ACC.com: Jomar's Journey

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Jomar Wright is one of the over 300,000 NCAA student athletes who has become a professional in something other than sports. A former football student-athlete, and member of the Duke Student Athlete Advisory Committee, Wright has combined his passion for sports and education by becoming a football coach. The following dialogue is “Jomar’s Journey” through his eyes starting as early as his underclassmen years at Duke, then continuing throughout his SAAC experiences into his current coaching job, and taking a closer look beyond at his future goals.

As a student athlete at Duke University I was given an opportunity to be involved with SAAC as the football representative. I was a captain on the football team while also a part of the Duke Football Leadership Council. On the Duke Football team I had teammates who were just as deserving as I was to be on these committees and councils, but my coaches selected me to be the one that would be a representative for our team. I was selected to be a SAAC member my sophomore year. I had no clue at the time what the purpose of SAAC was, or even what it stood for. Now that I am a graduate and in the work force, I am proud to say that I was a SAAC member because of the ways we gave back to the community and the invaluable experiences that SAAC gave me to help develop my communication and leadership skills.

SAAC allowed me to meet and socialize with student athletes that I otherwise might not have gotten to know. Each sport was represented in SAAC, and that helped to give a lot of different perspectives on issues. For example, during a SAAC meeting we discussed the transfer rule the NCAA has in place on student athletes. I did not know that the rule was different across sports. We had a discussion about how football players have to sit out a year if they transfer, while in a sport like volleyball there is a one year transfer rule. We also split into groups to discuss the topic of whether or not student athletes should be paid. It was discussions like these that helped as I transitioned into my career path as a college football coach, since I had to listen to different opinions and arguments and formulate my own thoughts. We now have staff meetings on a daily basis and the head coach asks us for our opinion. The open forums that we had during our SAAC meetings gave me experience in expressing my opinion without having to worry about whether others agree.

Giving back to the community and being given the opportunity to represent the Duke Football team was one of the most rewarding aspects of SAAC for me. We organized a “Winter Fun Day” where we invited elementary school students from the Durham Community to learn about the different sports and watch a Duke women’s basketball game. It was a great day as the kids got to enjoy working out and learning about the different sports at Duke, while also interacting with the student-athletes they read about in the paper or saw on television. Being one of the first athletes to arrive, I was able to help in greeting the parents and kids, as well as participate in some of the logistical set-up for the day. It was eye-opening for me that so many kids knew my name and had watched me play football even though I had no idea they were watching. What an incredible reminder of character and doing the right things because you truly don’t know who is watching. It was a great honor bestowed upon me by the Duke coaching staff to repre
sent the football team and I enjoyed the responsibility. Experiences like Winter Fun Day helped me realize the importance of giving back, being a positive role model, and being involved with SAAC helped me grow as an individual and become a productive citizen.

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