Looking back on past directors

ASHLEY RANDAZZO ASST.FEATURES EDITOR AAR722@CABRINI EDU

In its relatively short history, Cabrini College has had strong athletic directors who have provided a remarkably successful record of growth and championships.

The athletic department has grown throughout the years with just a few directors. It all began with Dorothy Crowley in 1957. After a few years, Helen “Goodie” Goodwin took the seat from 1960 to 1970. Then Dr. Jolyon Girard and Goodwin became codirectors, Girard for the men and Goodwin for the women from 1970-1980. Finally, John Dzik took the reins until 2003, and now Leslie Danehy is the current athletic director.

Girard, a professor in the history department, has come to terms with recent discussions on the athletic department history.

“There has been some ‘talk’ recently that there was no athletic program of substance or value until the 1980s, but that is plain nonsense. Both the men’s and women’s programs were associated with viable national organizations, had initiated a local league affiliation with other area small colleges and fielded five men’s and five women’s intercollegiate programs,” Girard said.

“As an example, the last basketball team that I coached posted a 21-5 record playing against teams that we compete against today, and coach Dzik inherited that very successful group of players when he arrived at Cabrini,” Girard said.

Danehy, the current athletic director, believes the program has grown tremendously. “Societal changes have introduced more rules and administrative responsibilities, as well as the budget has gone up from $3000 to much more. We joined the NCAAin the ’80s. Coaches spend 80 percent of their time on recruiting student-athletes, which is much more competitive than it was even 10 years ago,”Danehy said.

“Athletic departments now focus on much more than simply the athletic (on-field) experience.

[This can include,] for instance, academic success and the personal wellness of the student for a holistic approach to student development. We have found that student athletes graduate at higher rates than non-athletes in Divisions I, II and III, and we have changed the misconception that athletes are poor students,” Danehysaid.

The athletic directors see more changes in store. In the future, Girard predicts, “Anew turf field for outdoor sports, perhaps a baseball team, the initiation of a sports hall of fame, and other improvements and enhancements to make sports at Cabrini a positive option for the men and women who go to school here.”

Danehy points out national changes that affect Cabrini.

She says coaches must deal with “more rules and administrative responsibilities. Most coaches will be full-time at the collegiate level rather than part-time. Quality athletic facilities will be crucial to not only student-athlete recruitment and enrollment, but also to general student recruitment. Students want nice facilities to use for recreation and intramural activities,”Danehy said.

The importance of an athletic director is quite evident in the structure of any college. Girard describes what it was like for him to be an athletic director. “My experience as an A.D. and coach was very different from current people. The student athletes were happy to participate on any organized college team, regardless of how fancy the uniforms or the facilities. Budgets were silly,”Girard said. “As late as 1979, when the men’s program ran five sports, with coaches, equipment, uniforms, officials and facility maintenance, the operational budget was $5,600. At the time, Eastern’sbudget was $35,000, Allentown’s budget, $30,000, and Beaver College, just beginning its program, had a budget of $12,000. You had to both coach and play sports in those days, because you enjoyed it,”Girard said.

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