The University of Akron Athletics
athletics emails tom 2012 13 december 7 2012
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THE DRIVE FOR 5 IS UNDERWAY
We have launched the Drive for 5, a fundraising campaign that quite simply will take Zips Athletics to another level.
The Drive for 5 has set two major goals for Zips Athletics by 2015:
1) Increase our Z-Fund membership to 5,000, and
2) Raise $5 million annually
Currently we annually raise nearly $3.5 million, and we have just more than 2,000 donors. While our goals are ambitious, so, too, are our aspirations: to be an elite Division I athletics department. We need more resources and more fans in order to continue to compete nationally, so the Drive for 5 is critical to the future of Zips Athletics. This will be one of our most important focuses for the next few years.
If you’re not a member of the Z-Fund, we need you to join … if you already are a Z-Fund member – and thank you for doing so – we have rewards available for those who help us recruit new members. Thanks for supporting the Zips!
#ThanksCaleb EVENT THIS WEDNESDAY
Please join us at 6 p.m. Wednesday on the FirstMerit Foundation Club Level (5th floor) of InfoCision Stadium as we pay tribute to Caleb Porter and his family for all they have done for Zips Soccer and The University of Akron. As you know, Caleb will be leaving us at the end of next week to become the head coach of the Portland Timbers of Major League Soccer.
We will serve hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar will be available. Please RSVP to Nancy Stott at nsstott@uakron.edu or 330-972-6895 if you plan to attend.
Regardless if you can attend, please pay your own tribute to
Coach Porter through social media by using the Twitter hashtag #ThanksCaleb
or commenting on, liking and/or sharing this #ThanksCaleb
Facebook photo.
WOMEN’S HOOPS ON A ROLL …
Congratulations to coach Jodi Kest and our Women’s Basketball program, who have won four in a row and seven of our first eight this season, with the latest a 65-49 road victory at George Mason. Entering the week we ranked sixth in the nation in scoring offense, so we’re a fun group to watch get up and down the court and put the ball in the basket.
And we have three straight home games at James A. Rhodes Arena for you to enjoy (links go directly to the Ticketmaster website to buy tickets for that game):
-Tomorrow (Saturday, Dec. 8) at 2 p.m. vs. Wright State
-Saturday, Dec. 15 at 2 p.m. vs.
Cincinnati of the Big East Conference, when we invite Kids
to Take Over the JAR. Click here
to sign up a child (ages 6 to 12) by Dec. 11 to shadow our game-day
staff, including our public address announcer, a band member,
cheerleader, videographer, deejay, sound technician and marketing
staff. Priority will be given to members
of Zippy’s Kids Club.
-Tuesday, Dec. 18 at 5:30 p.m. vs.
Top 25 Dayton – which will be followed immediately by our
Men hosting Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Season ticketholders for
both will be admitted to both games.
THE PERFECT STOCKING STUFFER: A ZIPS BASKETBALL MINI PLAN!
Speaking of our Men, they travel to No. 13 Creighton for a Sunday showdown in a matchup of two of the nation’s top mid-major programs. I know Coach Dambrot and the team are looking forward to this opportunity.
After a trip to Horizon League defending champion Detroit next weekend, our men start a six-game homestand. Season tickets are still available, as are mini plans, so don’t miss out on all of the great action (as well as secure your seats for our expected sellouts vs. Ohio and Kent State, among others):
-Sunday, Dec. 23 at 2 p.m. vs. Cleveland State, an always entertaining matchup with our local rival
-Thursday, Dec. 27 at 7 p.m. vs. Texas Southern, now coached by Mike Davis (former head coach at Indiana and UAB)
-Sunday, Dec. 30 at 7 p.m. vs. Princeton, who just defeated Kent State
-Wednesday, Jan. 2 at 7 p.m. vs. Coppin State the day after New Year’s
-Wednesday, Jan. 9 at 7 p.m. vs. Western Michigan in our Mid-American Conference opener
CONGRATS TO ORANGE BOWL-BOUND NIU
Congratulations to Northern Illinois University on becoming a
“BCS Buster” by earning a bid to Orange Bowl to face
ACC champion Florida State. NIU is the first MAC school to
qualify for the Bowl Championship Series. Yet another sign of
the strength of football in the MAC is the fact that this year
seven schools (six of whom we played) received a bowl invitation, a
conference record.
JOURNEY OF SUCCESS: THE UNIVERSITY’S ANNUAL REPORT TO THE COMMUNITY
I wanted to make sure you saw the University’s recently released 2011-2012 Report to the Community, Journey of Success. It highlights some of the major accomplishments of the past year (including a nice overview of Athletics) and focuses on our collective efforts to provide an enriching Akron Experience for each one of our students.
Please visit www.uakron.edu/CommunityReport2012 to explore the online version.
ZIPS CLIPS …
… George Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal profiled Men’s Basketball senior guard Brian Walsh …
… George Thomas again on our incoming Men’s Basketball recruits and Coach Dambrot’s philosophy to “Think Bigger” …
ZIPS CONGRATS TO …
… the newest members of our Women’s Tennis program – Isabella Catelani, Caroline Harpaintner and Karalina Maksimava – who signed National Letters of Intent to join us next fall. Welcome, ladies!
… Scott Caldwell, Chad Barson, Wil Trapp and Dillon Serna for being named to Top Drawer Soccer’s Teams of the Season. Caldwell earned First Team honors, while Barson and Trapp were on the Second Team. Serna was recognized on the All-Freshmen Team.
… Barson, Caldwell, Trapp and David Meves also earned All-American recognition from the NSSCA, the most in a single season in program history.
… all 30 of our student-athletes who earned their degree this summer or are finishing it this fall. We enjoyed a luncheon Monday with them and their head coaches … I know they’ll go on to do great things and represent the Zips long after their time in a uniform is finished!
TIME FOR FINALS
This is the final week of classes on campus, so our student-athletes are focused on finishing the semester on a strong note. And on that note, we’ll take a break for a few weeks from Zips Line. On behalf of our student-athletes, coaches and staff, Zips Athletics wishes you a Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah and a Happy New Year!
ASK THE AD …
As always, if you have a question or want to comment about Zips Athletics, click here now or at any time on the “Ask the AD” button on the home page of GoZips.com.
Go Zips!
Tom Wistrcill
Director of Athletics
