Bob Hamm interviews Ed Dugas of athleticnetwork.net
Dugas helps former athletes stay in touch
The University of Louisiana Athletic Network Web site, www.athleticnetwork.net has achieved remarkable success. Bob Hamm talked about the history and popularity of the site with Dr. Ed Dugas, a retired member of the Kinesiology Department faculty who conceived the idea of the network.
Question: What is the basic purpose?
Answer: The goal of the Athletic Network is to identify, locate and communicate with former athletes and their support groups. There is a strong need for such information to be developed, placed in one useable location, and made available to all who want to communicate with them.
Q: What was involved in your decision to establish the network?
A: I was anticipating retirement in 2001. Working with the Shipley Reunion — an event bringing together people from Beryl Shipley’s era as head basketball coach — I spent a lot of time trying to contact people who were part of that era. I found that many of them were not only no longer connected with each other, but also no longer connected with the university. When that reunion was over, the Shipley Web Site was still up, and peoplequestioned me about doing something for other coaches who were equally deserving and equally popular with fans and players.
Q: What was your response?
A: I commented at the time that if I ever did something like this again, it would be perpetual and for all athletes. I really did not intend to pursue the idea, but the words kept resonating and I started sharing ideas with my son, John. It soon expanded to a larger group, and on May 2, 2002, Liz Landry and I met with University of Lousiaiana President Ray Authement. He loved the concept, and that a volunteer would drive it. We were off and running.
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