Atlantic Sun Best Practices: Travel with South Carolina Upstate

Ever want to know what it feels like to travel with the team? I don't mean in a you weren't good enough to make the team kind of way. I'm talking more in the zone of what's the chemistry like when athletes aren't on the court in their school uniforms. What's a team feel like?

South Carolina Upstate takes a step in this direction. Go to Head Basketball Coach Eddie Payne's site, here.

On the left-hand side of the page you'll see a link for "Travel with the Team." Click on in, which will take you to a deep gallery, shown here. As you'll note this is a mix of identifiable landmarks (St Louis, Vegas, North Pole). But you'll also see a clever mix of the interactions happening. Of the experience the players were having. And the emotion.

Sometimes it's in a simple relaxed team meeting...

And other times they are literally leading a pack of dogs in the tundra (here)



You simply can't get as high a level of understanding by putting this in text. We can almost feel what it's like to be on this team. And that's exactly what you want -- to let a potential student athlete feel what your experience is. Then let him or her decide if they want to be a part of what you are. Nice.

How could this be better? Now give us the words. What was it like leading a pack of dogs? What was the coolest thing you did as a Spartan? The photos are fantastic but if we can pair them with the voice of the program (coaches and/or players), the impact will be monstrous. This could become a franchise for Upstate to build on year in, year out. And that stays relevant many years in the future.

Well done Upstate!

Tune in tomorrow as we share more inspiration from the Atlantic Sun! And, don't forget, you can follow along on Facebook (here) or on Twitter: I'm @pawlow34.

Andy