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: Louis Martinette
Sport: Men’s Basketball
Years at UMW: 11 years
Position/Title: Faculty—College of Business
What was your favorite sport growing up? Briefly describe your favorite memory playing or watching it. My favorite sport growing up was, and still is, basketball. I was privileged to play basketball in high school but my favorite memories came as a spectator and an observer of the sport in general. I have many favorite memories including my high school basketball team coming from 16 points down in the fourth quarter to win the state championship and my college (Old Dominion University) winning a Division II National Championship (1975). But each year when the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship begins I often get two or three new favorite moments on the first day but none as personal and special as the two mentioned above.
Where is your favorite place around town to get a bite to eat? My schedule does not permit me much time to enjoy the finer eateries in Fredericksburg but my restaurant of choice in Richmond is Deep Run Roadhouse.
If you could pick one super power to have, what would it be and why? I do not know if Marvel or DC have ever come up with this one but I would like to have the ability to read and retain information at lightning speed and to be able to organize and share that knowledge effectively and efficiently.
Other than the sport you partnered with, what is your next favorite sport and why? Football, because it requires both brute strength and an in depth knowledge of strategy in motion. And let’s not forget about tailgating!
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? To borrow from Bill Russell’s (former Boston Celtic great) description of Red Auerback as a coach: “His methods were thoughtful, innovative, and fluid, and always geared to the team over any one player. Yet he found ways to inspire trust and confidence in each of us separately. He could talk to a player two or three times and he would know how to talk to him from then on.”
Each coach must be their own person with their own style but the three words I would chose to motivate a team (from Russell’s description of Auerback) would be for them to be “thoughtful, innovative, and fluid” with the caveat that it was “always the team over any one player.” In my view, this applies to most successful organizational settings. Anyone purporting to be a leader who does not inspire teamwork is not a leader.
What does a great leader look like to you? Leaders come in all shapes and sizes and “greatness” is often determined by an individual’s reaction to circumstance. Greatness in a leader, in my view, goes back to the three words noted above: “thoughtful, innovative, and fluid” with the caveat that it was “always the team over any one player.” Most importantly, it is the team over the leader because successful leadership is more often than not selfless.
What is a must read for UMW Student-Athletes? I would recommend several books for student athletes (as well as all other students) to read:
a. “Red and Me: My Coach and Lifelong Friend” by Bill Russell;
b. “Second Wind” by Bill Russell and Taylor Branch
c. “My Losing Season” by Pat Conroy
d. “Let Me Tell You A Story” by John Feinstein and Red Auerbach
e. “When The Game Was Ours” by Larry Bird and Earvin “Magic” Johnson with Jackie MacMullan
f. “The Innovators” by Walter Isaacson
What is the best advice you have ever heard given to a college graduate? Dr. Marcia Brand, Executive Director of NIIOH, said this in her 2015 commencement address at ODU: “Be kind to each other in the workplace. It is important to be a trusted, respectful, and supportive colleague. Listen, be kind, and model the behavior you want to see in your colleagues. The result is a more collaborative and productive workplace.”
Finally, if you were hanging out on Ball Circle picking the brains of four professional/famous athletes (living or deceased), who would they be? Bill Russell, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and John Wooden (I’ll take the fifth and also name Vince Lombardi). From what I know of these individuals, they are very different in terms of their personalities. I would like to discover the common trait that made them all winners.
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 Hwy, near Four Mile Fork. Find us online at www.driveultimatesubaru.com.
Once again this year, Wagner Wealth Management of Davenport & Company LLC. will sponsor the monthly UMW Student-Athlete of the Month. The October winner is senior field hockey star Jenna Steele.
