As Ed Cooley prepares for his first season as head of Fairfield men’s basketball, he is also setting his sights off the court and into the Fairfield community.
He is reaching out to Fairfield students to build a fan base and more school spirit.
His first step toward this goal was to speak at a Resident Assistant meeting during the summer.
“I want people to recognize me as a regular person and a familiar face,” Cooley said about his positive experience at the RA meeting.
“When you build success you need to know how to maintain success and sustain success.”
Cooley, who has been at Fairfield for approximately five months, wants to engage students in athletics, even if they are not interested in athletics.
He emphasized the importance of speaking to students and “engaging people in their four-year experience.”
“In order to build trust in your community you have to have a presence in the community,” said Cooley.
He plans to have a “meet the team” reception, create a presence in the cafeteria and set up times in the dorms when he and his staff can talk to residents, thereby becoming more familiar with university residents.
Cooley hopes the student body will challenge the basketball team to do well but also challenges the student body to be supportive and keep the team motivated.
“This is the first time I have heard of a coach doing something like this,” Ali Curtin ’08 said about the challenges Cooley is presenting.
“I don’t think we as a student body are involved enough in sports and we need that,” Curtin added.
Out of eight students’ interviewed, all agreed with Curtin that this is a step in the right direction.
“I think that sports as a whole will be able to improve from this,” Chrissie Sidie ’10 said.
“As a fellow athlete I know that I would like to see more fans at all the games, not just basketball.”
Aside from on-campus activity, Cooley is also focusing on the neighboring Bridgeport community.
“Our arena is there; we want to have a presence [in Bridgeport] as well,” he said.
Through outreach programs, such as speaking to public and private schools and other community areas, he is trying to generate support that will be rewarding in the long run.
“You can’t ask people to support you if you don’t support them,” he said.
Cooley became Fairfield’s 11th men’s head basketball coach after being recruited from Boston College, where he served as assistant coach from 1997-2006.
At Boston College, Cooley helped The Eagles secure a 178-108 record, captured a Big East championship and even clinched one of the five NCAA tournaments.
He also worked the programs at University of Rhode Island (1996-97), Stonehill College (1995-96) and University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth (1994-95).
Cooley says his presence at Fairfield would not have happened if it was not for the support of his wife and children.
“It was my wife that convinced me to take on this challenge,” he said of the move to Fairfield. “It was her support and vision on accepting a challenge.”
As Cooley looks toward Fairfield’s basketball future, he still remains grounded in one of his team themes.
“One theme is there is one team, one dream,” Cooley said. “We’re not just winning in basketball, we’re winning in life.”
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