Relationships- Note that this comes first. People matter more than swimming. Each individual on this team brings more to the table than their swimming ability. If we’re not investing in each other and building quality relationships, we’re doing it wrong. During our time as part of this program, each of us will go through things outside of the water that will challenge us. We’ll need people in our life that can support, encourage us and hold us accountable. We should all strive to be that person for others on the team.
Win, lose, or draw, you want to go to a championship meet and lay it all on the line with people that are more than training partners.
We truly believe that everyone desires to be part of something bigger than themselves. Being part of this program is an opportunity to invest in others, work together as a team, and create memories and a bond that will last beyond your time here at FPU.
Enthusiasm – “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.”
Attitudes are contagious. Attitudes are also a choice. One negative person can bring a whole team down. On the other hand, a group of people that bring joy and a passion to what they do can achieve incredible feats.
We will not allow negative attitudes and words in our program. Author Jon Gordon calls negative people “Energy Vampires.” It’s a very accurate term and we don’t allow those type of people in our program. If you’ve been that type of person in the past, we’ll help you change.
Positive team energy will fuel us each day. You only get to be a college athlete for a very short time and we’re going to enjoy every minute. If someone is having a rough day, we’ll be there to pick them up.
Enthusiasm isn’t mindless or fake. It’s not pretending everything is perfect. Enthusiasm is not allowing circumstances outside of your control to bring you down. It’s embracing challenges with a positive mindset and a desire to overcome.
Making the choice to live with enthusiasm for what you do not only allows you to be more successful, it makes everything a whole lot more fun.
Learning- Our program is all about growth. We want to see people grow in every area of their lives during their time here. From a coaching staff standpoint, we are going to meet you where you’re at, but we’re not going to let you stay there. Our goal is to see each person reach their potential. Our expectations for you might be higher than your own expectations for yourself. That’s ok. Part of our goal is to help you see what’s possible and potentially even change the way you see yourself and the expectations you currently have.
Learning requires being truly present and being an active participant in the process. If you’re showing up expecting someone else to “make you better” you’ll likely be disappointed. The more ownership you take, the more learning that will take place and the more success you’ll be able to have. You’re GPA is not something that happens to you, it’s a result of the time, effort and commitment you’ve put into your classes. In the same way, the time on the scoreboard is not something that happens to you. It’s a result of multiple factors (fitness being only one), all of which can be improved through time and consistent, purposeful effort.
During your time here you’ll have the opportunity to learn and grow as a student, athlete, person, teammate, and leader, just to name a few. As a program, we want each person (coaches included) to bring a growth mindset to every area of their lives and continually work to be better than they’ve ever been. It’s not about being perfect, it’s about learning, improving and growing.
All-In - Our expectation is that each coach and student-athlete is All-in. This means that we expect commitment level to be 100%.
“Commitment is doing the thing you’d say you do, long after the mood you said it in has passed.”
The beginning of this season will be very exciting and high energy. It always is. Everyone will have big goals and be pumped about what we can achieve individually and as a program. At this point, we’ll be like every single other program in the country. There is nothing special about being excited and dreaming big dreams in August and September. What will separate us from others is our commitment level in November or early January.
Commitment is more than attending practice. That’s expected. Commitment is consistently making the right choices and sacrifices necessary in order for you to achieve your goals and help the team achieve its goals.
What commitment looks like:
- Choosing to manage your time in a way that allows you get the sleep you need in order to stay healthy and train at a high level.
- Consistently being disciplined with your diet.
- Not giving up during the middle of a challenging practice.
- Choosing to study for an upcoming test that you know you need to be ready for, as opposed to watching Netflix/playing computer games/ hanging out, etc.
- Choosing to give a positive word of encouragement to a teammate, even when you don’t feel like it or have other things you’d rather do.
- Choosing to have a hard conversation (in the right way) with a teammate about choices they are making that may be detrimental to their goals and/or the team’s goals.
Commitment is about consistently making the right choices and sacrifices, even when you don’t feel like it. Emotional highs can get you over a hump or help get greatness out of you for a moment in time, but they aren’t a consistent source of fuel. If you want to be successful over the long haul, you’ll need a tank full of commitment.
Your Personal Best – “Success is peace of mind, which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best of which you are capable.”- John Wooden
In the end, we define success as doing the best we could with what we have. This is true both individually and as a program. Are we doing the best we can? Not the best compared to someone else, but the best we can do.
A 3.7 GPA is a great, but not if you could have had a 4.0 with a little more effort and discipline, it’s not your best. On the other hand, if you put everything you can into your classes and get a 2.9, that’s a success and something you can be proud of.
Athletically, we have people with varying ability levels. For some, achieving a “B” cut is going to take years of preparation and work and will be a crowning achievement to their athletic career. Others it might be making NCAAs or becoming an All-American. If, however, you’ve been given great talent and don’t do everything you can to maximize it, you haven’t done your best and we can’t really call that success.
When you’re striving to be your best, you may find that your best is actually better than you thought it was. As a coach, some of the most rewarding moments are when an athlete does something that they would have never thought possible at some prior point in their career. If your coasting on ability and “talent” you’ll never really know what you were capable of.
If each coach and athlete consistently invests in meaningful relationships, has enthusiasm for what we’re doing, embraces opportunities to learn and grow, and consistently stays committed to our goals, then we’re going to be successful as individuals and as a program.
This is who we are. This is what it means to be a Sunbird.
We’re a RELAY team.
GO SUNBIRDS!
Cost includes tuition, living costs, books and supplies, and fees minus the average grants and scholarships for federal financial aid recipients.
Depending on the federal, state, or institutional grant aid available, students in your income bracket may pay more or less than the overall average costs.
| Family income | Average cost |
|---|---|
| $0–$30,000 | $13,105 |
| $30,001–$48,000 | $10,736 |
| $48,001–$75,000 | $11,275 |
| $75,001–$110,000 | $6,391 |
| $110,001+ | $16,843 |
| Graduated | 71% |
| Transferred | 15% |
| Withdrew | 14% |
| Still enrolled | 1% |
| Making progress | 26% |
| Not making progress | 24% |
| Forbearance | 19% |
| Deferment | 16% |
| Paid in full | 7% |
| Default | 4% |
| Student population | 3,506 |
| Undergraduate enrollment | 2,668 |
| Graduate enrollment | 838 |
| Hispanic | 59% |
| White | 25% |
| Black | 5% |
| Asian | 4% |
| Unknown | 3% |
