The University of Toledo Department of Intercollegiate Athletics today announced its strategic vision for the future of the program.
Rise Together is a five-year strategic plan that outlines a roadmap for student-athlete well-being and success, community engagement and facility enhancements that aims to elevate the Rockets into national prominence.
Vice President and Director of Athletics Bryan B. Blair announces Rise Together, the five-year UToledo Athletics’ strategic plan to elevate the Rockets into national prominence.
Rise Together is the culmination of a year-long process that brought together a wide range of campus, community, athletic staff and student-athlete stakeholders who helped lay out a bold new vision for Toledo Athletics, establishing ambitious goals and laying the groundwork for unprecedented academic and athletic achievement by its student-athletes.
“We are beyond excited to announce this bold new vision for Toledo Athletics,” said Vice President and Director of Athletics Bryan B. Blair. “We brought together leaders from all over campus and our community to give us their views on what Toledo Athletics should strive to become. We feel we have put together an outstanding playbook that will help guide us toward becoming a gold standard among athletic programs in the country. I particularly want to thank our Executive Associate AD and Chief Operating Officer Nicole Alderson for her leadership in coordinating our strategic planning efforts.
“Our mission is as simple as it is ambitious: to transform lives while elevating the University and community through the power of sports. Working together as #TeamToledo, we seek to increase the national prominence of our athletics programs, University and community, while graduating champions who will one day change the world.”
Rise Together outlines six major goals for Toledo Athletics:
• Recruit, retain and develop the best teammates;
• Generate student-athlete success;
• Elevate our brand;
• Enhance “Team Toledo” engagement;
• Grow resources; and
• Invest in infrastructure.
The Rockets enjoyed what was arguably the greatest single season in program history in 2022-23. Among the many highlights were:
• Won a school-record six Mid-American Conference championships in the sports of football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, women’s cross country, women’s tennis and men’s tennis.
• Set school records for department grade point averages in both fall and spring semesters, winning the MAC Institutional Achievement Award for the highest GPA in the conference.
• Led the MAC in attendance in football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball, the first MAC school ever to accomplish this feat.
• Won the Cartwright Award as the top athletics program in the Mid-American Conference for the second consecutive year.
“We are certainly proud of the academic and athletic success we enjoyed last year but we can never afford to be satisfied,” Blair said. “Now is the perfect time to turn this moment into a movement and elevate our program to new heights. There is tremendous support, enthusiasm and love for the Rockets in our community.
“The spirit of #TeamToledo has never been more alive on our campus or in our community. It’s truly an exciting time to be a Rocket!”
For more information, visit the Rise Together website.
