The University of Akron Athletics
athletics emails tom 2013 14 august 8 2013
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THANK YOU, PRESIDENT PROENZA
I am sure you are aware of yesterday's announcement by University President Dr. Luis Proenza of a
transition plan to complete his presidency on June 30, 2014.
For more than 15 years he has led UA through significant growth and
Athletics is an area that has benefited greatly during his
leadership. It has been my pleasure to work alongside him for the
last four years, and Zips Athletics would not be where it is today
without his vision.
To date during his tenure, Zips Athletics claimed a national
championship in men's soccer (2010), 31 regular-season Mid-American
Conference championships and 15 league tournament titles. Also
during that time we drastically improved our facilities complex
with the addition of the Louis and Freda Stile Athletics Field
House for use by all 19 of our sports, InfoCision Stadium –
Summa Field for Football, Lee R. Jackson Softball Field, several
phases of upgrades to Men's and Women's Soccer's FirstEnergy
Stadium – Cub Cadet Field as well as to the Lee R. Jackson
Track and Field Complex.
We have been fortunate to build additional strength and
conditioning facilities inside both InfoCision Stadium and James A.
Rhodes Arena as well as new team lounges and upgraded locker rooms
in the arena for Men's and Women's Basketball, Tennis and
Volleyball.
Dr. Proenza said yesterday during his remarks to the University's
Board of Trustees "…we've got a lot of work to do, so let's
roll up our sleeves and not lose a single moment." We intend to do
just that in Zips Athletics and look forward to continuing to work
with him as we improve upon our list of achievements.
FALL SPORTS REPORTING TO CAMPUS
The start of the fall semester is still a few weeks away, but many
of the student-athletes for our fall sports have or very soon will
be reporting to campus to begin their preseason workouts. Football has been on campus since the end of last
week, Women's Soccer began training yesterday,
Volleyball starts this weekend and Men's Soccer begins next
week.
Be sure to check GoZips.com for preseason reports about each
team during the coming weeks.
MEN'S SOCCER PREVIEW EVENT
We hope you can join us on Friday, August 16 at FirstEnergy
Stadium – Cub Cadet Field for an
open to the public intrasquad scrimmage for Men's Soccer. This
free event will start at 6:30 p.m. Following the match, first-year
head coach Jared Embick will hold a Q&A with the crowd.
As we gear up for what I'm sure will be another exciting soccer
season, please be reminded that weekday home games in 2013 will
start at 7 p.m. In recent season's those matches kicked off at 7:30
p.m.
Additionally, we recently changed the start time of our match
against San Diego State on Sunday, Sept. 15 to 1 p.m. That game is
part of our annual tournament.
FOOTBALL KICKOFF LUNCHEON
Be sure to mark your calendar for our second-annual Football
Kickoff Luncheon on Friday, August 23 at Quaker Station in
downtown Akron. Seats, reserved tables of eight and sponsorship
opportunities for the event are still available and can be
purchased by calling the Athletics Ticket office at 1-888-99-AKRON
(25766).
MEN'S BASKETBALL SUMMER CLASSIC GOLF OUTING
There is still time to sign up to play in our Men’s Basketball Golf Outing on August
19 at the Quarry Golf Club in Canton. The event is on track to sell
out both a morning and afternoon flight yet again. To sign up,
please contact Anthony Henderson with the Z-Fund.
'DRIVE FOR 5' DONORS OF THE WEEK
Thanks to Alan H. Sunukjian for joining our team through the "Drive for 5"! You can join Alan – and our team
– by signing up here as we seek to elevate Zips
Athletics by having 5,000 donors and fundraising $5 million
annually by 2015.
SUMMER ODDS AND ENDS
As Football season draws near, please keep these items in mind
…
… Zips Trips packages for fans who want to
attend our Football away games at UCF on August 29 and Michigan on
Sept. 14. Packages are also available for those who want to travel
to Honolulu in December to watch Men's Basketball compete in the
Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic.
… Sign up for the AAA Zips Football VIP Experience contest for the
September 14 game at Michigan …
ZIPS CONGRATS TO …
… Volleyball received the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team
Academic Award …
… Men's Golf earned All-Academic Team recognition from the Golf Coaches
Association of America (GCAA) …
… Swimming and Diving was named a College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA)
Scholar All-America Team …
… Women's Golf finished inside the top 15 in the nation in team GPA
…
… Men's Basketball graduate assistant Matt Futch was named Women's Basketball Head Coach at Ohio
Christian …
ZIPS CLIPS …
… Mark Rickman with SI.com caught up with Football head coach Terry Bowden at
MAC Media Day …
… Coach Bowden was a guest earlier this week on KNR2 1540 AM's "Munch
in the Morning" program …
… George Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal conducted a Q&A with Football transfer Moses McCray
…
… Jeff Saunders from the Stow Sentry profiled recent UA Sports Hall of Fame inductee
Mike Andy …
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
