Issue 2

Greetings Diplomats –

This is the twelfth installment of a monthly update where I will provide direct reflections and information on issues facing our student-athletes. The title is a line from the F&M alma mater.

The goal of this piece is not to review specific game results, but to present an insider’s view of current national trends, on-campus happenings and what we can look forward to next.

What's Trending

NCAA 2023 Convention Issues

  • Of greatest interest to coaches and administrators is the proposal to restructure current playing seasons legislation for all sports except football.

  • The proposal would eliminate weeks as the measurement for a season, and establish specific start/end dates for the non-championship and championship segments, increase the nontraditional segment interaction for fall and spring sports from 16 to 24 days and measure winter sports, along with golf, rowing and tennis using 114-day seasons.

    • Division III is the only NCAA division to use weeks as the measurement for playing and practice seasons. This should provide coaches and student-athletes more flexibility to schedule practices and acclimatize.

On Campus

Athletics Hall of Fame

  • F&M inducted 10 new members during True Blue Weekend. It was inspiring to hear the stories from inductees on how sports participation shaped their character, discipline and drive towards excellence in both academics and athletics.

Women's Philanthropy +1

  • The group of Katie Counselman Caple '99, Jennifer Galambos Ed.D. '88, Barbara Keil '81, Katie Rouff-Ward, CFP, MBA, CIMA '99, Kelsey Tylus Testa '09, Kevin Tylus P'09, Ginger Tylus H'09, P'09 and Anne Williams '88 received the Alumni Development Volunteer Award at True Blue Weekend for the establishment of the Patricia S.W. Epps Leadership Development Endowment.

  • Our women’s varsity student-athletes have incredible potential, including for philanthropy as alumnae. It’s wonderful to see this group recognize head coach/director of athletics Patty Epps and the impact she made, as well inspiring other alumnae to make their own impact through philanthropy.

Hamilton Open

  • F&M again partnered with the Hamilton Club of Lancaster for the second annual women’s Professional Squash Association Challenger “Hamilton Open.”

  • After great success in the inaugural year in 2021, the purse upgraded to $20,000.

  • Proceeds continue to benefit the F&M Squash ACES program, where F&M students host participants from the School District of Lancaster’s Reynolds Middle School and McCaskey High School to discover the best versions of themselves through mentoring relationships that inspire a deeper commitment to learning, healthy lifestyle choices, and civic engagement.


What's Next

Fall Championships

  • Every fall sport advanced to its Centennial Conference Championship! We have a championship mentality that is relentless and unrivaled, backed up by our actions with men’s cross country, women’s cross country, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, field hockey and volleyball all continuing the Diplomat tradition of excellence with appearances in the championship race or tournament.

    • (Note: football determines its champion by win-loss record only).

  • It’s the first time since 2011 that Diplomat fall teams achieved this feat!