May 13, 2021 - (Athletic Department Culture) - We appreciate the 400-plus attendees that attended our “Purple Up” event April 29, 2021. It was extremely exciting to see how many people joined to listen to our new Athletic Director, Coach Ricky Meeks as he shared his vision for the future of Center Athletics. We had parents, community members, students, and kids all of all ages in attendance. The attendance is an expression and resounding statement of how important athletics is to our school, community, businesses, and our student athletes. While each group represents their own interests’, we recognize that we are codependent and must fully align in order to achieve mutual success.
Coach Meeks talked at length about the new culture of Rider Athletics and how each day will represent one of the five pillars of the culture. Ownership, Grit, Being a Blessing, Connectivity, and Process. Coach Meeks also shared his vision and expectations on community involvement and how our Rider Athletes will work in conjunction with our community to build a stronger and more united community. Additionally, Coach Meeks discussed how he and his coaching staff will work cooperatively with our youth sports programs and ensure involvement and alignment starting at the earliest levels.
The campaign “Purple Up” is representative of two principles that work in harmony to help support a strong and sustainable athletic program. First, we must do everything on the “up”; we have a program built on character, discipline, and integrity. Secondly, we bring purple back to our community. We have purple flags flying at our local businesses, we have everyone wearing purple on Fridays, and we get purple flowing through every street, every home, and every neighborhood; hence “Purple Up”!
Thank you again for joining and we look forward to the future of Rider Athletics. Its time to Purple Up!
