A New Era For The Saints: What Will It Bring?

By Axel Dabe

With the fall semester well underway, teams at Flagler have begun their final season as part of the Peach Belt Conference (PBC) – switching for the first time since 2009 to Sunshine State Conference (SSC).

“One of the main reasons to make the move now, was so that we could join the SSC,” said Jud Damon, the Director of Athletics at Flagler College. “As an athletic director, I just want to make sure that when we go, we’re ready to compete for championships.”

Flagler moving to the SSC from the PBC has been in the books for a while, and according to Damon, a natural step for the athletic program.

“I always felt like this is probably where we should be, because we’re in Florida, private and it’s a good fit,” he said.

However, this is not the first time Flagler has been in touch with SSC. In 2006, Flagler came close to joining it.

“There were nine schools at the time, and you needed six yes votes to expand – we got five yes votes,” said Damon. “Flagler was left without a conference.”

Flagler was NCAA Division II full members in the 2008–2009 academic year, but independent- a turbulent time for the athletics department.

“I’m sure it was challenging for the coaches that were here,” Damon said. “During that year, 2008, Flagler applied to the PBC after not getting into SSC.”

The application was successful, and just after Jud Damon arrived on campus, Flagler joined the PBC.

“My first day at Flagler College was June 8, 2009. We became PBC members on July 1, 2009,” Damon said.

16 years later, the tables had turned. This time, it was the SSC reaching out to Flagler.

“He reached out and said: ‘Would you all be interested in considering a membership?’” Damon said.

For Damon, this was an offer that could greatly benefit Flagler. The switch was swift and it didn’t take long before it was official.

“The SSC is the strongest D2 Athletic Conference in the whole country and now we’re affiliated,” said Damon, who believes Flagler looks like the other schools in the division, cultivating healthy competition.

Flagler athletes are also looking positively on the switch.

“I think that the switch will be good for Flagler, because of more fierce competition and better matching in terms of level.” Said Filip Hornburg, captain of the Flagler soccer team. “I’m really looking forward to facing Rollins, since we’ve had a rivalry against them for years.”

“It may be harder competition wise, and we may not achieve as much success as we’re used to in the beginning,” Hornburg said. “I’m confident that it’s a challenge the team can grow from and push us closer to winning nationals one day.”

Oliver Hradilek on the men’s tennis team can’t wait for next year’s challenge.

“In tennis, it’s clearly the best conference. Teams like Barry, Saint Leo, Lynn and Rollins are all ranked and very good—some are top-10 or top-five teams,” he said.

He’s looking forward to a lot of close matches.

“We already see those teams often during the season, so it will be interesting, and I’m excited about the new challenge,” Hradilek said.

The SSC will provide new exiting rivalry matchups such as Embry-Riddle, Florida Southern and University of Tampa, where Damon hopes Flagler will show character.

“We emphasise sportsmanship. We’re going to compete and win, but we’re going to do it with class and with character,” Damon said. “Everybody’s trying to win. If that’s all we’re about, we’re no different than any other place. We’re going to win by following our core values.”

Damon hopes winning championships as a team could enhance the college experience and lead to personal growth.

“I want you as an athlete here to win championships and to have a great personal experience, but I also want you to learn stuff that deepens your own personal character,” he said.

Coach Brian Beil, Flagler’s head coach for cross country and track and field, is also optimistic about the move.

Like Hornburg, Beil believes that it will be a challenge but exciting at the same time.

“It’ll be more difficult to win both at the conference level and getting to Nationals, but you rise to the challenge,” Beil said. “Every single year, the standard gets higher because the bar is there, so everybody gets over the bar. Now the bar is going to be higher, and we’ll just have to get there.”

The SSC future for athletes will contain shorter trips and less overnight stays.

“There’ll be less missed class time and a higher quality college experience,” Damon said. “I think more nights of sleep in your own bed, rather than on the road, will prove beneficial for you as an athlete.”

It especially got some big impact for certain sports.

“Basketball and lacrosse are traveling all over the place – in Alabama, Carolinas and North Georgia,” Damon said.

Coach Beil predicts a similar change for athletes as Damon, with big teams travelling less.

“Our postseason will look different. We’ll be traveling south instead of traveling north,” he said.

Damon looks back on 16 successful years in the PBC with satisfaction.

“We’ve won 40 team sportsmanship awards. We’ve won eight Institution of the Year sportsmanship awards,” he said.

Team sportsmanship awards are for the best athletics program overall in the conference, and Flagler won three of the last six of those.

“Instead of just focusing on a few sports, we try to be great at everything,” Damon said.

According to Beil, recruiting is going to be the biggest difference moving forward. Every school is now a lot more similar to Flagler, so the recruiting will be under more even circumstances.

“I’m actually looking forward to recruiting against conference opponents now, because every SSC school is a private school in the state of Florida,” Beil said.

It’s hard for Flagler to recruit locally because in-state schools like Augusta are much cheaper for Georgia athletes, with built in discounts that Flagler would “have to spend a fortune” to match, according to Beil.

As a Flagler coach since 2011, Beil has a lot of good PBC memories to look back on. He especially remembers last season, when both the men and women side won the conference in cross country.

“I was on cloud nine,” Beil smiles. “It was ten years since we last won the championship, and even the guys that won it ten years ago were all watching. That was the best day, the best moment.”

However, Beil isn’t getting ahead of himself and remains fully focused on the upcoming final season in the PBC.

“We got one more year with PBC. Let’s see if we can leave as champions. That’d be fun and challenging, but we got a good group,” he said.