October 5, 2016
Princeton Athletics—Achieving, Serving, and Leading!
Mollie Marcoux Samaan
Princeton University Ford Family Director of Athletics
Princeton Athletics—Achieving, Serving, and Leading!
Mollie Marcoux Samaan
Princeton University Ford Family Director of Athletics
Molly Marcoux Samaan and Henry Von Kohorn
Minutes of the Fourth Meeting of the 75th Year
Julie Denny led the invocation and John Kelsey introduced his guest, Gus Escher, to the 79 Old Guard members in attendance.
Henry Von Kohorn introduced the speaker, Mollie Marcoux Samaan, as “one of the top athletes in the history of Princeton” who is now beginning her third year as the university’s Ford Family Director of Athletics.
While at Princeton, she earned four letters in soccer and ice hockey and was awarded the von Kienbusch Sportswoman of the Year Award. In hockey, she captained the team, still holds the Princeton record for most goals scored in a season and was named to the Ivy League’s Silver Anniversary team and to the Eastern College Athletic Conference Team of the Decade.
During her first two years as athletic director, Princeton has won 25 Ivy League championships, well ahead of any other school. She has hired eight coaches and overseen a strategic planning effort.
Princeton fields 37 sports teams (Harvard has 42), as well as 37 club teams. The Athletic Department includes over 150 staff members.
Managing this large department, Ms. Samaan said, means trying to make the complex simple. That requires buying into the concept of the “Team around the Team” -- the players and the support staff working together.
Each year there are over 270 home events that require marketing to assure maximum attendance from the student body and the community. A ticket agency was recently hired to help make that happen on a regular basis.
The students have full schedules, making it a challenge to get them to attend the games. So free pizza is available, as well as disc jockeys and half-time entertainment.
For the over 1,000 student athletes, it is of course important to balance studies and sports. With that in mind, some coaches have reduced practice hours, with positive results. Coaches want to make sure their players are eating right and getting enough sleep, so they monitor both.
Some of the sport facilities need improvement. That is being taken on as part of the overall campus facility-modernization process. Two examples are:
-- The tennis courts are now located in the basement of Jadwin Gym. Planning is underway to improve that situation.
-- A new “bubble building” will be built on the football field after the season is over and removed when the season begins again. This building will provide indoor practice and exercise space during the off season.
Following the motto of “Achieve, Serve, Lead,” athletes are encouraged to join in community service, both here in Princeton and abroad.
Questions:
Is the university doing anything to help prevent concussions in sports?
Yes, the medical team is using advanced technology to monitor for and treat concussions.
What can be done to prevent the practice of early recruiting, e.g., the recruitment of 15- and 16-year-olds?
This is a problem being discussed throughout the Ivy League. We are going to stay involved in working this out.
Respectfully submitted,
Patrick Henry
Henry Von Kohorn introduced the speaker, Mollie Marcoux Samaan, as “one of the top athletes in the history of Princeton” who is now beginning her third year as the university’s Ford Family Director of Athletics.
While at Princeton, she earned four letters in soccer and ice hockey and was awarded the von Kienbusch Sportswoman of the Year Award. In hockey, she captained the team, still holds the Princeton record for most goals scored in a season and was named to the Ivy League’s Silver Anniversary team and to the Eastern College Athletic Conference Team of the Decade.
During her first two years as athletic director, Princeton has won 25 Ivy League championships, well ahead of any other school. She has hired eight coaches and overseen a strategic planning effort.
Princeton fields 37 sports teams (Harvard has 42), as well as 37 club teams. The Athletic Department includes over 150 staff members.
Managing this large department, Ms. Samaan said, means trying to make the complex simple. That requires buying into the concept of the “Team around the Team” -- the players and the support staff working together.
Each year there are over 270 home events that require marketing to assure maximum attendance from the student body and the community. A ticket agency was recently hired to help make that happen on a regular basis.
The students have full schedules, making it a challenge to get them to attend the games. So free pizza is available, as well as disc jockeys and half-time entertainment.
For the over 1,000 student athletes, it is of course important to balance studies and sports. With that in mind, some coaches have reduced practice hours, with positive results. Coaches want to make sure their players are eating right and getting enough sleep, so they monitor both.
Some of the sport facilities need improvement. That is being taken on as part of the overall campus facility-modernization process. Two examples are:
-- The tennis courts are now located in the basement of Jadwin Gym. Planning is underway to improve that situation.
-- A new “bubble building” will be built on the football field after the season is over and removed when the season begins again. This building will provide indoor practice and exercise space during the off season.
Following the motto of “Achieve, Serve, Lead,” athletes are encouraged to join in community service, both here in Princeton and abroad.
Questions:
Is the university doing anything to help prevent concussions in sports?
Yes, the medical team is using advanced technology to monitor for and treat concussions.
What can be done to prevent the practice of early recruiting, e.g., the recruitment of 15- and 16-year-olds?
This is a problem being discussed throughout the Ivy League. We are going to stay involved in working this out.
Respectfully submitted,
Patrick Henry