Connecting the Past And Present: The Blue Hen Watch Program

After a Delaware men's lacrosse game in the early 1980s, junior Chris Guttilla was approached by Jim Shaw, the father of his teammate Steve Shaw (and grandfather of current Blue Hen Ryan Shaw). Jim Shaw put his arm around Guttilla and told him that he was a natural-born salesman and wanted to help him with his career.

"What's your major?" Shaw asked.

"Accounting," Guttilla replied.

"Why are you an accounting major?" Shaw asked.

"Well, because my dad was an accounting major and my brother's an accountant. My dad worked for a CPA firm and, you know, death and taxes," Guttilla said dryly.

"Oh, that's good, do you like it?" Shaw inquired.

"No, I hate it," Guttilla replied.

So Shaw took Guttilla under his wing and mentored him on how to make decisions, career opportunities to look for, how to interview, and how to pitch himself to future employers. Guttilla secured a job with Procter & Gamble out of college, and eventually transitioned to a successful career in finance.

Now, more than 30 years later, Guttilla and a group of Delaware men's lacrosse alumni that includes Steve Shaw, Bob Smith and Bob Waters among others are taking that spirit of community and mentorship and paying it forward to the current generation of players through the Blue Hen Watch: Teammates For Life program.

Wanting to harness the power of Delaware lacrosse's alumni base, a group that in addition to being successful in their professional lives, was already very engaged with the program, head coach Ben DeLuca and his staff created the framework for the Blue Hen Watch shortly after arriving on campus.

Not only is DeLuca a Division I lacrosse coach, but he's also a wordsmith: watch obviously means "to observe attentively over a period of time," but it also can refer to a group of birds (in this case, Blue Hens). The homonym strikes at the heart of what the Blue Hen Watch is all about. It's an opportunity for Delaware men's lacrosse players to have mentors who shared their experiences as student-athletes, but it also creates a professional network for every Delaware lacrosse alumnus.

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In the first year, the players were split among 17 watch leaders (alumni like Guttilla and Shaw), with each watch leader serving as a mentor for two to four Blue Hens for their entire career. The program has benchmarks each year for the players as they progress through their career, such as resume building and job shadowing opportunities, with the goal of eventually securing employment after graduation.

"Our alumni group are some of the most engaged, supportive, loyal, and enthusiastic alumni," DeLuca said. "And they were that way right when we got here. All we really did was provide a little bit of structure. There's always been that support, there's always been that love for the program."

The Blue Hen Watch is already paying dividends for the current players finding jobs. Matt DeLuca (no relation to Ben) just got his real estate license and works in Miami for Dan Hechtkopf, who was his mentor through the Blue Hen Watch. As a junior, knowing that he was unsure of what path he wanted to take after college, DeLuca took an internship with Hechtkopf to see if real estate was a field he would be interested in.

"I ended up liking it a lot," Matt DeLuca said. "It's not an office job, it gets you out into the field, you talk to people, you're calling people. It's all personable and I really like that stuff."
"My experience has been really great overall with alumni networking in general at Delaware, but the Blue Hen Watch just takes it to that next level of networking for us," Matt DeLuca said. "Which is just so beneficial for all the players to come through the program as it grows. It's cool to have a little tree of alumni like family."

While Matt DeLuca's is the ultimate success story for the program, it can be valuable to current Blue Hens in many different ways. For senior Evan Gavalakis, it's how to leverage his experience as a student-athlete when interviewing for jobs.

"You need to understand that a lot of the lessons that you learned on the field can correlate to managing something in business as well," Gavalakis said. "That's something I like to lean on a lot, especially when I'm talking about myself."

Gavalakis interned with the Operations Division with the World Bank of Canada last summer, and describes going to the New York offices of the Stifel Financial Corporation with his Blue Hen Watch group "like seeing kids in a candy store."

The point of the Blue Hen Watch isn't to place lacrosse players into jobs with their mentors, but instead to empower them with the tools and network they need to be successful in whatever path they pursue. A watch leader may not necessarily work in the industry his mentee is interested in, but with a strong network of alumni, he's likely to have a contact with somebody who does. Of course, that network isn't just for recent graduates, it's a powerful tool for alumni of all ages to use for their professional growth.

"I really enjoy it, it's been a great experience," Guttilla said of being a watch leader. "I hope to continue as long as I can, especially getting to meet the freshmen, so we have a foundation to build as we continue to do this."

Coach DeLuca and the Blue Hens have a mantra that embodies the culture of the team: well done is better than well said. The Blue Hen Watch program is a perfect example of the Delaware lacrosse community putting action to its words and having a job well done.

(all pictures used were taken in the fall of 2019)

University of Delaware Athletics

Connecting the Past And Present: The Blue Hen Watch Program

Players Mentioned

Matt DeLuca

Evan Gavalakis

Ryan Shaw

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