‘This a way to promote our unique culture’: FAU sports teams brewing custom coffee blends

Winchell Mountain Coffee has partnered with FAU's Men's Basketball Team and Women's Beach Volleyball team to collaborate on custom blends of coffee with a portion of proceeds going to the athletes on each team.

Most people start their day with a cup of coffee, but not Florida Atlantic University beach volleyball player Maddie Sides. By 7 a.m., she’s doing weight room lifts that will prepare her for sports victories and beyond.

“I start my day with lifts and working with my team,” she said. “Our team is very close, and one thing I’ve learned from my team, other athletes and being involved with The Owl Collective is the importance of teamwork and collaboration.”

Originally from Summerfield, North Carolina, Sides, a freshman marketing major, moved to Boca Raton last August. She comes from a family of professional athletes. Her dad was a professional cyclist and by the time she got to college, she decided to be a student-athlete.

“The culture of the people here made me choose FAU,” Sides said. “Boca is unbeatable, and we have unity here.”

That unity led to FAU alumnus Bryan Rammel, the founder of The Owl Collective, FAU’s first collective to help student-athletes with their NIL (Name, Image and Likeness). When the NCAA’s interim policy passed in June 2021 for athletes to be compensated for their NIL, Rammel saw this as an opportunity for FAU.

“With me being a marketing major, I saw the opportunity to utilize student-athletes as influencers,” he said. “To help get them connected to different brands, corporations, and to do marketing campaigns as well as partnering them up with nonprofits and other organizations.”

Rammel, a 2018 FAU grad who has been in marketing for a decade, is a marketing consultant. He started The Owl Collective as a passion project to help athletes in more than just sports, contributing to their personal well-being and professional development as well.

“I’m FAU head to toe,” he said. “There’s no secret that universities have sometimes multiple collectives, and that’s the case with FAU. But the fact is, none of the collectives that have shown up are actually run by FAU alumni or even members that have been affiliated with the university.”

Rammel and athletes like Sides have also used The Owl Collective to do food drives and marketing campaigns. And now, Winchell Mountain Coffee has partnered with FAU’s Men’s Basketball Team and Women’s Beach Volleyball team to collaborate on custom blends of coffee with a portion of proceeds going to the athletes on each team.

These student-athletes helped collaborate on the design and marketing of the products, with sales going toward their NIL.

“Right now, the coffee blends are available at VI Coffee Bar, (pronounced ‘six’),” Rammel said. “We’re trying to get them in more coffee shops in the Boca Raton and Palm Beach area.”

The coffee blends sold at VI, 1159 S. Federal Highway, in Boca Raton, include Beach Blend with Ethiopian and Sumatran roasted separately and then blended together by hand.

“Before coffee, we looked into different items that we could do this exercise with,” Rammel said. “But coffee really resonates because everyone drinks it, and it’s something an athlete can stand behind. Like, if we have liquor or beer, we’d have to make sure the athlete is over 21, and especially if they’re promoting it.”

Also available are Heating Up Paradise, a Guatemalan coffee to a dark French roast, and Back in Paradise, a medium-dark blend Yirgacheffe, Nicaraguan and Sumatran all to a medium roast.

“I think the Beach Blend is the most popular,” Rammel said. “The feedback on the taste is great, and the same with the packaging. All the athletes put their input on everything from the packaging, to the design and content, and it means a lot to them.”

Sides, along with the rest of FAU’s Women’s Volleyball Team, also attend the marketing meetings with The Owl Collective. They work directly with the people who make the designs on the coffee bags, giving feedback until every member of the team is happy with the outcome.

Winchell Mountain Coffee was introduced to the beach volleyball team last fall. After extensive meetings both in person and over Zoom, they decided to collaborate on something that was close to their hearts.

“Two years ago, we did a Capri coffee bag,” Sides said about the coffee in honor of their late coach Capri Starr Grotowski. “We launched that at our annual Beach Bash in her honor every year.”

Her husband, Steve Grotowski, took over as head coach in July 2022.

“Seeing that product come from our idea, to actually seeing it on the table and giving it to people and telling them what it’s about, was super rewarding,” Sides said. “Winchell, The Owl Collective and everyone has been absolutely amazing, helpful, and it’s been an awesome experience to help us get out there.”

While The Owl Collective has gained the attention of students, staff and current athletes, it’s also gained attention from an FAU alumnus and athlete.

“I graduated from FAU in 2015 and unfortunately, things like N.I.L. weren’t available when I played,” said author and NFL player Brandin Bryant.

Bryant’s children’s book, “So, You Want to be an Athlete?”, is about combining athletics and academics. Writing the book during the COVID pandemic and then being published, Bryant said he believes opportunities like The Owl Collective only add to the FAU experience.

“They call FAU ‘winning in paradise’ for a reason,” Bryant said. “I’m very optimistic about The Owl Collective, FAU sports, and once any kid, recruiter or prospect comes to this area, this campus, they’ll fall in love. It’s only a matter of time before all our sports programs take off.”

With NIL and coffee concepts being used as educational tools, The Owl Collective is also looking to get the coffee sold on the college campus or distributed in front of FAU sports games.

“This a way to promote our unique culture,” Sides said. “Everyone here is like a family and we all really support each other. Whether it’s our coffee, preparing for volleyball, our athletes, or anything, we want people to look at FAU and say, ‘Wow, you all have something that’s really special.’”

Visit theowlcollective.com.