s team agreed that they liked playing in Dods better, and they all had different reasons. Some were that the gym floor is better, the lighting is different and it’s smaller, so the bleachers seem more filled up. Jenna Einink added that it is an all around better atmosphere to play in.
“It has been awesome to hear all the new ideas being shared and I have noticed that the energy within the coaching staff is different, a good different,” said Tony Ciccarello, head softball coach. “I don’t really mind the dress code changes, I’ll just have to get used to them, but I’m good with it.”
“‘Celebrate Mondays’ is an effort to reach out to the community, the region and other areas of campus,” Fisk said.
Student athletes line up outside of an elementary school and give high fives to the students walking into school to show support and that the athletes care. Fisk felt like this was a great way to involve campus life with community life.
Fisk also explained that he has been working very hard to introduce leaders across campus. He feels that it is important to make a strong connection between the athletic department and the academic departments.
There are some new plans currently being set into motion and some ideas coming through as well. The athletic department wants to make it known that the Fredonia campus has “Blue Devil Pride.” Fisk explained that he wants to have more branding inside and outside of the buildings around campus.
The department is working on installing televisions around Dods and Steele Hall to make individuals aware of athletic events taking place. There are already some televisions that have been installed, but there are more on the way.
The varsity weight room, once a bowling alley, is in the middle of a redesign. The machines in the weight room are old and outdated.
“I don’t want people to think of a dungeon or something unpleasant when they are going to work out in there,” Fisk said.
There is also work being done in the general women’s locker room that will be done for the 2018 SUNYAC Cross Country Championships.
An important project Fisk brought up is a student athlete seminar that he wants to put in place. It will be a quarterly program starting up in the fall. The seminar will cover things like mental health, sexual and dating violence, interview skills, leadership development and more.
Fisk wants to provide a place where we not only celebrate the big accomplishments, but the small ones, too. He feels that if coaches and players give an intentional effort to congratulate small victories, that could help with wins and losses.
Not only does Fisk want to make this a positive atmosphere for student athletes, but he also wants athletes to know that there are more changes to come.