Alabama State coach works to restore fatherly influence

Tony Pierce, currently the defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach at Alabama State University, has made a number of stops in his career as a football coach, but one thing that has never changed is the call to serve as a mentor to young men and women without father figures in their lives.

In response to that need and his own personal experiences with his father, Pierce in February launched Fathers In Touch, a program that seeks to help mend broken relationships between fathers and their children.

"I've spent my whole life healing from the pain and anger associated with my parents' divorce and my father's alcoholism. After coaching in high school and college, I realize that we have many young people hurting because of a lack of a relationship with their father," Pierce said. "Our mission is to help restore relationships between fathers and their children."

As part of Fathers In Touch, program "captains" collect contact information on fathers from children or mothers. Captains then contact identified fathers to explain the program and its goals. Those who elect to participate are paired with a mentor to help them develop communication skills and other tools important in being an effective father. The program relies heavily on the book, "The Five Love Languages of Children."

Although Fathers In Touch is still evolving, Pierce said the response has been positive, noting that the program received its first grant in November.

"It is still too early to measure the progress of the program, but I will say that there are many men who want to be dads and are looking for help," Pierce said.

Ultimately, Pierce said he wants to bring fathers back into the fold.

"Our society has deemed fathers irrelevant," he said. "I want to show that fathers are still needed and will be a most-needed ingredient in the healing process of our young people and our country."

Disabled student-athlete sets American swim marks

College of Notre Dame of Maryland's Lucy Gilmore set two American records for swimmers with disabilities earlier this month at the Randolph-Macon College Yellow Jacket Invitational.

Gilmore established new short-course marks in the 500-yard freestyle and the 200-yard backstroke for the S7 category of USA Adaptive Swimming. The S7 classification includes athletes with paralegia, cerebral palsy, severely restricted arm and leg function and partial amputations.

The junior has McCune-Albright Syndrome, a disorder that affects the growth of children and causes skin abnormalities and polyostotic fibrous dysplasia, which causes the development of abnormal fibrous tissue growth in the bones.

Gilmore posted a time of 7:45.76 in the 500-yard freestyle to eclipse the previous record of 8:46.68 set in 2002. She completed the 200-yard backstroke in a time of 3:20.31 for the second record. Although there was no previous record in the event, USA Swimming set the standard at 4:40.45.

Gilmore also holds the long-course record for the 200-meter backstroke at 3:27.56, which she established two years ago.

Norfolk State coach/teacher building a body of awards

Even though Rodney Gaines already carries a couple of titles at Norfolk State University -- strength and conditioning coach and assistant professor in the health, physical education and exercise science department -- he went seeking a couple more last month when he competed in the Natural Mr. Olympia and Mr. Universe international bodybuilding competitions.

Gaines, now in his third year at Norfolk State, won the open division in the Southern States Natural Bodybuilding Championships in October to earn professional status and qualify for the contests. At the Natural Olympia VII in Las Vegas November 13, Gaines placed second in the junior master's 35-39 division and sixth in the open men's division medium height. He also won a gold medal in fitness modeling.

One week later in Hollywood, California, he added a third-place finish in the open men's medium height division, second place in the junior master's 35-39 category and first place in fitness modeling at the Mr. Universe competition.

In order to compete in natural bodybuilding contests, entrants are not allowed to use steroids. Depending on the event and the sanctioning body, any combination of polygraphs, urine tests and written oaths by contestants are used to ensure the integrity of the event.

Gaines, who competes despite battling rheumatoid arthritis and asthma, retired from the sport in 2000 but returned less than a year ago because he missed the competition. He made appearances in eight shows this year and is planning to enter some national contests and one professional competition next year.

-- Compiled by Leilana McKindra

Number crunching

Looking back

10 years ago

Here's what was making NCAA news in December 1994:

• A resolution directing the NCAA Council to study issues surrounding the concept of restricted-earnings coaches -- including limits on compensation and terms of employment -- is featured in a grouping of proposals for the 1995 Convention dealing with personnel matters. The resolution instructs the Council to explore a variety of issues, including whether legislation adopted at the 1991 Convention is effective in achieving the goals of developing new coaches and containing costs while addressing the coaching needs of each sport.

• The Division I Task Force to Review the NCAA Membership Structure drafts a structural model that provides almost total federation among the three existing divisions and also recommends a completely new system of governance within Division I. The model calls for a 15-member Division I Board of Directors, a 34-member Management Council and four topic-specific cabinets to replace the current committee structure.

• Stanford University freshman Kristin Folkl connects on pivotal kills late in the match to help the Cardinal beat the University of California, Los Angeles, in the 1994 Division I Women's Volleyball Championship. Folkl had three straight kills in the final game of the four-game match that helped Stanford turn a 13-11 deficit into a 15-13 title-clinching win.

• A position paper from the Presidents Commission's Committee on Sportsmanship and Ethical Conduct in Sports portrays sportsmanship as behavior that is essential, rather than merely desirable, for college sports to maintain itself as a healthy enterprise. Bellarmine College President Joseph J. McGowan, who authored the paper, says that in the absence of sportsmanship, athletics competition dissolves into a "bizarre, shallow and increasingly violent mockery of true sport and competition."