Big Bend AD Griffin looks to create strong ties with community
Benjamin Griffin was named as the athletics director for Big Bend Community College in late October. Griffin is a former director of athletics for Lamar Community College in Colorado and played collegiate soccer.
IAN BIVONA/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
MOSES LAKE – Creating a bond with the community is a focal point for new Big Bend Athletics Director Benjamin Griffin.
Griffin takes over for former athletics director John Meeks, who was named the Director of Athletics at Vincennes University in August.
“I’m super excited,” Griffin said. “I think John Meeks left us in a pretty good situation where the facilities have been upgraded – there's quite a few projects still going on, but there’s still always room for growth. Seeing that opportunity has really been exciting for me.”
Griffin, who previously served as the director of athletics at Lamar Community College in Colorado, brings a wealth of experience to his new role in Moses Lake.
“Athletics is about raising funds to help the program grow,” Griffin said. “Having experience and that knowledge and know-how, and meeting with different people on the campus, their buy-in to athletics but also athletics’ buy-in to the college.”
Griffin noted the Moses Lake community and surrounding area as a draw to Big Bend, noting he looks forward to having the community involved with Big Bend Athletics. Part of creating that bond is hosting events at on-campus facilities, as well as working with Big Bend’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, he said. The SAAC is made up of representatives from each of Big Bend’s sports teams and helps build a layer of communication between student-athletes and athletics administration.
“Looking online and seeing the student-athletes and how involved they’ve been in the community, and the connection that they’ve had,” Griffin said. “Now, how can we move it forward? That’s been the biggest excitement.”
Being a director of athletics isn’t the only prior experience that Griffin has. He also played collegiate soccer at the Division II and III levels; something that helps him relate with current student-athletes enrolled at Big Bend.
“Being able to communicate with them at that level is really important, because now you can connect to the person and you can connect with that ‘Hey, I’ve been in college athletics.’ That atmosphere of being in athletics, but also being a student,” Griffin said. “Now, you can connect to them on three different levels and really establish that relationship. What that does is that builds trust.”
Part of that relationship is understanding the day-to-day life of a college athlete, especially in balancing a busy schedule.
“Being a student-athlete, there’s a lot more that people don’t know what’s going on with the time commitment,” Griffin said. “Everyone’s like, ‘Oh yeah, you go to practice and then you’re done!’ No, there’s recovery, your body physically needs time to recover. It’s hard to go right from a practice straight to a study hall, where your body might cramp up. I think that really helps, that they’ve seen that I played college (at the) D2 and D3 level.”
At Big Bend, Griffin said he hopes to “build success” at multiple levels, whether that’s in competition, in the classroom or for the lives of student-athletes once their playing days are over.
“There’s student-athlete success, there’s student success and there’s community success,” Griffin said. “How can we make Big Bend a success in the community, and how can the community make us be successful? For students, GPA and graduation, how can we get on to that next level? Student-athletes, are you getting better? Are you succeeding in what you want to do?”
He said it comes down to communication and collaboration to execute that plan.
“It’s sitting down with each coach and finding out what they feel is success for that program,” Griffin said. “On a program level, what do you see success as and how can we do that? OK, they need this, this and this. Well let me go fundraise for this, this and that, or I have the connection here, let me get you connected with this person.”
Whether it’s in Moses Lake or anywhere in the Columbia Basin, Griffin said he looks forward to engaging with the community by attending events and meeting with those around the area.
“I’m open to talking, I’m willing to meet with the community,” Griffin said.