Patriot League Best Practices: What it takes to be a Navy Student Athlete

What made the most impact on you during your time in college (for those of you who attended?) For most of us it wasn't the coursework, or the degree we earned. It was the connections we made with people. It might be a coach or a teacher, but for the most part it is connections with other students.

Shouldn't that be the same for student-athletes? Shouldn't you aspire to make deep connections with those individuals you're going into the daily rigors with? You'd think so but I seldom come across any reference to this online.

Navy changes this for me.

Hit the Navy Athletics Page and hover over Traditions...

I'll do it for you, here:

"What it takes to be a Navy Student Athlete." Intrigued, I clicked in, which took me here. As you'll note from my excerpt below, it takes us to a online version of a printed version of

a recruiting magazine.... (But it's still pretty solid to see online!) Let's dive into the selected

excerpt:

What you find here is not a checklist of what you need in order to succeed at Navy. No, you instead

get a list of what you're going to get out of your time at Navy. Some fantastic skills that have everything

and nothing to do with sports (dealing in adversity, overcoming challenges, and peer motivation for example).

And I'd love to highlight the statement ahead of this: "within each of the 31 athletic programs, those

family ties are made even stronger... When asked about what they value the most about their playing

days most if not all speak of the relationship with their teammates."

Wow.

So when asked about playing days, people across all sports respond by talking culture and bonds.

That, friends, is a story worth telling. And it's an undeniable recruiting weapon.

How could this be better? Elevate and Amplify. One wouldn't expect to find soft side benefits of friendship

hidden inside a "What it Takes" header. And it's a story that needs telling. So hype this fact. And, of

course, don't just hype it -- give us the emotion. Give us stories of life long bonds that come from the

time in Annapolis. You have all the pieces here -- just add the emotion into the facts and commit to

telling this story over time, across all sports.

Thanks for sticking with me in my Patriot League tour! Come back next week as we turn our attention to another D-1 conference.

Don't forget, you can follow along on Facebook (here) or on Twitter: I'm@pawlow34.

Andy