Message and Update from AD Guthrie

Zips Nation, are you ready for some football, fútbol, and more? Just like that the 2022-23 campaign is upon us. I wanted to share some updates on the program as we work to deliver academic, competitive, operational, and fiscal excellence. First and foremost, thank you Akron fans, supporters, and donors – your ongoing support is all hugely important and valued – from cheering our student-athletes in the stands, to helping grow momentum in the community, and contributing to our program financially.

Let's get loud
In the spring I announced a series of exciting upgrades to our phenomenal facilities, and I encourage you to come out and see the progress we are making first-hand.

I want to give a shout out to Paul Hammond who has been working relentlessly with his team to ensure our facilities projects have been executed as planned and on-time, all while managing the day-to-day demands of our programs in full swing. I'd like to congratulate Paul on his recent, well-deserved promotion to Senior Associate Athletics Director for Facilities and Operations.

What better time to see the stunning new field turf installed at InfoCision Stadium – Summa Field then the first game in Coach Joe Moorhead's tenure as head coach on Thursday, September 1. Lots open at 3pm for tailgating and kickoff is at 6 pm.

I hope to see you again on Friday night at FirstEnergy Stadium. What better way to 'kick' off the holiday weekend then to experience the early momentum building for #14 Akron men's soccer. The team is coming off two big wins to start the season, and looks to make it three straight against Wright State at 7 pm.

Come see two of our newest coaches and their teams compete this fall. New head women's soccer coach Jen Simonetti is a Copley native, has the squad off to a strong start, and has yet to tally an 'L' is the loss column. Women's soccer hosts Niagara University on Thursday, Sept. 8, and mark your calendars as I hope to see a crowd in full force for the match vs. Kent St. on Sunday, Sept. 25.

Tyson Norton is at the helm for Akron women's volleyball and has the team playing with passion. Come out a bit early on Friday, nab a prime parking spot, and catch the squad in action at 4:30 pm before the match begins at FirstEnergy. A cool story about a full circle moment in my career or perhaps just an indication of how I've aged…I actually watched Tyson, as student-athlete volleyball player, and his wife, a former water polo student-athlete, compete when I was an associate athletics director at UC San Diego many years ago.
Let's talk tickets
"How strange that the nature of life is change, yet the nature of human beings is to resist change. And how ironic that the difficult times we fear might ruin us are the very ones that can break us open and help us blossom into who we were meant to be." -Elizabeth Lesser

I've never crossed paths directly with motivational speaker/author Elizabeth Lesser, but I hope I am able to meet her at some point. I do know we have at least three things in common. We both have lived in New York and California. We've even spent time on the same campuses, Columbia University and San Francisco State University, and Ms. Lesser currently lives in the Hudson River Valley, the region of the country where I grew up. The third, we both embrace change, but understand change isn't easy.

This summer we made a decision to transition to digital tickets across all sports. Our intent is to enhance our fan experience and provide a convenient way to access and/or transfer tickets and parking passes via smartphone. We've hired a strong partner in Paciolan, the largest primary ticketing company in college athletics to drive the project, help us transform, and become more agile.

Over the past few weeks I've received direct and transparent feedback from our ticket team led by Adam O'Connell about challenges some of our fan base is experiencing with the transition. We are not going to bury our heads in the sand and pretend this process has been perfect, but we are also not going to give up and reverse course. Our ultimate goal is to fix long-standing fundamental shortcomings across Zips marketing and ticketing operations. In the meantime, we are committed to listening, fixing these challenges, and making things right with any fan that has been inconvenienced.

I want to personally apologize to any Zips fans who have been frustrated with our transition to digital tickets for whatever reason, large or small. There is no excuse. Our charter is to deliver a top-notch experience to everyone looking to support Akron's student-athletes

I want to add how appreciative I am for Adam's loyalty and leadership. He embodies our customer-centric approach in his interactions with fans and willingness to always go above and beyond. We collectively want to right this ship once and for all. I'm happy to share he has been promoted to Assistant Athletic Director for Ticket Operations.

Visit GoZips.com/Tickets to set up your new digital Zips ticket account.
Let's go Zips! A few other updates that I believe are important as we continue to strive for excellence on and off the field.

Rolling out Akron merchandise featuring the brand identity: I mentioned this spring we would outline a timetable for our fans to purchase official Nike gear featuring the new brand identity. As you may know the University has an exclusive multi-year agreement with Barnes & Noble College (BNC). The bookstore (physical/virtual), soccer merchandise truck, and stadium gift shop are all operated by BNC. Despite ongoing supply chain challenges, the company is working diligently to secure new inventory featuring the updated brand identity. We will continue to share updates via social media.

Competing for championships: I'm excited to welcome several other new head coaches to our program. They are all committed to providing our student-athletes a world class experience and to hoist MAC Championships. I look forward to seeing big time results from Coach Greg Beals (baseball), Coach Craig Nicholson (softball), and Coach Kendra Reimer-Gonzales (track and field/cross country).

Updates and team previews can be found at GoZips.com. As always, I want to hear from you. If you're not already a member, I encourage you to join the Z-FUND. Your feedback and your support matter.

The University of Akron Athletics

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