When Bob Fortosis took over as Eckerd College's athletic director on July 1, 2003, he had a four-part vision for improving the school's athletic image.
He wanted to better lacking facilities for tennis, soccer and basketball. He wanted to provide scholarships for athletes, something every other Sunshine State Conference school had.
He wanted to continue Eckerd's commitment to academics, and he wanted to change coaches in sports that have traditionally done poorly.
Nearly a year later, the vision is getting clearer.
With one athletic season under his belt, Fortosis has started the ball rolling on several changes at the college.
He has changed personnel, with new coaches in volleyball, cross country, men's soccer and softball.
Softball coach Jana Fields recently resigned after a 14-36-1 season, including 1-20 in the conference. A replacement will be announced this summer.
A new synthetic turf soccer stadium is expected to be completed by August, just in time for the men's and women's soccer seasons. There also are plans for a new student recreation center and a separate basketball arena, as well as a new nine-court tennis facility, but ground has not been broken.
Plus, athletic scholarships are available for men's and women's basketball, men's soccer and volleyball. Fortosis said he hopes in three years all 10 sports at Eckerd will have scholarships available.
"Honestly, by the end of the first year, if half of the four things I wanted to happen happened, I would have been happy," Fortosis said.
"But through the cooperation of (president Dr. Donald R.) Eastman and having (former athletic director) Jim Harley back on staff, we were able to get all of this done," Fortosis said. "Both have been incredible."
The most visible change will be the new facilities. The soccer stadium will be situated in the open land by Turley Complex in the heart of the campus.
The recreation center and basketball arena will be built on the south side of the campus overlooking the intercoastal waterway. The rec center and basketball complex are years from completion.
The baseball and softball complexes will remain the same.
Perhaps the most important change is the availability of scholarships.
Coaches sometimes had a tough time luring student/athletes to Eckerd because of the school's cost, as high as $30,000 annually. Grants-in-aid were available, but most of the time they didn't cover all expenses.
Eckerd didn't win any conference regular-season championships this year. Scholarships will allow coaches to lure more attractive athletes.
"We were competing with one arm tied behind our back," Fortosis said. "This puts us on a more level playing field."
Academics always has been a priority, and Fortosis said he will not change that. Of the school's 224 athletes, 94 have a 3.4 grade point average or higher, he said.
"Academics has always been a priority here, and we won't ever change that," Fortosis said. "You can have quality athletics and academics."
There will be four new coaches when the 2004-05 season begins.
Derrick Leeson will take over the men's soccer program, Courtney Dipert is the volleyball coach, Emily Danca is the cross-country coach, and softball will have a new coach.
"At the beginning of the year I said we will make changes where they are needed, and we've done that," Fortosis said. "We've brought in some quality coaches that will make a difference."
Look for more changes as Eckerd attempts to improve its athletic image.
LANDRY RETIRES: Sunshine State Conference athletic director Don Landry announced Wednesday that he will retire after 10 years, effective Aug. 1.
During Landry's tenure, SSC schools have won 25 national championships. He was instrumental in adding Lynn University in 1997 and Nova Southeastern in 2002 to increase the league membership to nine.
"I leave this position with mixed emotions," Landry said in a statement. "I will miss working with the many great friends I have made and all the associates I have worked with throughout the Sunshine State Conference and Division II over the past 10 years.
"I am very proud of the achievements that the conference and our member institutions have made during my tenure," he said.
A national search for Landry's successor will begin immediately, said University of Tampa president Dr. Ronald R. Vaughn, who serves as the conference president.
UP AND DOWN SEASONS: St. Petersburg College wasn't able to win any state championships this sports season, but it did come close.
The baseball and softball teams qualified for their respective state junior college tournaments, and the baseball squad made a surprising run.
After defeating the state's top-ranked team, Tallahassee CC, in the opening round, the Titans fell into the loser's bracket.
But a win over Manatee CC, which finished ahead of SPC in the Suncoast Conference, propelled the Titans to a semifinal against Pensacola CC. St. Petersburg (33-16) lost to the eventual champions, finishing third overall.
It was the seventh straight season the Titans qualified for the tourney. While it has yet to win a title, the expectations will be to do just that next season. Seven pitchers and several key position players return.
"I think we've established ourselves as one of the top two or three teams in the state consistently," SPC coach Dave Pano said.
The school's softball team went 1-2 at state. The Titans (45-20) opened with a 5-0 win over Okaloosa-Walton CC but then dropped their next two. St. Petersburg was second in the Suncoast Conference behind Manatee CC.
The SPC men's basketball squad came close to a state tournament berth, yet two straight losses to Hillsborough CC ended that dream.
The Titans lost 96-86 in a one-game playoff to qualify for the championship. The program won the tourney in 2001-02, the only state title in school history.
The women's basketball team and the volleyball squad failed to make it to state.
