LEADERS AND LEGENDS Continued from previous page


able to interact with the community in a meaningful way and will, as a result, learn more about themselves and their chosen field.We are basically providing the founda- tion for leadership in service to humanity.” Additionally, the College furthers Humanics


scholarship by annually naming a faculty member Distinguished Springfield Professor of Humanics. In this capacity, the professor undertakes a project that further explores an element of the Humanics philosophy and what it means to Springfield College. (For a complete listing of distinguished professors and links to their Humanics Lectures, visit Babson Library Archives and Special Collec- tions at www.springfieldcollege.edu.) Although the spirit of Humanics has been


an integral part of every aspect of life at Springfield College for the last 125 years, the Humanics Seminar represents a more tangible way for students to learn about the concept and actively live it.


More Than Just a Sport


SPRINGFIELD COLLEGE faculty members and coaches have made many legendary contribu- tions to the world of sport, inventing new sports—basketball—and transforming others—gymnastics and football. Although the sports they so greatly influenced are still played on campus, it is the innovative spirit and unique perspectives behind their contri- butions that have truly endured. Amos Alonzo


Amos Alonzo Stagg


Stagg 1891, H’12, is the namesake of Springfield College’s football field and is


renowned as the “father of modern football.” A faculty member from 1890 to 1892, Stagg formed and managed the first Springfield College football team and, at a time when the


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game was in its infancy, created formations, plays, training techniques, and equipment that are still being used today. In addition to fathering the mechanics of the game, Stagg also saw and nurtured the sacredness of it, demanding more than just physical greatness from his players. In a 1994 article in Sports Illustrated,“A Century of Honesty,” author John Underwood explained that “Football to him was a means to an end: to teach young men to be honorable.” Stagg himself proclaimed,“Winning is not worthwhile unless one has something finer and nobler behind it.When I reach the soul of one of my


“Stagg really set the educational


foundation of sport…The game is more than wins and losses.


The life skills it teaches are critical for success as adults.”


boys with an idea of an ideal or a vision then I think I have done my job as a coach.”When we look at college and especially professional football today, it sometimes seems less honorable in light of player scandals,multi- million-dollar contracts, and very high stakes. But that spirit of creating honorable men (and women) through sport remains alive and well at Springfield College in its coaches and players. Stagg’s philosophy resonates with coaches


throughout Springfield College athletics and is reflected in the mission of the Athletics Department:“To implement a cocurricular experience that truly emphasizes the devel- opment of the whole person in spirit,mind, and body, enabling student-athletes to pursue excellence in the classroom, on the playing surfaces, and in the communities.” Mike Delong ’74, head football coach at the College for twenty-six years, has kept Stagg’s spirit alive in his coaching style.“Stagg really set the educational foundation of sport,” says Delong.“The game is more than wins and losses. The life skills it teaches are critical for success as adults.”


“Although winning is important, the focus


is on the total development of our student- athletes,” says Kelly Hart, Ph.D., associate director of athletics. All athletic teams take part in the Pride Challenge, a department initiative that measures participation in the NCAA CHAMPS/Life Skills Program. Teams earn points for their achievements in six areas: community outreach, team enhance- ment, team goals, athletes supporting athletes, grade point average, and Pride Athletic Advisory Committee representation and communication. The softball team, led by immediate past Coach Kathy Mangano, Ed.D., ’86, G’88, has won the Pride Challenge for the past four years.“The women on this team are a testament to what we try to achieve here at Springfield College. Our student-athletes are the complete package,” says Mangano,whose team has also been New EnglandWomen’s and Men’s Athletic Conference champions for the past two years.“I am very proud to have had that plaque hang in my office for the last four years.” In addition,many student-athletes are


involved in some type of community service, and a member from the Springfield College AmeriCorps Program works with the Athletics


“Our athletes are making contributions to society and


becoming better citizens in the world…It’s not just about what they do on the playing field.”


Department in an effort to identify opportu- nities for athletes to perform community service.“Our athletes are making contribu- tions to society and becoming better citizens in the world,” says Hart.“It’s not just about what they do on the playing field.” It is obvi- ous that the legend of Stagg lives on in more than just the name of a field or the game of football, but in the way Springfield College coaches provide guidance in sport and in life. The results of these efforts include recogni- tion by Jostens/NADIIIAA,which has awarded


TRIANGLE 1 Vol. 81, No. 3


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