The University of Akron Athletics
athletics emails tom 2013 14 april 24 2014
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UNIVERSITY SUPPORT FOR PROPOSED DOWNTOWN ARENA
Our Board of Trustees provided unanimous support yesterday for an arrangement with the University, Summit County, the City of Akron and the Development Finance Authority to create a new downtown arena, located across from Canal Park, that would serve as the new home for Zips Basketball, as well as a sport and entertainment venue.
These entities agreeing to a preliminary term sheet is an exciting development and, as you can imagine, there have been many people involved in reaching this important step. On behalf of Zips Athletics, we extend our sincere thanks to everyone who has championed this cause. Speaking from my perspective as the Director of Athletics, I am thrilled about an opportunity to offer our student-athletes another first-class facility in which to compete, and one that would not put any debt burden on the University. Under the proposed arrangement, the University will not have to pay for construction.
Based on feedback I received yesterday, many others are supportive as well for this community-wide initiative. I encourage you to read further about this topic in today's Akron Beacon Journal, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Canton Repository, with more coverage sure to follow in the coming months. I welcome your feedback as well.
Z-FUND PRIORITY POINTS PROGRAM INTRODUCED
Another important news item from Zips Athletics is the announcement of our first formal Z-Fund Priority Points Program. As we continue to seek the most effective ways to acknowledge those who support our student-athletes and coaches, this program will allow us to distribute and allocate our Z-Fund benefits equitably and consistently.
Our staff has worked for more than a year on this effort, which included hosting focus groups, researching dozens of similar plans from across the country and revising many drafts until we felt it best fit our school. I am excited that our Z-Fund, Ticket Operations and Ticket Sales staffs will be able to improve our service by better understanding what benefits most interest you and then explaining how we can help you achieve them. If you are a current Z-Fund donor, please look for a mailing about this to hit your mailbox in the coming days.
THE VALUE OF COLLEGE ATHLETICS
Lately there has been a lot of national discussion regarding the future of college athletics and what student-athletes are currently provided, as well as what rules are being considered moving forward to offer additional benefits. This has been a frequent topic of conversation at Athletics Directors' meetings around the country the last couple of years, and there is a lot of complexity to the discussion points and their potential implications. To me, the most important element is that we remain centered on providing our student-athletes with a wonderful experience. That is another reminder why, when we drafted IMPACT 2020, our Mission became: "To have a positive and meaningful IMPACT on the people and communities we serve."
I wanted to share with you this link from the NCAA about the student-athlete experience, which here impacts approximately 450 individuals in 19 varsity sports. We hope to continually improve their experience, and we couldn't do that without your support.
GREAT TO SEE YOU SATURDAY!
Thanks to everyone who came out for our Spring Day Saturday on campus. We had great weather and wonderful fan support for our Men's Soccer spring exhibition against Louisville, our Football Spring Game and our Baseball game vs. Bowling Green.
We also hosted pre- and post-game receptions for nearly 50 Football alumni, including Ernie Stadvec, a World War II veteran from the Class of 1950! One of the special things in college athletics is seeing someone from Ernie's generation rub elbows with our "millennials," the current student-athletes and recent alumni who were born nearly 50 years after he finished playing here, and know that despite the age range they all share a common and unbreakable bond simply because they wore the Akron Blue and Gold.
UPCOMING EVENTS
-The 7th annual IMG Trade Show will be held on the track in Rhodes Arena from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. tomorrow. Many of the businesses who sponsor Zips Athletics will have a display at this free event and will provide goodies and snacks, so please join us if you're able.
-The Women's Basketball Post-season Banquet will be held on Friday, May 2, on the FirstMerit Foundation Club Level (fifth floor) of InfoCision Stadium – Summa Field. Contact Candace Smith, Director of Women's Basketball Operations, at (330) 972-8274 or by e-mail to make your reservation. Seats are $20 for that event as well.
-Women's Golf tees off in the Mid-American Conference Championship at Hawthorns Country Club in Fishers, Ind., starting tomorrow and going through Sunday. Best of luck to Head Coach Jenny King and our team!
-Softball hosts Ohio for games at 2 p.m. and 1 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Head Coach Julie Jones and her squad are right in the hunt for the MAC East title, and OU is in first place, so this series has a lot of postseason implications. Join us at Lee Jackson Field this weekend or watch online here.
-Baseball hits the road for three games in three days starting tomorrow at Buffalo, as Head Coach Rick Rembielak and the boys look to take another step toward securing their first MAC Tournament berth in eight years.
-Track and Field competes at the Ashland Alumni Open in Ashland, Ohio, tomorrow and Saturday.
CONGRATS TO ...
... Hanna Luburgh and Rachel Tecca from Women's Basketball for being named to the Academic All-MAC Team, and Carly Young for earning Honorable Mention accolades ...
... Kellie Roudabush, Jessican Reiman and Jessica Schneider combined for 13 hits in Softball's doubleheader split yesterday at St. Francis (Pa.) ...
... senior pitcher Joe Cochran, who struck out 10 and gave up just one hit in seven innings during Baseball's 5-0 win Tuesday over Youngstown State ...
... junior Alex McCune, named MAC Scholar Athlete of the Week and MAC Men's Track Athlete of the Week after capturing the decathlon title with a school record title last week at the prestigious Mt. SAC Relays in Azusa, Calif., at which Shawn Barber and Annika Roloff also had outstanding performances in the pole vault, as did distance runners Jake Hiltner and Clayton Murphy ...
... junior Jessica Delic won the women's javelin at the Jesse Owens Classic ...
... seven members of Indoor Track and Field – Ariane Beaumont-Courteau, Kyle Cochrun, Jake Hiltner, Aaron Hawkins, Bryan Jones, Claire Lucas and Alex McCune – were named to the Academic All-MAC Team ...
... sophomores Carmelo Betancourt and Reggie McAdams of Men's Basketball, named Academic All-MAC Honorable Mention ...
... our incoming Women's Soccer class, two members of which have competed at a national level – Loreana Lonigro with the U-20 Venezuelan National Team, and Daniela Tellez with the U-20 Mexican National Team ...
... Jimond Ivey and Antino Jackson for signing national letters of intent to play Men's Basketball in 2014-15 ...
ZIPS CLIPS
... Elton Alexander of the Plain Dealer predicts big things in 2014 for Zips Football ...
... former Men's Soccer star Darlington Nagbe played his 100th game for the Portland Timbers ...
... Football offensive line and assistant head coach John Peterson has acclimated himself well in his return to the Zips, writes George Thomas of the Beacon Journal ...
... our friends at Coca-Cola made a creative in-store display of Zippy (see photo) ...
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
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