Each month, a UMW Athletics Faculty Liaison will be featured in the Ultimate Subaru Spotlight. The Faculty Liaison program partners a UMW faculty member with every UMW intercollegiate athletic team to strengthen support networks and increase resources for student-athlete success. Ultimate Subaru is committed to the growth and education of UMW Eagles, their hometown team, and strives to foster the same values of community as the UMW Faculty Liaison program. Faculty Liaisons will serve as mentors and role models to student-athletes while being involved in team activities. For more information about the program, contact Faculty Athletic Representative, Dr. Lynne Richardson.
Faculty Liaison’s Name: David Rettinger
Sport: Softball
Years at UMW: 9
Position/Title: Assoc. Prof. of Psychological Science; CHLS Executive Director
What was your favorite sport growing up? Briefly describe your favorite memory playing or watching it. To play it was Judo. Watching was baseball. I remember being 7 or 8 and being allowed to stay up late to watch the Yankees win a World Series game. I was hooked for life.
Where is your favorite place around town to get a bite to eat? We mostly eat lunches out, and the whole family loves Basilico. It’s a really good Italian deli with excellent desserts, something for our whole family.
If you could pick one superpower to have, what would it be and why? I’m a psychologist, so I’ll say ESP. It would be so much easier to understand behavior that way.
Other than the sport you partnered with, what is your next favorite sport and why? Baseball. I enjoy the pace and anticipation of it.
If you were a Head Coach and could pick three words to motivate your team and hang in their locker room, which words would you choose? Teamwork, preparation, intensity.
What does a great leader look like to you? Great leaders come in many shapes and sizes, many styles. What they all have in common is intense desire to achieve their goals and respect for their team. No leader ever succeeded unless a united, well-prepared team succeeded as well.
What is a must read for UMW Student-Athletes? I’m a big fan of Predictably Irrational, by Dan Ariely. For fiction, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, by Philip K. Dick.
What is the best advice you have ever heard given to a college graduate? “Look out for that car.” Sometimes topical and direct is best.
Finally, if you were hanging out on Ball Circle picking the brains of four professional/famous athletes (living or deceased), who would they be?
Bo Schembechler – a legend to all of us Wolverines out there
Babe Ruth – I’d like to know if all of those stories are true
Jesse Owens – To hear the story of the ’36 Olympics
Venus Williams – To ask advice about sustaining excellence
Ultimate Subaru, celebrating 10 years of service to the Fredericksburg community, is proud to be a supporter of UMW athletics. Call Ultimate Subaru today at (540) 898-6200 or come on in and visit us at 5160 Jefferson Davis Highway, near Four Mile Fork. Find us online at www.driveultimatesubaru.com.
