Cavalier Corner is the publication just for UVa sports fans!
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FEBRUARY 2022 5 cavalier sports As a child, Ron Carey (Educ '90) spent much of his youth visiting his grandparents, who lived off Preston Avenue and Rose Hill Drive in Charlottesville. He fondly remem- bers driving to and from Richmond, listening to UVA men's basketball games during the Ralph Sampson era. In the eighth grade, he began attending summer football camps at UVA. Head coach George Welsh had just started at UVA, and Carey remembers as- sistant coaches Art Markos, Tom Sherman and Danny Wilmer working with them at camps. While Carey spent his younger years competing in baseball, basketball, football, wrestling, and track and field, by the time he entered high school, he primarily played football and basketball. He started to garner attention from col- leges and realized that he had a brighter future in football, so his basketball career came to an end. For Carey, coming to UVA was a surreal experience. Charlottesville had always been a special place for him, and having an op- portunity to attend UVA and play football was unbelievable, especially considering his grandfather and other relatives had not been able to attend the university as African Americans. Carey's dad, though, received his master's degree from the School of Edu- cation and Human Development in 1972. With Charlottesville only 45 minutes from Richmond, Carey's parents and grandfather would attend games and visit often. Carey even gave his grandfather his All-American Bowl watch and invited him to the locker room sometimes. Carey was even more fortunate when his brother, two years behind him, joined him on the team as an offensive lineman. They excelled on the team, worked remarkably hard, and applied the lesson of their par- ents, "to whom much is given, much will be required," by engaging in their communities. There were many outstanding recruits among Carey's class such as quarterback Shawn Moore, defensive lineman Joe Hall, offensive lineman Paul Collins and defen- sive end/outside linebacker Ray Savage. "I can appreciate it more now — what George [Welsh] pulled together in terms of coaching staff, different types of players they recruited, bowl games they achieved together, and impressive graduation rate of our class [91-92 percent in 1989-90]," Carey shared. He gives credit to Welsh, athletics director Jim Copeland and their staffs for recruiting players who wanted to put the work in, go to class, be part of the University and be incredibly successful. The team also ad- mired those who worked behind the scenes, including athletic trainers Ethan Saliba, Joe Gieck and Sue Saliba, director of media relations Rich Murray and strength coach John Gamble. Together, the team achieved academic success, won an ACC championship and went to three bowl games in five years. Carey remembers seeing the V's painted on the streets and thinking, "Wow, now it's a football town." One of Carey's most memorable football moments followed UVA's 20-7 victory over Clemson in 1990 when the fans took the field and tore down the goal post for the first time. In addition to strong bonds shared with his teammates, Carey developed long-last- ing friendships with other students across the University. Thirty-three years later, he and a roommate still talk every other week, have raised their kids together, share sum- mer vacations and live 15 minutes apart. His friend's son, Reed, walked on to the UVA football team and played four years for coach Bronco Mendenhall. After an injury, Carey decided not to pursue an NFL career, so he spent 14 years working in a variety of capacities and loca- tions in sales, human resources and more. Carey's degree in sports management pro- vided flexibility for him to explore numerous opportunities with the hope of eventually returning to athletics one day. Carey and his family moved closer to other relatives in Virginia, and he spent time working for Pfizer, the Richmond Times-Dis- patch and The Martin Agency. In 2017-18, he bought Studio Squared, merged it with Park Group, a video production company, and re-branded as Tilt Creative + Produc- tion, where he still serves as its founder and CEO. Through the journey, Carey has stayed connected with the University and the Vir- ginia Athletics Foundation (VAF), attending games and following the Hoos. He felt for- tunate enough to be asked to join the VAF Board of Trustees and completed two terms. "It just felt like a natural thing to do," Carey said. "My career had gone well, and I wanted to give more back to the University. It was wonderful to have been a student-athlete and later understand as an adult what is involved with the cost of tuition and scholarships, funding an athletic opera- tion the size of the University, running the department, and recognizing the role the VAF has served with athletics to make a lot of that happen." Carey was most impressed that 316.6 scholarships are funded to support student- athletes. "You watch young men and women come in and operate at such an elite level in their sport, put in the amount of work, and see what they embody from a student and athletics perspective with discipline," he explained. "I love watching us compete at a high level and being part of what is involved in funding facilities so people can train and have the right support structure around them to be successful and compete with others around the country. "Virginia football should be competing consistently on a high level, and as a former player, that is the piece that gets me ex- cited. I especially love seeing others across the country support the program." During the 2021 football season, Virginia Athletics and the Football Alumni Club honored Carey on the field during the Vir- ginia Tech game. While the VAF and Virginia Athletics celebrate Carey's student-athlete accomplishments, longtime support and impressive career, Carey feels incredibly for- tunate to be able to give back to the com- munity and to the University he loves. This year, Carey and his wife, Meg, who met in their first-year dorm that overlooked the football stadium, will celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. Together they have three daughters, Olivia, Eleanor and Kate. — Jess Armistead wahoo nation Ron Carey Carey, who played football at Virginia from 1987-90, feels fortunate to be able to give back to the University he loves.