January/February 2014 Commodore Nation

January/February 2014

ER docs on the field

VU athletic trainers crucial for healthy return

ALSO INSIDE: Lacrosse senior inherits father’s mean streak Golf tournament teaches valuable life lessons Family of hoops

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CONTENTS

Joe Howell

P.8

P.24

P.17

‘Mean streak’

My Game

Political splash

Freshman Simone Charley is a dual threat on the soccer field and in the triple jump.

Internship in Washington, D.C., opened swimmer Chrissy Oberg’s eyes.

Senior Brandi Byner has inherited father’s toughness and transferred it to the lacrosse field.

P.19 Enlightened on the links Jenny Hahn, women’s golf team gain valuable life lessons from recent tournament at Stanford.

P.20 Family court

P.11

P.2

Dreaming big Steven Rice put aside his love for basketball and found a new calling on the mound.

P.12 Patchwork Vanderbilt’s athletic trainers are on the scene long before and long after injury happens.

Freshman Rebekah Dahlman is the latest in long line of basketball-rich family.

Compliance Corner

P.3 National Commodore Club

P.7

P.21 Coach’s Handbook Women’s tennis assistant coach Aleke Tsoubanos talks about tennis, traveling and coaching her alma mater.

Inside McGugin

P.23 It’s my turn Rod Williamson’s monthly column

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ANCHOR DOWN Dear Commodore Nation, On behalf of our student-athletes and staff, I am very grateful for the support of every Commodore fan.

Thank you for coming to our games.

Thank you for cheering on our team.

Thank you for contributing to the National Commodore Club.

For the first time in school history, we defeated Georgia, Florida and Tennessee in the same year. These victories helped lead us to our third consecutive bowl game, another first in school history.

I encourage you to be a vital link in the chain by showing your support through the National Commodore Club and the NCC GridIron Club.

Your commitment is essential.

Thank you again. Anchor Down!

(615) 322-4114

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As excited as I am about our success in 2013, I am more excited to keep building here at Vanderbilt. We need your continued support as we move forward. You play an important role in advancing our program.

NationalCommodoreClub.com James G. Franklin Head Football Coach

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We hope to see you during the 2014 football season.

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Inside McGugin

By The Numbers

Notes from the athletic department

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T

National ranking of 2013 signing class for Vanderbilt women’s basketball, according to Blue Star Report. The Commodores signed five players, including twin sisters AudreyAnn and Khaleann Caron Goudreau from Quebec, to notch their second straight top 10-ranked class.

he women’s bowling team raised $2,105 at a Relay For Life event on Vanderbilt’s outdoor track in late October.

Their contributions ranked seventh among 58 “teams,” which were comprised of businesses, organizations and individuals. According to the American Cancer Society’s website, 623 participants spent 12 hours overnight on the track and raised $78,118.42.

l Jordan Matthews’ record-breaking senior season was well recognized. The wide receiver was named to five All-America teams. He earned

brandon barca

l Kevin Stallings now stands alone as the winningest coach in Vanderbilt men’s basketball history. Stallings rose to the top on Nov. 15 when the Commodores defeated Lipscomb 80-69 in the second game of the season for his 279th win in 15 years at Vanderbilt. The late Roy Skinner won 278 games in two stints (1959, 1962-76). Stallings, who has more than 400 wins in his coaching career, was presented with an honorary game ball before Vanderbilt’s next home game on Dec. 5 against Marshall.

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Athletic Director David Williams congratulates Kevin Stallings for passing Roy Skinner for all-time wins.

first-team honors from USA Today and Athlon Sports and also picked up accolades from the Associated Press, SI.com and CBSSports.com.

Matthews leaves as the SEC's all-time leader in catches, receiving yards and most games with 100-plus receiving yards. The Madison, Ala., native will play in the Senior Bowl on Jan. 25. n

Consecutive starts for offensive lineman Wesley Johnson leading up to Vanderbilt’s bowl game. The senior from Nashville set a school record for most starts and surpassed Chris Marve and Brian Stamper when he started his 49th game against Tennessee.

Johnson started all 12 games this season at left tackle but also started at center, left guard and right tackle during his career.

1975

The last time the Vanderbilt football team pieced together consecutive winning seasons —until now. The Commodores posted backto-back seven-win seasons in 1974 and 1975.

Calendar

January/February Events Jan. 11

Jan. 18

SEC slate kicks off against Kentucky The men’s basketball team opens up SEC play with a doozy of a contest — against powerhouse Kentucky, which began the season ranked No. 1 in the country. The Commodores have foiled the Wildcats in the past two SEC Tournaments, including a 64-48 win last year that effectively kept UK out of the NCAA Tournament. Vanderbilt last defeated Kentucky 81-77 at Memorial Gymnasium on Feb. 12, 2011.

Splashing into winter The women’s swimming team opens the 2014 portion of its schedule by hosting West Florida and Liberty; that will be the last opportunity to see the Commodores at the Centennial Sportsplex. Junior Elly Faulkner led the team in the fall with a pair of first-place finishes in the 200-meter breaststroke.

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Jan. 12 Lady Vols come to Memorial An always intense and exciting in-state women’s basketball rivalry is renewed when Tennessee comes to Nashville for a Sunday afternoon tilt. The Lady Vols won both meetings last year and began the season ranked fourth in the country. Senior guards Jasmine Lister and Christina Foggie, however, were on the Vanderbilt team that knocked off No. 11 Tennessee on Feb. 9, 2012 — marking just the second victory over UT since 2002.

Feb. 19 Baseball opens at home The Commodores trot back onto Hawkins Field for their home opener against Lipscomb.

Vanderbilt, which tied a school record with 54 wins and reached a NCAA Super Regional, opens the 2014 season the weekend before with three games at Long Beach State. The midweek contest against Lipscomb will be the first of a 10-game homestand, which includes a three-game series against perennial national power Stanford, Feb. 28-March 2.

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‘Mean streak’: Byner inherits father’s toughness

by Jerome Boettcher

E

arnest Byner admits his learning about lacrosse continues with each passing year.

Football, after all, was his sport. A bruising presence, he powered his way to more than 8,000 rushing yards during a 14-year NFL career, which included two Pro Bowl appearances and a Super Bowl championship.

If he did pick up a stick in his younger days, it was to whack a ball. Never did he think about using that same stick to catch, run and toss the ball as lacrosse requires.

“I definitely didn’t have a clue about lacrosse,” he said.

But he loves watching the sport when his daughters, Brandi, a senior at Vanderbilt, and Kyara, a redshirt freshman at Cincinnati, take the field.

“I enjoy watching them compete. I really do,” he said. “They go at it. They have the right mind. They are natural leaders. They fight. They scream. They battle. I love to see them when the competitive juices are flowing.”

“I see the mean streak in them, too.”

Brandi Byner is a chip off the old block when it comes to the intangibles.

Leadership. Competitiveness. Strength.

Speed. Athleticism.

Cathy Swezey witnessed the last aforementioned quality when she first saw Brandi.

The summer before her junior year at Ensworth High School, Brandi attended a lacrosse camp at Vanderbilt. Swezey, the Commodores’ longtime coach, was sold right then and there.

“That was it,” she said. “I didn’t care what her stick skills looked like because her athleticism was so over the top. I remember talking to her on the phone about committing here and trying to get her to come, and she didn’t think she could play here. I said, ‘Brandi, not only can you play here, you can be an All-American here.’

“Once she got here, though, she was like, ‘Oh, yeah I can play here.’ It was cool when she made that realization. I think she underestimated what she was capable of.”

Swezey believes Brandi is poised for an AllAmerican caliber season, which begins on Feb. 7 at Kennesaw State.

The 5-foot-6 defender, who has started every year, enjoyed a sensational junior season. She tied fellow co-captain Alyssa Dunlap with a team-high 21 caused turnovers and was third, again knotted with Dunlap, with 26 ground balls.

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Her most important stat, however, according to Swezey, can’t be measured.

“Sometimes people look to stats to prove somebody’s worthiness,” she said. “Brandi is a 1 versus 1 defender. She holds people out and there is no stat for that.”

She did share the lead with Dunlap in one category—fouls.

Inheriting her father’s aggressiveness, Brandi doesn’t shy away from contact.

“Some of the girls don’t like the contact at all,” she said. “I block pretty hard, so I bruise people. I don’t really say anything to anyone. But when girls react to my bump I tend to giggle to myself.”

Full of personality, the 22-year-old Brandi laughs when talking about her father.

Three months after Brandi was born, Earnest Byner caught a touchdown pass in Super Bowl XXVI to help lead the Washington Redskins to a 37-24 victory over the Buffalo Bills. He also played for the Cleveland Browns twice and moved with the team when the franchise relocated to Baltimore in 1996.

The moving wasn’t over, though, as his coaching career began in 1998. Earnest has worked for the Baltimore Ravens, the Redskins, the Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars. Currently, he is the running backs coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Brandi, the third of four daughters, was born in Virginia and also lived in Ohio and Maryland. The Byner family moved to Franklin before her junior year of high school when Earnest took a job with the Titans.

“Their mother did a hell of a job raising them,” Earnest says of his wife, Tina. “She was there.

She was able to go to all their events, take them wherever they needed to go. She was very instrumental and very foundational in who they are and what they have become as well. They are their mother’s daughters for sure.”

Earnest’s support is transparent, too, Brandi says.

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PHOtos by joe howell/inset photo submitted by brandi byner

He tries to go to at least a couple home games a year, and any time the Commodores are in Florida, he’ll shoot out of Tampa. He has even been known to “stalk” practices, standing in the corner.

“I’ve been given advantages through life with my dad’s place in the NFL,” Brandi said. “He has done everything he could at all times. We’ve never gotten upset that he couldn’t be there because we knew what his job entails.

My mom was there 100 percent of the time.”

The fact he played in the NFL is lost on most of Brandi’s teammates, who were still in preschool when Earnest’s career was winding down. Brandi can’t recall her dad’s playing days, either, though she has watched clips on YouTube.

“I’m old enough to have seen him play and know how good he was,” Swezey said.

In fact, the giddiness comes from the parents of her teammates, who gawk at the chance to meet Earnest Byner—someone they grew up watching.

“Personally, I think my dad is crazy,” Brandi said, laughing. “You grow up with this guy who has always been your dad and not a running back in the NFL…I take pride in that—that people know who my dad is. It is pretty cool.”

Brandi plans to follow in her father’s coaching footsteps — sort of — initially after graduating in May. After receiving her degree in human and organizational development with a focus in health and human services, she will team up with her former high school coach, Meg Freeman, a Vanderbilt lacrosse alum, to start a lacrosse youth program. Then she plans to pursue a career in guidance counseling at either a middle or high school.

“My prime is going to be after college,” she said. “Lacrosse has been a constant in my life since I was in fourth grade. The lacrosse side of it I’m going to be sadder about than leaving school. But I’m still excited about the whole next step.” n

Brandi Byner has played lacrosse since she was in fourth grade and played at Ensworth High School for former Vanderbilt standout Meg Freeman.

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Call Anthony Barclay in Vanderbilt’s Planned Giving office at (615) 936-5518, email him at anthony.barclay@vanderbilt.edu, or visit vu.edu/cga to learn more.

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Senior trades hoop dreams for spot atop mound

by Jerome Boettcher

Hoosier ‘Dores INdiana natives on the diamond Jared Miller JR LHP Steven Rice SR RHP Nolan Rogers FR INF Luke Stephenson R-FR RHP

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Avon Crawfordsville Bloomington Fairland

JOHN RUSSELL

S

teven Rice grew up in a small town in Indiana.

So, naturally, a passion for basketball poured through his veins.

Thirty miles from West Lafayette and less than an hour from Indianapolis, he idolized the Purdue Boilermakers and Indiana Pacers.

Like most kids in the basketball-crazed state, he had aspirations of playing in the NBA. ”My dad was actually a really good basketball player so I grew up wanting to be a basketball star,” he said. “But then I realized when I got stuck at 5-foot-6 in ninth grade I probably wasn’t going to play basketball anymore.”

Height couldn’t limit him from throwing a breaking ball. Plus, he was a left-hander—giving him a sizeable advantage on the mound.

So it didn’t take Rice long to see baseball as his ticket.

“It was one of those things where my dad kind of realized I was lefthanded, and he loved baseball,” he said. “It was kind of a reverse role.

He loved baseball but couldn’t play because he wasn’t good at it. I loved basketball but wasn’t good at it. He kind of grew me up around baseball because I was left-handed. Thank God he did, because if not then I don’t know what I would be playing.”

Entering his senior year at Vanderbilt, Rice is one of just three players, along with pitchers T.J. Pecoraro and Keenan Kolinsky, remaining from the 2011 team that reached the College World Series.

Rice, whose made all 40 career appearances out of the bullpen, soaked up lessons from the upperclassmen on that squad like a sponge. Eight pitchers were drafted that year, including stalwarts Rice looked up to, such as SEC Pitcher of the Year Grayson Garvin, Taylor Hill, Mark Lamm and Will Clinard.

“Watching them develop and become the players they became, helped me a lot to let me know what I needed to do to become a good pitcher in this program,” said Rice, who set school records for strikeouts and lowest ERA at Crawfordsville High School. “They had a lot of drive. When they came to the field, they knew what they needed to do to become better that day. I think for them, just their routine and mental approach toward the game, I took mental notes of that.”

Rice comes off a breakout season, setting career highs in wins (4), ERA (2.57), strikeouts (28) and appearances (21).

He might not be the most intimidating presence on the mound—he is listed at 5-8, but Rice admits he’s 5-6 ½ without his spikes—but he learned from Garvin and Hill and others how to accentuate his other talents.

He relies heavily on his curveball, which doesn’t accelerate more than 76 miles per hour.

“I’d rather be lucky than good any day,” Rice said, smiling. “That is one of those things I had to learn from the older guys. They all threw decently hard. But what I learned from them is they don’t necessarily

Listed at 5-foot-8, Steven Rice doesn’t let his stature damper his humerous demeanor and brings energy, leadership and a tough breaking ball to the mound.

throw hard in the games. But they try to manipulate the baseball and try to get movement.”

Rice graduates in May with a degree in financial management. If pro baseball doesn’t pan out, he wants to go into sales. But he has already set limitations. He won’t sell insurance, pharmaceuticals or cars—especially used cars.

But Rice really hopes more baseball is in his future.

He stresses consistency in his pitching and the ability to fill a role as a situational lefty as strengths. Developing in pitching dominant program such as Vanderbilt also should help his prospects.

If anything, reaching that level will provide a sense of satisfaction. When reality set in that his hoop dreams wouldn’t come true, he shifted gears.

Even with a different sport, Rice was told the same thing—he was too little.

“I think the main reason is because at every level I’ve had people say, ‘You can’t do that.’ I use that as motivation,” he said. “I feel like if I keep progressing and get to that level and have that hunger to make it to the top level, then I think hopefully it will work out. If not, then I’ll have the degree to fall back on.” n

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Athletic trainer Tracy Campbell uses a therapeutic ultrasound on a football player’s leg as head athletic trainer Tom Bossung, athletic trainer Adam Clemens (far right) and student athletic training intern John Marshall (back) looks on. Vanderbilt has 13 Certified Athletic Trainers on staff who are employed through the Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Athletic trainers display passion, dedication

by Jerome Boettcher

J

ackson Five blasts through the iPod speakers at 8:18 a.m. on a recent Wednesday—Motown Wednesday to be exact —reverberating through the ground floor of Vanderbilt’s McGugin Center.

For more than an hour now, student-athletes have trickled in for morning rehabilitation at the A. Brant “Pinky” Lipscomb Athletic Training Room.

The 4,300 square foot facility, which is due for an upgrade, serves as the crowded recovery hub for Commodore student-athletes. Head athletic trainer Tom Bossung is in charge.

Fans get only glimpses of athletic trainers on TV, when they rush onto the field or onto the court to assist injured players.

But long before, and long after, that moment, Vanderbilt’s athletic trainers are on the scene— assessing injuries, taping ankles and wrists, molding braces, stretching out sore hamstrings, supporting an athlete through exhausting rehab sessions.

“The trainers run the show,” says Warne Fitch, an assistant professor of emergency medicine who is one of three team physicians for the football team. “They are ER docs on the field.

They have a broad understanding of a lot of injuries. First ones the athletes go to. The first ones the coaches go to. They are involved with every aspect of this team and have a very broad knowledge base. They are constantly asking

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questions, trying to do more training. They are outstanding here.”

Thirteen Certified Athletic Trainers (ATC)— 11 full-timers and two yearly term professionals—tend to Vanderbilt’s 350 studentathletes. Each of the 15 varsity programs has an athletic trainer assigned to it, though some trainers double up.

Unlike most collegiate settings throughout the country, the athletic trainers at Vanderbilt are employed through the Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The department falls under the division of Sports Medicine in Vanderbilt Orthopedics.

This minimizes many of the conflicts of interests others face.

“It is not really an issue,” said Bossung, who came to Vanderbilt as a graduate assistant in 1990. “That’s because of the support (athletic director) David Williams has given us. He emphasizes to the coaches, this is our setup, this is the way we like it, and this is the way it is going to be.

Medical staff, which includes us and the doctors, will make all the final medical decisions.”

When hearing TV announcers were quick to diagnose wide receiver Jordan Matthews with a concussion on the opening night of college football, Bossung cringes.

Against Ole Miss that night, Matthews had

experienced cramps throughout his body and was taken to the locker room earlier in the game to receive an IV and rehydrate.

Matthews suffered a blow to the abdomen when he was tackled late in the fourth quarter.

His helmet scraped the turf and, as he was getting back to his feet, he began to vomit.

The announcers saw this as a symptom of a concussion when, in actuality, the senior was regurgitating fluids which had helped him stay hydrated on a steamy August night.

Matthews was taken to the sidelines, cleared

by Bossung and team physicians and went back on the field a play later.

Bossung knows the concussion issue is a hot button topic right now. In 2011, Vanderbilt took a ginormous step in address this potential lifealtering injury by opening the Vanderbilt Sports Concussion Center.

In fact, for two years, athletic trainers Justin Wenzel, Tracy Campbell and Shannon Gordon compiled a 31-page concussion evaluation guideline manual—an example of the athletic training staff’s Continuing Quality Improvement projects. The TSSAA and Belmont have modeled their “Return to Play” procedures after Vanderbilt’s extensive approach.

“I feel like the way we manage concussions, to begin with, is ahead of the curve,” said Campbell, who hopes to publish the manual. “I feel

JOHN RUSSELL

With one foot in the air, the tight end focuses on keeping his balance.

He’s standing on a Bosu stabilizing ball—a blue, rubber dome—as he tries to catch a football tossed by Campbell.

This wouldn’t be easy for someone with two legs, but this after suffering a medial collateral ligament (MCL) sprain, this is part of his rehab.

Campbell is trying to strengthen his leg while also bridging a connection between his brain and muscles.

The tight end isn’t alone for morning rehabilitation. More than a dozen student-athletes spread throughout the training room, which includes eight taping stations, 10 tables for therapeutic methods such as ice compression, ultrasound and electrical stimulation and proprioception mats. Nestled in the back are an eight foot-deep rehabilitation pool and two therapeutic whirlpools. (The baseball, basketball and track teams also have small athletic training rooms on location at Hawkins Field, Memorial Gymnasium and the multipurpose indoor facility.)

Hopefully soon, the athletic training home will receive needed renovations.

Athletic director David Williams recently announced plans to more than triple the current training room to more than 14,000 square feet. The state-of-the-art facility will include three hydrotherapy pools, modernized equipment more treatment tables, taping stations and cardio equipment. It will serve all studentathletes and teams.

The project will cost $6.5 million and funding for the project depends solely on philanthropic contributions. So, construction will begin once fundraising is complete and the project has received formal approval by Chancellor Nicholas Zeppos and Vanderbilt Board of Trust.

But right now, no inch of space goes unused.

The storage room near the street entrance of the training room is a prime example. On

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JOHN RUSSELL

like this is really ahead of the curve compared to most institutions.”

They pieced together the manual with the guidance of neurosurgeon Allen Sills and neuropsychologist Gary Solomon. Sills, an associate professor of neurological surgery, is not only a tremendous asset for Vanderbilt sports but is an international expert. He was one of 12 doctors on panel at the International Conference on Concussion in Sport held in Zurich, Switzerland last year.

“Whatever comes out of that meeting is how everyone manages concussions,” Campbell said.

“He is part of the exclusive group of people— and we have him as a resource. Just having those type of people support us is awesome.”

Head athletic trainer Tom Bossung and student intern John Marshall tend to quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels.

most days, crutches and coolers line the walls and football pads hang off pipes. Several giant storage cabinets with answers inside to scratches and headaches (among other potential problems) and other medical supplies are also tucked against a wall along with 100 cases of Gatorade and a utility vehicle used to haul medical equipment to games and practices.

And, twice a week, this same space is transformed into a massage therapy room.

Amid all the clutter, four licensed soft tissue specialists—massage, active release technique, muscle energy technique and sports chiropractic—come in to loosen up the knots and ease the pain.

“We use them to help us out,” athletic trainer and clinical coordinator Justin Wenzel says.

“These guys go out on Saturdays and beat their bodies up. This is kind of an augmentation to rehab for some of them.”

Across the room, Kerry Wilbar (ATC) monitors a player going through exercises necessary to return from an acromioclavicular (AC) joint separation in his shoulder.

Adam Clemens (ATC) assists a graduate assistant coach whose foot was stepped on by a lineman at practice the night before and has blood under his toenail. Coaches frequent the training room, too, often receiving treatment for ailments ranging from old playing day injuries to minor bumps and bruises.

John Marshall, a student intern from Western Carolina University, channels his inner mechanic to repair a bulky knee brace. Each lineman is required to wear the braces, which cost more than $500 each, as a precautionary measure.

“Who knows how many ACLs these have saved?” Marshall says.

Campbell demonstrates a tape job to protect an injured thumb. Tape is everywhere. A few

hours later, football players will line up at the taping stations for wrapping up their wrists and ankles before practice.

Before one practice, senior cornerback Steven Clarke jests Bossung: “You don’t have that womanly touch!”

“I would hope not,” Bossung replies.

“You’re so gruff,” Clarke answers with a laugh.

Bossung smirks and gently applies the final tape. Clarke smiles and gives his approval as he jumps off and the next player hops up.

The day starts at 7 a.m. for the five football athletic trainers, a yearly term professional and Marshall. It includes rehabilitation, pre-practice, post-practice and triage sessions, and it won’t end until 9 p.m.

Game days are also long, beginning four hours before kickoff with setup of the field and ending at least two hours after the final whistle with injuries to tend to. Then they’re back on Sunday, assessing new injuries and starting the week all over again with practice.

“They are in the training room before we’re awake and they leave when we’re in our dorms,” kicker Carey Spear said. “Something that shouldn’t go unnoticed—that’s for sure.”

Two days before the Commodores walk into Neyland Stadium and upset their archrival, Bossung focuses on a player who won’t be on the field.

Wearing a red non-contact injury jersey, a freshman wide receiver works with Bossung off to the side while the rest of the team practices.

He tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) back in the summer and had surgery on Aug. 30.

Eleven weeks later, he is making a breakthrough.

Activity has been limited to this point, but Bossung wants to see him walk, heel to toe, across the practice field.

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John Russell

Athletic trainer Kerry Wilbar guides a football player during an exercise on a Bosu stabilizing ball.

“I wouldn’t be playing if it wasn’t for them,” defensive end Kyle Woestmann said.

The hours are daunting.

Campbell, who just finished her sixth football season at Vanderbilt, recently logged 93 hours during one week. During the season, 14-hour days are the norm, and days off are essentially nonexistent. The closest such thing usually comes on Mondays, when the team doesn’t practice, and offers a slight reprieve—an eight-hour workday.

Overtime? Not for athletic trainers, who are salaried employees.

“We have to love what we do, or else we won’t last,” Campbell said. “People weed themselves out of the profession pretty quickly if they’re not up for it.”

John Russell

“You looked somewhat robotic,” Bossung says.

“Loosen up.”

He decides to show the hesitant freshman his surgically repaired left knee is healing better than he thinks. Raising his hand chest high, Bossung urges his patient to kick up his knee.

The leg begins pumping as Bossung shouts out words of encouragement. The wide receiver is pleasantly surprised when he is jogging by the end of practice.

“Ahh,” he yells with a smile. “I can run!”

The player still has a ways to go before he’ll be cleared for contact drills. But Bossung pulls out a piece of paper and sketches a chart showing the wide receiver how the graft, which replaced the torn ligament, in his leg has strengthened in the last 10 weeks.

Just on the football team, of the 11 starters on offense and the top four reserves, 13 players have undergone 19 surgeries throughout their careers.

On defense, nine players have had 13 surgeries.

Thirty-two surgeries. Eight have been under the knife multiple times, including six operations on one veteran player. The procedures on the team vary from wrist, knee, shoulder, ankle, appendicitis, sports hernia and hand.

“There is a specialist in every field at Vanderbilt—and we’ve needed it to have good success with a lot of our athletes,” Fitch said. “I think that is unique to Vanderbilt, actually, having a great medical center right here that is willing to help out and get these athletes (seen) very quickly.”

Athletic trainers have a hand in the process.

They have specialists on speed dial. They set up the surgeries. They’re in the waiting rooms during the procedure. And when the rehabilitation process begins, the athletic trainers will be on hand for every step.

Sabrina Rosson massages a student-athlete’s foot during a morning rehabiliation session. Rosson is one of two yearly term professionals on the athletic training staff.

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But the reward is indescribable.

When quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels injured his knee in the first half against Georgia, he soon learned he had torn his ACL. But it didn’t end his season. That’s because CartaSamuels and Campbell weren’t ready for his college football career to be over.

“I really wanted to do his rehab,” Campbell said. “I knew it was going to be a challenge and I was up for it. Not everyone can return to play.

I don’t know if it is genetics, physiology. A lot of it is mentality. A lot of people, that factor really holds them back. But Austyn attacked the rehab, had great confidence in me, himself and his knee and his physicians.”

From the start of his rehab on Oct. 24 to Dec. 4, the date of Carta-Samuels’ surgery, he worked five hours a day with Campbell to bolster his quad, hamstring and hip muscles. In addition, Campbell said, dynamic stabilization exercises helped bridge the gap between his brain and muscles to compensate for the lack of an ACL. Campbell never felt resistance from CartaSamuels. She relished the time working from the self-motivated fifth-year senior, who, prior to the injury, had a “pristine knee” and little experience in the athletic training room.

When Carta-Samuels stepped back onto the field against Kentucky, for the first of his final three games (all wins), Campbell began to tear up.

“But I didn’t let anyone see,” she said, smiling.

“I was so proud of him because he had worked so hard. He was able to get back on the field after thinking his college career was going to be over. It was a lot of fun to see that and I enjoyed helping him through the process.

“It was really, really rewarding. That is why we do what we do.” n

steve green

The Vanderbilt athletic training staff (from left to right) in the brand new training room inside the multipurpose indoor facility: Shannon Gordon, Alda Burston, Tom Bossung, Mollie Malone, Tracy Campbell, Kim Johnston, Chris Ham, Adam Clemens, Sabrina Rosson, Sara Melby, student intern John Marshall, Justin Wenzel and Kerry Wilbar. (Michele Loftis not pictured.)

Rob Hammond Director Whitney Chapman (Vanderbilt ʻ71) Luke Durham Assoc. Director Program Director (Vanderbilt Parent) (Vanderbilt ʻ05)

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C O M M O D O R E N AT I O N

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Januar y / Febr uar y 2014

Summer in D.C. forms new, political waves for swimmer

JOHN RUSSELL

by Jerome Boettcher

Chrissy Oberg, a junior from Spartanburg, S.C., spent nearly three months in Washington, D.C., this past summer as an intern in the office of Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn. She is currently working on his 2014 re-election campaign.

S

trangely enough, Chrissy Oberg didn’t find the hustle and bustle of Washington, D.C., daunting.

Quite the contrary, actually. She thrived in it.

The Vanderbilt swimmer spent the summer before her junior year engulfed in the nation’s capital city. For nearly three months, five days a week, nine hours a day, she worked the halls of the Dirksen Senate Office Building as an intern for Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.

Thanks to guidance from academic counselor Allison Wenzel, she landed in the Vanderbilt Internship Experience in Washington (VIEW) program.

Oberg worked in constituent relations in the press office for Alexander, himself a Vanderbilt grad and former governor of Tennessee. Her duties ranged from answering phones to sending out mail and arranging press clippings. She observed the everyday challenges of Alexander’s team and gained a greater respect for the 73-year-old senator, who is the ranking Senate Republican who oversees education, labor and health, as well as energy appropriations. She even gave tours of the nearby Capitol Building.

“Working in Sen. Alexander’s office, we had a sense of responsibility. We were doing things,” Oberg said. “We weren’t just getting coffee or making copies. Even though we did make copies and answer phones, they also, from time to time, would give us other things to do that were more significant in a way. Everyone in the office was so nice and so respectful. They treated us with respect, which was nice and not really what I expected. It was great. I really enjoyed it.

“It was one of the most amazing experiences.”

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In fact, the demands of D.C. didn’t faze Oberg. If anything, she realized she had more free time than she was used to.

In her third year at Vanderbilt, she is used to a typical day starting with 6 a.m. swim practice, followed by a 9 a.m. class, time for a quick lunch, more class and then weight lifting for two hours. Then, studying takes her into the evening.

“When you wake up in the morning, until you go to sleep at night you are doing something,” Oberg said. “Being a student-athlete prepares you for the craziness of life very, very well. But this summer completely reinforced for me how being a student-athlete you have a sense of this strong work ethic, and it transfers to other things.”

A native of Spartanburg, S.C., Oberg has been a rising star for the Commodores. She contributed to a historical 2012-13 season by breaking the school records in the 100- and 200-meter backstroke.

This, perhaps not a coincidence, came after she fulfilled a lifelong dream.

Swimming competitively since she was five, Oberg made it a goal to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials. Last summer, she broke through with a then-personal best time of 2:17.46 (she’s shaved 20 seconds off since) a month before the trials in Omaha, Neb. She became the first VU swimmer to swim at the trials since the program was resurrected in 2006. Weeks before the Summer Olympics in London, she shared the pool with the likes of Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte.

“Trials was… it was amazing. It was by far the coolest meet I’ve ever been to,” she said. “The SECs is the most fun meet because I have the team.

Going to SECs every year with the girls is so much fun because we’ve been through such a long season together. Trials is just different because that is a goal I’ve had for myself since I knew what Trials was. It is something I wanted for a really, really long time. Getting to go and getting to swim and experience that was definitely worth all the hard work.”

After next year, Oberg sees her competitive swimming career ending.

But the opportunities afforded to her by Vanderbilt and the flexibility allowed by Coach Jeremy Organ have opened up other doors.

The political itch stayed with Oberg when she returned to Nashville in August.

With Alexander up for re-election in the fall of 2014, Oberg is working on his campaign at his Nashville office near Vanderbilt’s campus.

She works three days a week, as many as 15 hours, as a finance intern.

She organizes checks received from donors, sends out mail and invitations from the office and attends fundraisers and events. She hopes to stick around this summer and stay on the campaign through the November election.

An American history major with a minor in American politics, Oberg wants to attend law school. But before last summer, she admits she was more in love with the idea of getting back to D.C. than being immersed in the politics around it. But she spent a week in D.C. the summer of 2012—her first visit to the city—and realized she needed to get back.

“Being in D.C. this summer, I realized I really care about politics and the way our government is run,” she said. “It’s a lot different from what I thought it was. So now I just want to keep involved because it is always changing. People come into office. People go out of office. Things change and administrations turn over. It is just so interesting. It is so important because the government is so big and influential that it has control over so much. I think it is so important to be invested in it. So that is what I’m trying to continue to do.” n

C O M M O D O R E N AT I O N

17

EARN A GRADUATE DEGREE FROM VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY

www.vanderbilt.edu/mlas 18

Januar y / Febr uar y 2014

Trip to Stanford proves educational for women golfers

by Jerome Boettcher

JOHN RUSSELL

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JOHN RUSSELL

J

enny Hahn seized the moment.

Here was former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice holding a Q&A session

with nearly 100 collegiate women golfers.

Hahn, a sophomore at Vanderbilt, couldn’t resist.

“You have the opportunity to talk to her, you have to ask her a question,” she said.

So she did. Sticking with golf, she asked Rice about being one of the first two female members of Augusta National Golf Club, home of the Masters.

“I just asked her how did that feel?” Hahn said.

“That’s pretty awesome. She was taken aback by the whole thing and just humbled.”

Hahn and her teammates were humbled by the opportunity Rice afforded them in October.

Before the Stanford Intercollegiate tournament, Rice, a professor at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, hosted a College-Am, and afterwards Rice spoke to and fielded questions from the entire 16-team field.

The practice round grouped collegiate golfers with some of the top women professionals in their respective fields—CEOs, lawyers, politicians—from around the country.

“We were just in a room with so many successful women, and it was very inspiring to us,” Hahn said.

Hahn and teammates Renee Sobolewski and Kendall Martindale played 18 holes with Catherine Kinney, the former president of the New York Stock Exchange. They also crossed paths and talked with Carol Bartz, the former CEO of Yahoo.

Jenny Hahn, above, and Renee Sobolewski, below, joined teammate Kendall Martindale and played 18 holes with the former president of the New York Stock Exchange at a golf tournament hosted by former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Stanford in October.

For nearly four hours, the Vanderbilt trio chatted up Kinney and gathered advice.

“It was an unreal experience for all of us,” Hahn said. “Just to get an insight of a female who has become so successful, it resonates to us…We basically tried to pick her brain, just kind of how she got to where she was. It was really interesting, her story, because in college she wanted to be a French professor. She didn’t expect to be where she’s at, but she said she worked extremely, extremely hard and eventually people started recognizing she is really good at what she does.”

So how was Kinney’s golf game?

“She is probably better at being the president,” Hahn said, laughing. “No, she was so cute. She was very nice.”

While Vanderbilt’s trip to Stanford was golforiented—the Commodores finished ninth in the tournament, and Hahn tied for 16th individually—it proved to be educational.

Hearing Rice speak about her endeavors was encouraging for the team.

Hahn, a native of Henderson, Nev., created her own major of management and pre-law with civil relations and plans to attend law school.

Of course, Hahn, who was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team last year, wants to pursue professional golf.

But, like Rice, she also is musically inclined, as she plays the guitar and is classically trained in the piano.

Rice actually went to college to pursue a piano major. But she graduated from Denver with a degree in political science and later received her Ph.D. She served on President George H.W. Bush’s National Security Council.

Ten years later, she became the first woman to serve as National Security Advisor. And for George W. Bush’s second term, she was the Secretary of State—the first African-American woman to hold the position.

The underlining message was to stay in the moment, and seize it.

“She didn’t even think of where she is now— that is not what she planned,” Hahn said. “She basically told us that in our four years here, you don’t need to stress about careers because we’re going to find a job. We’re going to be all right, basically. She said in the four years, find something you’re extremely passionate about. Just never lose that passion.” n

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Dahlman extends family’s hardwood legacy

by Jerome Boettcher

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John Russell

R

ebekah Dahlman knows she was there.

Photographical proof confirms this. She doesn’t remember much, though. Well, she was just an infant.

Photos show baby Rebekah being held by “some famous person.” No doubt, there were probably a few of them around. After all, Rebekah’s grandfather was being enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

“It started with my grandpa,” she said.

Dahlman, a heralded freshman guard at Vanderbilt, is the latest hardwood chapter for a basketball family steeped in tradition.

Her mother’s father, John Kundla, was the first coach of the Minneapolis Lakers. He coached legend George Mikan, among others, won six basketball championships and is one of only three coaches to win three straight NBA championships (1952-54).

“It is so cool to hear all the stories he tells,” Dahlman said. “He loves telling jokes to us. He literally puts a huge smile on my face. Great role model and I love him to death.”

The basketball gene carried down two generations.

Rebekah is one of six children, all of whom played basketball. Her parents, Nate and Kathy, also played and coached basketball.

Her oldest brother, Isaiah, set the Minnesota prep scoring record before going to Michigan State and helping the Spartans to two Final Fours. Noah Dahlman grabbed more rebounds than anyone in Minnesota high school history. He played collegiately at Wofford and plays overseas in Bulgaria.

Last winter, Jonah wrapped up a career filled with all-conference accolades at Division III St. Scholastica University in Duluth, Minn.

Rebekah cherishes the two years she shared on the court with her older sister, Hannah. The duo captured a state championship in 2011.

And now, her younger brother, Zachariah, is a senior at Braham High School, carrying on the hoops tradition for the tiny Minnesota town an hour north of Minneapolis. “(Braham) is huge basketball. That is what we are known for,” Rebekah said.

“I feel like we established it. Our family. It started with my brothers (Isaiah and Noah), them winning three state titles in a row. That has had a huge name for our town and we just kept getting better from there after they left.”

While her grandfather might have set the hoops tone decades ago, Rebekah says her father laid the foundation.

Nate Dahlman, who played Division III basketball in Minnesota, coached Rebekah from second grade until her senior year of high school. She remembers long hours in the gym in order to perfect the fundamentals.

“I wouldn’t be the player I am today without him,” she said. “Up to this day I can’t be more thankful. I remember him always taking me into the gym and working on my left hand, working on everything.”

Genes, talent, hard work and plenty of practice all contributed to the making of one of the best high school players in the country.

Not to be outdone by her record-breaking brothers, Isaiah and Noah, Rebekah scored 5,060 points in her career to become the first girls basketball player in Minnesota history to score more than 5,000.

She averaged 35.3 points, 9.8 rebounds and 6.4 assists as a senior. She ended her career as a two-time Gatorade basketball player of the year and was named a McDonald’s All-American.

Offers poured in from Tennessee, Baylor, Florida and Minnesota. She admits her knowledge of Vanderbilt before visiting campus was limited.

But she left impressed by head coach Melanie Balcomb, the coaching staff and her future teammates.

Rebekah Dahlman continues a family tradition on the hardwood, which began with her grandfather. John Kundla was the first coach of the Minneapolis Lakers.

In fact, she remembers being sold when the coaches took her to the site of the 2014 Women’s Final Four, the Bridgestone Arena in downtown Nashville, and told her they wanted her to be part of something special.

“I want to change this program,” she said. “I want to be part of Coach Balcomb’s legacy here. We can do damage here. We can get to a Final Four. I believe in this program, coaching staff and team.”

Dahlman has been a freshman dandy, so far. In her first nine games she averaged 11.4 points. She scored 23 points in her first game—the most in a freshman debut in Vanderbilt history. Unfortunately, Dahlman was sidelined indefinitely in mid-December when she underwent two surgeries to repair a blood clot in her arm. The team hopes to get her back later this season.

When she does return, expect the same competitiveness and passion for basketball that runs in the family.

“We always compete whenever we go home,” she said. “I know for Christmas we always have a family HORSE game (with her parents and five siblings). So it is always competitive there. Last year, I took second. Isaiah cheated, I swear. He was doing some trick shots.

“It is always fun to all be in the gym at once.” n

Coach’s Handbook: Women’s tennis assistant coach Aleke Tsoubanos The collegiate career of Aleke Tsoubanos began with a “magical little run” to the national championship match in 2001. By the time she left Vanderbilt as an All-American, she had contributed to trips to the Elite Eight and Final Four, as well. After playing World Team Tennis for her hometown team, the St. Louis Aces, she returned to her alma mater three years later as an assistant coach. Her husband, Jason, works at Vanderbilt as a mechanical engineer.

It was funny because we (as freshmen) didn’t know any better. We sort of just came in ,and we were just grateful of the opportunity to be (at Vanderbilt). We thought, “Wow, we really don’t want to screw this up.” We wanted to make Coach (Geoff Macdonald) feel good about bringing us to Vanderbilt and knew we had an incredible opportunity to be on scholarship here and represent women’s tennis. We almost kind of bought into early on, sort of, that we belonged. I think that was the first year we had advanced past a Sweet 16. I guess they had never really cracked through, and we really didn’t know about that. We showed up sort of clueless. All right, we’re going to compete really hard and try to get better. The next thing we knew we won that first match, and it was like—I didn’t know this—but a huge weight was lifted off everybody’s shoulders. Wow, we’re into the quarters.

The momentum continued, and the next thing we knew we were in this really heated match with (host) Georgia in the semis and found a way to pull it out. Huge underdog in that match, obviously. There were I don’t know how many Georgia fans, and I think we had our contingency of 20, 25 supporters of family, friends and staff from Vanderbilt who made the trip down. It was pretty awesome.

What do you enjoy most about working at your alma mater?

Um, gosh. Most? Every year the team has been different. So trying to identify…what is your team identity going to be? Just trying to develop relationships with the girls because they are all so different. That is also the hardest part. It is enjoyable once you feel the connection with the team. But that can sometimes be the hardest part. For me, just being here is so much more meaningful because this was my school. There are not a lot of people who are fortunate enough to get the opportunity to go back and coach at the school they played at—in any sport.

Outside of tennis, what do you like to do when you have free time?

I try to get out with my husband a little bit (and play tennis). He has been wanting to learn. I love to read, personally. It’s all fiction. I love James Patterson and Harlan Coben. Coach would tease me about this, but I like to travel. And not for tennis, but he jokes with me about jet-setting all the time. Endless teasing. “Where you going this week? Where you

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John Russell

What was it like as a freshman to be part of a run to the national championship match (the first time any Vanderbilt sport had played for a national title)?

Assistant women’s tennis coach Aleke Tsoubanos helped lead the Commodores to their first national championship match in 2001.

going this week?” I love traveling. I try to go to Greece almost every other year. I went this past summer. We’ve done Cancun. Barcelona is next. My husband got to go to for a conference. Anywhere you can get away. I love to cruise. I wanted to try to get one of those in, but I don’t know if that’s going to happen. And I love, love watching sports. I’m crazy about the (St. Louis) Cardinals. I’m a basket case from about mid-August on, watching playoff races. I love the Cardinals. If I could afford season tickets and get them I would do it.

You mentioned Greece. Your last name—are you Greek?

I am. My parents were both born in Greece and came over when they were young. My siblings and I are first-generation born here. My mom has a little house in her village, so we usually go visit there for a little while and then try to go to the beach. There are some really cool beaches, not the ones everyone else knows about. Santorini and Mykonos. I’ve never been there. We go to the Ionian Islands, over on the west side of the mainland. They are really great. We go to an island called Lefkada and it is amazing. We will go spend five, six days there and just go to all different beaches around the island. It is so much fun.

And you are expecting your first child, a boy?

Yes. March. Crazy. We are excited. We bought a new house. A lot of changes. I guess life just happens as they say. We are just taking one step at a time, and they are all happening really quickly. We’re really excited.

We love Nashville. We have a really nice group of friends and feel like we know the city really well. It feels small, but it is a warm city and we feel really good about being at Vanderbilt. Invested here. We would love to stay for a long time. n

C O M M O D O R E N AT I O N

21

THE VU From Here

Frances and Jack Dodson

As supervisor for Vanderbilt guest services, Scott Deathridge oversees ushers for football, basketball and baseball games, along with concerts.

Being able to trust that his staffers will show up on time—and show up in general—reassures Deathridge.

Jack Dodson is synonymous with reliability.

Submitted by jack dodson

“Jack is the most dependable person I have. I may have some that equal him but I don’t have anybody more dependable than Jack,” Deathridge said. “Jack is always there. He always has a smile.

Fans look for him.”

And Frances Dodson.

The pair of 82-year-olds, who have been married 61 years, are staples at Commodore games.

Jack started taking tickets at football games in 1950. He was at the gates, greeting Commodore fans two years later when Memorial Gymnasium opened its doors. The Nashville native is in the middle of his 63rd season. He has spent the past five working the field gate at Vanderbilt Stadium. Frances started in the late 1970s and works in the ticket office during football and basketball games.

“They are inseparable,” said Deathridge, who is in his 32nd season at Vanderbilt. “If you ever see one of them, the other one is not far behind. I can always count on Jack and Frances to be there.”

Even cancer couldn’t keep Jack away for long.

This fall, he was diagnosed with Merkel cell carcinoma. The very rare, but aggressive, cancer was found in his neck. He underwent radiation treatments in September and October. The exhausting process caused him to lose some sensation in his taste buds, and he lost 20 pounds.

He missed a couple basketball games but made every football game.

“I just wanted to be there,” Jack said. “Honestly, I was probably going to retire the basketball games. But I felt good enough that I thought, ‘Well, I’ll just go ahead and do it again.’ In basketball, I work on the door and I get to see people who come to the games regularly and fraternize with them and enjoy their company.”

Jack plans to continue through basketball season—men’s and women’s games—and awaits a CT scan in January to see if he is in remission.

But Jack is confident the radiation did its job. He believes he is regaining his strength and has resumed his routine of walking more than 10 miles a week near their Hendersonville home.

“That radiation is tough,” he said. “(But) I feel good now.”

Eric Jones, Vanderbilt’s director of ticketing, calls Jack and Frances irreplaceable.

Their friendly demeanor welcomes fans and leaves an impression.

Frances, says Jones, provides a grandmotherly touch, a Mrs. Santa Claus smile and is quick to trade friendly jabs with fans.

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Frances and Jack Dodson have worked as ushers and ticket takers at Vanderbilt football and basketball games for a combined more than 90 years.

“She always got a laugh out of people for pointing out the obvious,” Jones said, smiling.

Frances has followed the Commodores for a long time. She grew up in Manchester, Tenn., and had an uncle who attended Vanderbilt.

She remembers watching quarterback and future NFL first-rounder Bill Wade while in high school.

Jack also grew up around Vanderbilt. His dad worked for Nashville Power and Electric Company, which handled staffing at Commodore games. After Jack graduated high school, his dad offered him a parttime job at Dudley Field.

Once there, Jack never left and has become a favorite to many, whether it is taking their tickets, escorting them to their seats or just greeting them at the door.

“They must (enjoy) me, too, because they are always coming up and speaking to me,” he said. “They go in another door and hug me.

I’ve got a lot of friends out there.”

We Want Your Ticket Stories The ticket office has long been a place to hear some of the best examples of the love affair between Vanderbilt fans and their seats for Vanderbilt games. Whether you met your spouse in the student section, shared popcorn with your grandfather from the very top row of the endzone in Section L or truly believe that row 25 in your section was made for you and 24 other friends, we want to hear your point of VU (pronounced “view”) of Commodore Football. In 150 words or less, send in your stories to ticket. office@vanderbilt.edu. We will select some of our favorites to share with other Commodore fans. If your “VU From Here” story is selected, we will give you two tickets to a home game this season, in the hope that you will pay them forward to attract new fans to Vanderbilt Stadium. n

It’s My Turn

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e are under attack!

Every day we are bombarded by the world around us. Technology gives us new ways to communicate, yet the art of conversation wanes. School kids can Google information faster than the geniuses of yesteryear could collect it. News is nonstop, and much of it seems bad. Cynics and skeptics thrive. There was a time when we simply enjoyed a sunny day; now we have gadgets telling us to worry about tomorrow’s storm. Bummer!

The overload is taxing. Our lives feel difficult and some are, although our forefathers, who were working stiffs tickled to have a job that put bread on the table, would not understand. We are mentally tired and in need of refreshment.

If we can break through this clutter, inspiration is everywhere. The sports world is full of examples as the finest coaches and teachers understand and motivate through inspiration, yet few actually believe they are inspirational. Here are examples of things that inspire me.

For instance, I’m inspired by the impact that one person’s leadership can have on a team, a university community or even an entire city.

I am blown away by the tenacity and focus of Steven Keith, our cross country and track coach, who was riding a stationary bike in intensive care one day after a stem cell transplant and who has barely missed a beat at the office despite having to wear a protective mask to help fight off germs.

“When your world seems to be coming unglued, slow down for a moment and find the inspiration around you.”

I find inspiration with our support staff who have such pride in our school that they willingly work overtime to make your experience a good one.

I’m uplifted as I gaze upon the growing number of fans who wear our colors and cheer to the final horn despite the weather or the score.

I can be exasperated at times by the lengths to which our administration will go to comply with the letter and spirit of some obscure NCAA rule, but I’m also terribly proud and inspired to be a small part of such a first-class organization.

Call me corny but I still get chill bumps remembering a bowler who wouldn’t be in the lineup slipping letters of encouragement under the hotel doors of those that would be, on the eve of the NCAA championship.

Our entire department was inspired and energized a couple years ago when Gina Owens, our business manager, not only came to work nearly every day while undergoing a series of successful chemotherapy treatments but also was being a mom to two kids and earning her master’s of business administration degree.

I am inspired by my grandkids and the fun they get from reading books and their steadfast belief that Vandy will always win.

I was impressed by a very helpful, congenial woman on campus, but when I found out she had lost 120 pounds on her own because she was just tired of being obese, I was totally inspired.

When your world seems to be coming unglued, slow down for a moment and find the inspiration around you. When you do, you will feel much better for simply being alive. n

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C O M M O D O R E N AT I O N

23

My Game

Simone Charley

S

imone Charley is a psychology major from Hoover, Ala., who splits her time on the soccer field and track. On the pitch this fall she earned SEC All-Freshman honors by scoring five goals—second-most on the team—and sharing the team lead with five assists. This winter and spring, the 18-year-old will compete in the triple jump, adding to a family tradition. In addition, her cousin, Damien Charley, played football for the Commodores, 1995-98.

Commodore Nation: Why did you decide to play two sports in college?

Simone Charley: I’ve been doing both for so long. I started soccer in kindergarten and then track in first grade. They’ve always gone hand in hand. When I was little, it would always be, “OK, you have soccer in the spring and fall, then track in the summer.” It was my routine. I couldn’t imagine not doing both. It is a part of my life.

CN: One sport you favor more than the other?

Charley: I like different things about both sports. For soccer, I like how it is a team sport. You’re a family, and you have people you have to rely on.

Also, I like track because it is an individual sport. What I put in is what I’ll get out of it. That competition, everything is up to me.

CN: Your brother, Myles, jumps at Troy. Your sister, Nicole, triple jumped at Auburn. Just in your blood?

Charley: My dad didn’t run track, but my mom did. But she was a sprinter. I guess jumping is just me and my siblings…I started triple jump my sophomore year just because my brother and sister are triple jumpers and I want to be like them.

CN: What is the trick behind excelling in triple jump?

Charley: I would say practice, practice, practice just because the technique can be a little challenging to get down. You have to keep practicing it to be comfortable with it. My whole thing is not thinking. Clear your mind and don’t overthink doing different techniques and drills. Just clear your mind, and it will come naturally.

Charley: My sophomore year of high school for triple jump. That was my first year doing triple jump, and I had been consistently hitting 36s, 37s, which is pretty good. Then, state meet, on my first jump I (had a personal record) and hit 40 feet—the first time I had. I ended up winning, and I wasn’t even expecting to win (she won the next two state titles for a three-peat and owns the state record). I had playoffs for soccer the day before, and then I had to drive five hours to Gulf Shores for the state track meet that night right after my soccer game. I wasn’t even expecting to win. I was just like, “Uh, I’ll just come out here and jump. Whatever happens, happens.” Then I end up PR’ing. That was the highlight of my career.

Joe Howell

CN: Highlight moment of your career in either sport?

CN: You were born in Boston. How long have you lived in Alabama?

CN: When you’re not juggling the demands of two sports and classes, how do you like to spend your free time?

Charley: I moved to Alabama when I was 2 years old. I don’t remember much. I still have family in Boston, as well, on my dad’s side. My mom’s side is actually from England, so that is where a lot of them live. Her parents live in Grenada right now. They were both born in Montserrat (a Caribbean island), and they moved to England when my mom was born.

Charley: What do I like to do? Sleep. (Laughter) No, I like to read and write as well. I’m also very active in my church. I recently started going to Cross Point Church here (in Nashville). But I’m very active in Faith Chapel Christian Center (in Birmingham). My mom actually works at our church.

God gets all the credit for everything. n

24

Januar y / Febr uar y 2014

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