Dear Friends of William & Mary Athletics,
 
Since I'm no longer the new guy, I'm relishing my opportunity to welcome this year's newcomers and returning student-athletes. 
 
On Monday we held a welcome back event in Zable Stadium for all 500 student-athletes and it was spectacular!  There were lawn games and cool giveaways; plus, our new Dean of Students Stacey Harris and President Katherine Rowe joined in the festivities, with the president showing her competitive spirit when it came to cornhole!  Many of our coaches and staff, along with their families, joined in the fun, too.  Another highlight was our Student Athlete Advisory Council President (SAAC) Sydney Taylor talking about the You Belong campaign for which SAAC received the university's Values in Action award last year.  I hope everyone left the event feeling both uplifted and excited about what is ahead for the Green & Gold! 
 

Welcome Back Tribe! Great to have you back! pic.twitter.com/kREeSXDdWY

— William & Mary Tribe Athletics (@TribeAthletics) August 30, 2022

If you haven't discovered this already, a great way to learn more about the people and programs of Athletics is through the Tribe Scribe series written by our feature writer, Dave Johnson.  Dave has more than 30 years of experience in covering our local sports scene – and has brought his considerable talents to Kaplan Arena.  One recent example of his great work can be found in this feature on Sugar Rodgers, a new assistant women's basketball coach, and her inspiring journey from childhood to Georgetown University to the WNBA and now to Williamsburg.  Last week, Dave wrote about the high expectations for our field hockey team, which is 2-0 this year, with both victories coming in overtime!  I highly recommend you take the time to enjoy some of the stories he has shared on our student-athletes and programs.



While competing at the highest level, the demands on our student-athletes' time are nonstop. There are practices, games, study halls, classes, extracurricular activities and more.  Our student-athletes are doing a magnificent job of balancing those demands appropriately and in Tribe Athletics, we strive every day to ensure our commitment to them matches their commitment to us.  An example of that is our continuing work in gender equity.  A year ago, W&M outlined a plan to address Title IX compliance in its participation opportunities, athletics scholarships and equitable treatment areas.  We just completed a report on what we have done over the past year.  We are making progress and gender equity will continue to be an area of attention and focus this academic year.  
 
Community support is so important to our programs and we were thrilled to see the crowd at our first women's soccer match of the year.  We lost a nail biter 4-3 to Virginia Tech, but I guarantee that our fans had a great time cheering on the Tribe.  It was also terrific, as usual, to see so many student-athletes from so many of our teams in attendance. 



A quick reminder—the Hall of Fame induction ceremony for our newest class is on Sept. 9.  We'd love to see you at the program so you can congratulate in person Derek Cox '08 (football), Scott Estes '93 (tennis),  Ian Fitzgerald '09 (track, cross country), Peel Hawthorne '80 (field hockey, lacrosse), and Mindy Wolff '75 (swimming).  Tickets are available now. 
 
I can't resist closing on a very personal note.  On Tuesday, August 16, my wife Hilary and I welcomed Henry Dempsey Mann to the family.  Our oldest son Russell is still trying to figure out the new family dynamics, but he's definitely cut out to be a great big brother! 



Go Tribe!
Brian D. Mann
Director of Athletics