Recap of Lancer Talks with Troy Austin

Last night Longwood Athletics hosted their first ever Lancer Talks event with athletic director Troy Austin in Richmond. The event was formed to create an open dialogue between the athletic department and alumni/fans.

Much of the evenings conversation was driven by the athletic’s department 2015–2020 strategic plan or scorecard. If you haven’t checked that plan out yet then you can see it here.

The two biggest topics of the night were probably scholarships and a firmer embrace of the athletics history at Longwood (Division II and III era).

So for those who couldn’t make it, here were some of the discussions.

Scholarships

One of the biggest needs for Longwood Athletics is an increase of scholarships for student-athletes and that was a popular talking point. Only two teams at Longwood, the basketball programs, are fully funded. That means the rest of the teams have a competitive disadvantage against other teams that have more funding. Makes sense right?

On a personal level though, this was a sort of epiphany for me because I always assumed our field hockey program (for example) was on par with other field hockey programs in the conference. That’s not the case and that makes the continuous efforts to build more scholarships at Longwood an important effort.

Embracing our History

Probably the biggest topic of the night was that of the history of our programs at the Division II or III level. When Longwood wins a Big South championship then you know a banner is going up, so why aren’t there banners for conference champs and NCAA postseason appearances from the Division II and III era?

This was probably the passionate issue of the evening and I think it resonated. I would expect there to be a more deliberate effort to recognize and celebrate our history going forward.

Facilities

It’s hard to get through any athletics discussion without talking about the need for new facilities, especially basketball and baseball. A few years ago a new master plan was released with renderings of a new baseball stadium downtown and a new Willett Hall where the tennis courts on Brock Commons now stand. There was even an interior artist rendering of Willett Hall that is no longer visible and the athletics plan we referenced prior even states the following goal for Willett.

Willett Hall, home to Longwood’s basketball programs, will receive significant upgrades and an expansion to at least 3,000 seats, growth of more than 1,000 seats from its current capacity.

As evidence of the scholarship issue, Longwood is looking for funding for multiple efforts and it sounds like for now there are no concrete plans for new facilities as we are at the peril of state funding. There may soon be a shift from building new facilities to enhancing current facilities.

On the field performance

There wasn’t much talk about program specific situations or coaches but overall Troy displayed a confident tone for his coaches regarding recruitment, player development, and game planning.

Expanded Role for Kathy Riley

One thing that was discussed and announced recently was a expanded role for head softball coach Kathy Riley. In a newsletter to Longwood fans on Wednesday, Troy stated:

I am excited to announce that Kathy, in addition to serving as head coach of our softball program, has been named Special Advisor to the Director of Athletics. In an effort to enhance the overall success of the department, coach Riley will assist me in four primary areas: as a liaison between individual coaching staffs and athletics administration for the purpose of successful communication that fosters positive movement; through project implementation via fundraising and friend-raising initiatives; as a consultant to the athletics director in leadership matters; and as an advisor to the department in matters of student-athlete experience.

Key Takeaway

Last night was a start and I hope more meaningful dialogue will continue and more alumni and fans will join in on the discussion. I hope this will expand to other regions as well and sounds like Troy is up for more:

All in all there are still a lot of hurdles in front of us and there is no magic lever that any of us can pull to get over those hurdles (unless you have a few million dollars sitting around). The Longwood family needs to continue to show up and continue conversations. Even if you can’t contribute to the programs financially, just being a vocal member of the community is powerful. At the end of the day we all want Longwood to be successful and need to keep pushing in that direction and find a way to succeed.

A final note…

If you didn’t get a chance to come last night, live outside the area, or did come and have different opinions on things then I would encourage to reach out to Troy. His door is certainly always open and is receptive to talk about pretty much anything. I would say the same is true for the coaches at Longwood as well.

Conversations together can help move the whole program along no matter if you’re optimistic or frustrated.