Cameron Summers, Sports Editor/ Sports Writer

When people think about college athletes they tend to only associate them with their capabilities in their sport. They tend to overlook the other things that athletes so for the school and for the community. Wright State’s Director of Athletics Bob Grant says that the athletic department likes to treat their athletes with the PSA rule. That rule is that they treat them as People first, Students second and Athletes third.
“In our profession, there’s a lot of win at all costs places, and a lot of places that award bad behavior. We wanted to be different and we wanted to be about the students, and we are a bastion of higher learning so it is about the students here,” said Grant.

Wright State has been a division one school for the last 29 years, and Grant thinks that the student-athletes are accomplishing as much as ever in the community, classroom and in athletics.
“Last year our student-athletes did 2,400 hours of community service. They’re out in the community doing great things,” said Grant.

At the “I Love WSU” campaign last year student-athletes even shoveled mulch and pulled weeds just to give back to the campus community. Not only were they putting in time on the university grounds, but also in the classroom.
“We’re at 45 straight terms where our students have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher as a group. Our GSR over the last six years was 88%, the highest in our history! That means that we’re bringing student-athletes in, keeping them and graduating them,” said Grant.

The final part of the PSA attitude is as athletes. Bob Grant thinks that WSU sports is on the up and up on the field as well.
“We’re not winning National Championships yet, but I think we’re as good as we’ve ever been in 29 years of Division one. Last year in the Horizon League’s McCafferty standings we finished second out of ten teams in the Horizon League, and we played for six championships last year. Most we’ve played for in school history. We’re positioning people in the right way. They’re getting where they want to go.”
Building an environment that is focused on the athletes as people, students then athletes has worked in keeping the moral and attitude at the sports department positive.
“I believe happy employees and happy student-athletes are more productive. 90% of student athletes said that if they had a do-over that they would come back to Wright State. That tells me that we’re doing things right and we’re treating people right,” said Grant.

On a financially struggling campus the sports department has been able to stay towards the bottom of spending in the Horizon League, the state of Ohio and the Nation.
“We finished second, but we spend second from the bottom. In Ohio, there are 11 Division one state schools, and two years ago we finished 11 out of 11 in athletic spending. Nationally, at non-football Division one schools the average amount of university budget spent on athletics is six percent. Wright State spends only three percent on athletics. That’s half the National Average,” said Grant.

Wright State athletics only has full ride scholarships for the men’s and women’s basketball teams and the volleyball team. Every other sports’ athletes are on partial scholarships. This is one of the biggest financial helps to Wright State. These athletes that are on partial scholarships still must pay the University for the rest of their tuition.

The attitude coming from the athletic department is a hopeful and promising view for the future of sports at Wright State. Keeping the mindset of making good people, students and athletes will continue to be the goal for the future.

Source: http://www.theguardianonline.com/sports/2017/05/02/wsu-athletes-putting-in-work-on-and-off-the-field/

Members of the Niagara University men’s basketball team visited the Women’s & Children’s Hospital of Buffalo on Monday during finals week.

The team has made several trips to the hospital in the last four years where the student-athletes interacted with the patients. Members of the team hoped to lift the spirits of those being treated, but the patients’ positive attitudes had a poignant impact on the student-athletes.

“The children’s hospital visit was a great experience for the team and me,” said Dominic Robb. “It makes you realize how lucky we are to be healthy and seeing the smiles on the kids’ faces. Interacting with them when we visited their rooms really showed it was an awesome thing we were doing.”

“Seeing kids go through very tough challenges every day, but still continue to keep a smile on their faces, is very uplifting and encouraging,” said Kevin Larkin.

“I attended the hospital with the intentions of inspiring the children to stay positive and put a smile on each of their faces, but in all actuality the children inspired me and kept me smiling the whole time,” said Chris Barton. “Even though all of the children had things that they were going through, they kept a smile on their faces. This experience taught me that I can’t go through life making excuses and complaining about things and I have those blessings from Buffalo Children’s Hospital to thank for that.”

Under head coach Chris Casey, the men’s basketball program has been extremely active within the local community. The team makes annual visits to the Community Missions of Niagara Frontier and has made numerous trips to the Niagara Falls Boys & Girls Club where it held clinics. The Purple Eagles have also volunteered at the Magdalene Project at St. George’s Church in Niagara Falls, New York and at the Porter Cup in Lewiston, New York.

Stay connected with the Purple Eagles through social media. Follow Niagara Athletics on Twitter @NUPurpleEagles and for men’s basketball updates at @NiagaraMBB. Check in with the Purple Eagles on Facebook/PurpleEagles and on Instagram @NUPurpleEagles.

Source: http://purpleeagles.com/news/2017/5/3/mens-basketball-nu-mens-hoops-continues-community-service-initiatives.aspx

On April 23, Smithtown High School West Leadership students organized the “Running with the Bulls” race to benefit Angela’s House. The nonprofit organization helps medically frail children and their families. This fun walk and run was an overwhelming success and more than $1,600 was raised.

Photo courtesy of Smithtown Central School District

Smithtown High School West’s Habitat for Humanity Club recently participated in a build at Mastic Beach. The students did tile and floor work in addition to meeting members from AmeriCorps and current Habitat homeowners. The students raised $2,000 through various events to donate to Habitat for Humanity of Suffolk.

Photo courtesy of Smithtown Central School District

The Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) hosted a Dome Field Day in the DakotaDome and Sanford Coyote Sports Center Saturday morning.

Student-athletes hosted children from all over southeastern South Dakota, ranging from kindergarteners to sixth graders. The athletes supervised the children as they ran football drills with members of the USD football team, played with a parachute and ran obstacle courses with members of the track and swim teams and played knockout and dodge ball with the basketball teams.

Jamie Oyen, USD’s senior associate athletic director, said children came from schools all over the area.

“We have kids today from Elk Point, Jefferson, Beresford, Irene, Wokonda, Harrisberg, Vermillion schools, Yankton, just a great representation of area kids,” Oyen said “This is just a great opportunity for them to come play with our athletes, and our athletes to have time with them.”

SAAC, the representative body of USD’s student-athletes, puts on the Dome Field Day every year to give back to the community.

The athletic teams volunteer at the event every year, and each team holds a different game. This year, the golf team hosted an event where children tried to hit targets with tennis balls using a plastic club.

“A lot of kids kind of have a hard time having fun with golf,” said sophomore golfer Tommy Vining, who was participating in the event. “I was the same way, I just wanted to hit the ball and mess around. That is pretty much what they are doing right now. It is just a fun thing for them to do.”

The event has been going on for several years and has become popular among the children and athletes alike, Oyen said. Some children have been going to the event for six years in a row, she said.

“Oh, I’ve had so much fun,” said junior swimmer Kassidie Cornell. “It’s basically like a chance to relive my childhood in a sense.”

Cornell said she thinks the focus of the event is to make sure the children enjoy it.

“I’ve done it every year since I’ve been here,” she said. “My favorite part is seeing the joy on the kids’ faces.”

Source: http://volanteonline.com/2017/04/student-athletes-host-children-dome-field-day/