Building the 5th Quarter: How Washington Football Creates Lifelong Connections Beyond the Game

About the University of Washington

Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the world’s leading public research universities and is widely recognized for its commitment to innovation, academic excellence, and public impact. Located in Seattle and home to more than 60,000 students, the university is consistently ranked among the top public institutions in the world and serves as a hub for research, education, and community engagement.

The university’s commitment to excellence extends to athletics. As a member of the Big Ten Conference, Washington Athletics supports student-athletes competing at the highest levels of collegiate sports while fostering a strong sense of community among current athletes, alumni, fans, and supporters. 

The challenge: Navigating a new era of athletics

The landscape of college athletics is changing rapidly.

Conference realignment, NIL, the transfer portal, evolving athlete expectations, and growing budget pressures have forced athletic departments to rethink how they support student-athletes and engage alumni.

Many departments are being asked to do more with fewer resources while continuing to deliver meaningful experiences for both current athletes and former players.

For Washington Football, those changes raised an important question:

How do you create lifelong connections with athletes when the environment around them is constantly shifting?

The team recognized that supporting athletes couldn’t begin during their senior year and end at graduation. Instead, they wanted to build a more intentional approach — one that would help athletes navigate life after football while creating stronger connections to the program long after their playing days were over.

At the same time, maintaining relationships with former athletes was becoming increasingly difficult. Graduates moved across the country, careers and families took priority, and communication became fragmented.

Without a consistent way to stay connected, many former players simply drifted away from the program.

The solution: Building a 5th quarter experience

Washington Football’s answer is 5th Quarter Programming.

The philosophy is simple: athlete development doesn’t end when practice does.

Instead of viewing player development as a series of isolated programs, Washington built a structured approach that supports athletes throughout their entire journey, from recruiting through alumni life.

Freshmen participate in Rookie School, a credit-bearing course that introduces them to campus resources, financial education, nutrition, sports psychology, and leadership development.

Middle-classmen participate in Montlake Made, a professional development program that introduces athletes to career opportunities throughout the Seattle region. Students visit organizations ranging from Amazon and Microsoft to local public service agencies, helping them explore potential career paths before graduation.

Upperclassmen participate in Draft School, which focuses on preparing athletes for opportunities after college, whether that’s the NFL or the workforce.

Together, these programs help athletes begin thinking about life after football long before their eligibility expires.

But for Cam Elisara, Director of Player Development, the goal was always bigger than graduation. Washington Football wanted something different.

The challenge was finding a way to maintain those relationships once athletes left campus.

Extending the relationship beyond graduation

For many athletic departments, the athlete experience effectively ends at graduation.

As part of its 5th Quarter philosophy, Washington views graduation not as an endpoint, but as a transition. The goal is to help athletes move from being players to becoming engaged alumni who remain connected to the program, each other, and future opportunities.

For Elisara, the goal wasn’t simply to create another alumni database. It was to create a place where former players could continue to find value, connection, and opportunity long after their time on campus had ended. 

To support that transition, Washington uses Athlete Network as a bridge between current athletes and alumni. Athlete Network serves as a dedicated community platform where current and former athletes can connect, network, discover career opportunities, and stay engaged with the program.

Players join the network when they graduate, and before leaving campus, ensuring they remain connected to the broader Husky Football community. Alumni can use the platform to reconnect with former teammates, discover career opportunities, stay informed about program initiatives, and engage with fellow players across generations.

The platform also helps Washington maintain an ongoing line of communication with athletes after they leave campus, something that becomes increasingly difficult as careers, families, and life take athletes in different directions.

Rather than trying to re-engage alumni years after graduation, Washington is creating continuity from the start, helping athletes remain part of the community long after their playing careers have ended.

Turning alumni data into meaningful connections

For Elisara, alumni engagement is not simply about staying in touch. It’s about creating opportunities for deeper connection.

As alumni join the network and update their profiles, Washington gains a clearer understanding of where former players live, what industries they work in, and how they want to stay involved.

That information has become a valuable resource for creating more personalized experiences.

When Washington joined the Big Ten Conference and began traveling to new regions of the country, Elisara used Athlete Network to identify alumni near road game locations and invite them to participate as honorary captains and event attendees.

When former teammates wanted to reconnect after decades apart, the network helped make those introductions possible.

The information alumni share also fuels new storytelling opportunities. Elisara regularly highlights former players and their professional journeys, helping current athletes see what life after football can look like while celebrating the accomplishments of the program’s alumni community.

For Washington Football, data is not simply something to collect. It is a way to strengthen relationships, uncover opportunities, and make engagement more meaningful.

Every profile update, connection, and interaction helps the program better understand and serve its community.

Finding new ways to sustain engagement

Athletics departments across the country are facing increasing pressure to do more with fewer resources.

Programs are being evaluated. Budgets are tightening. Expectations continue to rise.

Rather than viewing budget constraints as limitations, Elisara approaches them as creative challenges to solve.

Part player development professional, part marketer, and part storyteller, he has built a reputation for finding innovative ways to connect athletes and alumni using the resources already available to him.

One of the clearest examples came during Washington Football’s annual Gridiron Social, the program’s largest alumni gathering of the year. 

Historically, the event served as an opportunity for former players to reconnect with teammates and celebrate the program. This year, Elisara saw an opportunity to do something more.

Using Athlete Network, Gratavid, and Gravyty’s fundraising tools, he introduced an interactive raffle experience designed to engage alumni while supporting future programming.

Current players recorded personalized video messages promoting raffle prizes that included exclusive experiences, team memorabilia, sideline passes, and behind-the-scenes opportunities. Rather than relying on traditional event communications, Elisara enlisted current players to help tell the story. Through personalized video messages, players promoted raffle prizes, encouraged participation, and created a more authentic connection with alumni. The approach transformed what could have been a standard fundraising appeal into a campaign that felt personal, engaging, and uniquely Washington football.

The result was more than $8,000 raised during the program’s first fundraising effort tied to the event.

More importantly, it demonstrated that fundraising and engagement do not have to compete with one another. When approached creatively, they can strengthen each other.

For Elisara, the goal was never simply to raise money. It was to create sustainable resources that allow the program to continue investing in athlete development, alumni engagement, and future opportunities.

In a college athletics environment where many leaders are focused on navigating obstacles, Washington Football continues to look for new ways to move the ball forward.

The outcome: Creating a lasting connection between player and alumni

Washington Football’s 5th Quarter approach has transformed how the program supports athletes beyond their playing careers.

Today, more than 700 football alumni are connected through Athlete Network, creating new opportunities for communication, networking, mentorship, and engagement.

Athletes leave campus connected to a larger community rather than disconnected from it. Alumni have new ways to reconnect with teammates, engage with the program, explore professional opportunities, and support future generations of players. The department has greater visibility into its alumni community and more opportunities to create meaningful experiences.

The impact extends beyond any single event, platform, or initiative.

In an athletics environment where many departments are focused on responding to change, Washington Football has built a framework designed to adapt alongside it. Through intentional programming, creative engagement strategies, and a commitment to supporting athletes long after graduation, the program continues to strengthen the connection between players and alumni.

The success of that approach has extended beyond football. Recognizing the value of creating stronger connections between athletes and alumni, Washington Athletics expanded its partnership with Athlete Network to The Big W Club to serve former student-athletes across all sports. Today, the broader network includes more than 4,800 members, creating new opportunities for engagement, networking, mentorship, and community-building across the Husky athletics family. 

Perhaps most importantly, the program has demonstrated that obstacles do not have to become roadblocks.

As conference realignment, NIL, budget pressures, and shifting expectations continue to reshape college athletics, Washington Football has remained focused on what it can control: creating opportunities for athletes before, during, and after their playing careers. Whether through career development programming, alumni engagement, storytelling, fundraising, or technology, every initiative is designed to strengthen the connection between athletes, alumni, and the program they helped to build.

In football, success rarely comes from running straight into a wall of defenders. It comes from finding the opening, adapting to what’s in front of you, and continuing to move the ball down the field.

Washington Football is doing exactly that.

For Cam Elisara, that is what 5th Quarter Programming has always been about.

Building something that lasts long after the final whistle.

Solution spotlight

Gravyty empowers institutions to deliver smarter, faster, and more personalized engagement at every step of the student, alumni, and donor journey. With solutions for 24/7 student support, alumni engagement, fundraising and stewardship, Gravyty helps teams scale their impact, break down silos, and provide always-on support without burning out staff.

Athlete Network from Gravyty empowers athletic departments and alumni associations to build strong, lifelong communities around their sports programs. With targeted communication tools, integrated giving features, and a centralized digital home, Athlete Network helps institutions like the University of Washington scale personalized sport-specific engagement and fundraising.

Gratavid from Gravyty lets you connect with donors personally and at scale with fully branded, automated, and actionable video messages.

Get a personalized demo to see how Athlete Network from Gravyty can elevate alumni athlete engagement at your institution.