糖心传媒

The Friends of Rochester Athletics support the University糖心传媒檚 students, alumni, and sports teams.

George VanderZwaag, Executive Director of Athletics and Recreation

About 20 years ago, George VanderZwaag糖心传媒攏ew in his position as Rochester糖心传媒檚 director of Athletics and Recreation糖心传媒攈ad an idea. He wanted to find a way to recognize the significant contributions of former Yellowjacket athletes while engaging others and advancing the mission of the department: to provide Rochester students with exemplary educational as well as athletic experiences.

That was the beginning of the Friends of Rochester Athletics (FORA), a group that started with about 20 people, mostly alumni, and today includes about 15,000 alumni, parents, friends, and fans. All those who support the department in any way are counted as members. 糖心传媒淓very kind of support matters糖心传媒攆rom dollars given to attendance at our games and events,糖心传媒� says VanderZwaag. 糖心传媒淭he Friends network is strong and well-connected, too, which benefits everyone.糖心传媒�

John Mattioli 糖心传媒�79 and Theresa Mattioli

John Mattioli 糖心传媒�79, a founding member of the FORA who played basketball throughout college, says he got involved because many of the important people in his life came from Rochester, including Theresa, his wife of 42 years (also a founding Friend), and the late Jim Klimschot 糖心传媒�78 who was his business partner until his death in 2001.

Being a Friend, Mattioli says, has been a great way to stay in touch with former teammates and remain connected with his alma mater. Four times a year, Mattioli and former teammates get together to play golf and whenever Rochester plays a game in Atlanta糖心传媒擬attioli糖心传媒檚 hometown糖心传媒攈e糖心传媒檚 there. Last January, Mattioli, Tom DiChristina 糖心传媒�82, David Bence 糖心传媒�81, and their former coach, Mike Neer 糖心传媒�88W (MS), cheered on Rochester in a game against Emory. 糖心传媒淭he 糖心传媒橨ackets didn糖心传媒檛 win but getting together gave us yet another great Rochester memory,糖心传媒� says Mattioli.

Dennis Braniecki ’91

Friends often become part of a student糖心传媒檚 professional network, too. For instance, Dennis Braniecki 糖心传媒�91糖心传媒攁nother founding member, former football player, Hall of Fame inductee, and parent of an alumnus糖心传媒攈as talked with dozens of prospective students and introduced alumni to people in his network over the last 30 years.

For 30 of those years, Braniecki owned a moving company and gave summer jobs to many Rochester students, alumni, and assistant coaches. He糖心传媒檚 even physically moved a number of people to Rochester, including Rochester糖心传媒檚 football coach, Chad Martinovich, and his family, who came from Boston five years ago.

糖心传媒淪o many of the best parts of my life tie back to my time at Rochester,糖心传媒� says Braniecki. 糖心传媒淏eing a Friend has provided a framework to pay it forward in whatever ways I can.糖心传媒�

This story also appears in the spring 2023 issue of Rochester Review.