Blue Devils Focus on the Player Experience

A ‘Five Star’ experience; that’s what the Blue Devil athletic program is hoping students have. Why join a team and put on a uniform if it isn’t fun and rewarding? Surveys have established the indisputable fact that the No. 1 reason why high school kids participate in interscholastic athletics is to have fun. Every other possible reason trails far in the distance.

The Blue Devil athletic program is focusing more than ever on what departments leaders call the “player experience.” It’s what Huntington UFSD student-athletes encounter as members of a program that’s more than 115 years old.

Officials have been speaking to athletes individually and in small groups as well as talking to coaches, parents, alumni and school and district executives.

Recently, some were asked a simple question: “What is the No. 1 thing the athletic department can do to enhance the player experience?”

“Helping with navigating the college recruiting process is important to many of them,” one alum said. “But that’s still only a select group. At the end of the day most of them just want to feel a part of something bigger than themselves. Letting them know and feel that they are all part of the community of student athletes is huge. It’s the pride that comes with wearing the uniform.”

That’s a sentiment shared by athletic department officials and one they have been discussing with current members of the coaching staff.

A current varsity head coach, who played for the Blue Devils and graduated from Huntington and who went on to play in college and captain the team, answered the question like this: “Giving them the best physical resources like equipment and enough field and court space; giving them the personnel resources (knowledgeable and supportive coaches) to be successful and providing a culture and community that backs them no matter what the outcome is.”

A physical education teacher who also coaches multiple sports offered this point of view: “I would say the most important thing is good coaching. Surrounding them with coaches who love and care about them is the number one thing in my opinion.”