PirateQ 
Coaches, athletes, parents, Pirate Club members and interested community members gathered at Hartsell Arena on Thursday, Sept. 19 at 5:30 p.m. for the annual event that officially kicks off the year for the athletics program and introduces this year’s student athletes. Executive Director of Development for Alumni & Athletics Hailey Lotz beamed as she shared that this is “the best Pirate Club membership year yet” for the department, with so many reasons to celebrate. “We exceeded the goal set by our Pirate Club Executive committee and were able to increase memberships by roughly 25 percent from this time last year, we have a new state-of-the-art weight room for our athletes and a new volleyball locker room near completion, and all who have donated $1,000 or more to the athletics program by the end of the evening will be named as founding members of our Margie and Alan Moore Champions Club before its official grand opening this basketball season,” she grinned. The Champions Club is a premiere space for Pirate Club members who donate $1,000 or more, located just steps away from the sidelines of the court; it offers a space for members to gather during games, enjoying a place to eat, drink, relax and socialize with one another.
Kicking off the evening, PSC Athletic Director Bryan Lewallyn welcomed attendees and introduced Lotz, applauding her for her efforts towards both the event and the athletics program. Lotz then invited all to line up for burgers, hot dogs, chips, cookies, and drinks to enjoy before the evening’s ceremony began and encouraged donations for a chance to win PSC merchandise, given away throughout the evening.
Lewallyn invited volunteer cheerleaders from Pensacola High School, led by Ivy Coleman, to hype up the crowd, then opened the team introduction portion of the night with special recognition of the eSports team, one of the newest sports in the athletics program, praising head coach Jeremy Sommers and team for their Tier 1 NJCAAE National Championship (Call of Duty: Warzone), as well as recognizing the volleyball teams fourth place finish at Nationals last year and soccer’s conference title in their inaugural year, already positioned to take the title in their second year. Individual members of all sports teams were introduced through fun video presentations, and all eight head coaches said a few words about their seasons.
PSC President Edward Meadows then took the stand to advise student athletes to do their best academically and to continue the tradition of PSC athletes graduating with at least a 3.0 grade point average, as did 86 percent of Pirate athletes in 2023. Meadows also encouraged the athletes to forge strong relationships with their teachers, visiting them during office hours and ensuring those faculty members know their first and last names, as those educators could be strong character references for them in the future. The president also said he had read a statistic somewhere that 80 percent of the friends we make in our lifetimes are ones we meet in school, so he advised student athletes to also forge strong friendships while here at PSC. “I hope that these are days that you will remember for the rest of your lives,” Meadows concluded.