Each month, Appalachian State fans and supporters can reach out to Director of Athletics
Doug Gillin with questions regarding Appalachian State Athletics. Fans can reach out via email at
AskTheAD@appstate.edu.
JANUARY 2017 – ASK THE A.D.
Q: What is the latest on the end zone project for Kidd Brewer Stadium and other facility enhancements?
Last month, the north end zone project received approval from the UNC system's Board of Governors, meaning the next step in the process is to choose an architect. Once that is determined, there's a process to choose a contractor, and that decision goes to the Board of Governors again for approval. Once that step is completed, construction can begin. We look forward to unveiling conceptuals and renderings this spring.
While the design is not complete, there are plans for the project to include, among other things, athletic training rooms, a 9,000-square-foot orthopedic clinic, meeting rooms, coaches' offices, locker rooms, a catering kitchen, a 12,000-square-foot dining and banquet space, study space, a ticket office, a retail store and club-level seating. The entire App State community stands to benefit from the end zone project in Kidd Brewer Stadium.
The track inside Kidd Brewer Stadium remains a popular topic of conversation. As far as what stadium renovations mean for that, we believe we have found a good area to potentially build a new track, and we have an architect developing a design that would give us an estimated cost of such a facility. We also have an architect developing designs for a new indoor tennis facility and new indoor softball facility.
Other facility enhancements are underway for field hockey and volleyball team spaces, while wrestling recently finished a team room upgrade. We are committed to ensuring our student-athletes have the support they need to succeed in the classroom, community and competition.
Q: In the big picture, how are all of App State's athletics teams factoring in to A Mountaineer Impact.
Increasing App State's endowment and funding scholarships are among the top priorities within A Mountaineer Impact. Endowments are critical for App State Athletics in ensuring the success of future generations.
Over the last three years, we've made a significant commitment to the goal of fully funding all of our sports. Just two months ago, a generous gift of nearly a half-million dollars allowed us to establish a fully endowed football scholarship.
When I arrived, our endowment was around $5 million, and we set a goal to double our endowment to $10 million. As of today, we are close to $8 million thanks to the generous support of the App Family.
We will continue in our efforts to fully fund every sport, and that's one reason why the support we receive through the Yosef Club is so important. Through membership in the Yosef Club, donations and season-ticket purchases, those goals become a reality.
We are a little less than a year into A Mountaineer Impact, and we've already received $28 million toward our overall goal of $60 million. Thanks to so many wonderful supporters, we are on our way to further enhancing the athletics experience for our students and fans, building on the rich tradition of success that was already here.
We've also established a goal of reaching 7,500 football season-ticket holders in 2018. That's one of the best ways to contribute to the long-term success of App State Athletics.
Q: How are season-ticket purchases affected by a new tax law?
A few days before Christmas, a new tax bill was signed into law, and the bill eliminated what had been known as the "80/20" rule. For roughly the last three decades, university donors could deduct 80 percent of their charitable contributions toward their purchase of season tickets from an itemized tax return.
That is no longer the case, with the new law taking effect Jan. 1, 2018.
The "80/20" rule gave people extra incentive to support student-athletes who are part of a higher education system that facilitates a marriage between academics and athletics. The mission of college sports and its role in providing educational opportunities for so many student-athletes has not changed as a result of the new tax law, and your support is as important as ever in making sure Appalachian State continues to be a place where young people can excel academically and athletically.
Q: What's ahead for the spring of 2018?
As we move forward from 2017, we'd be remiss not to celebrate some of the great accomplishments, including conference championships for the football, men's cross country and wrestling teams, as well as the football team's shutout win in the Dollar General Bowl.
The men's basketball team has put up several impressive wins here in Boone, the women's basketball team is growing with its young, short-handed roster and wrestling is off to an unbeaten start in the Southern Conference as it pursues another league championship.
Spring sports are right around the corner, and we're hoping to make the spring semester another successful one on the field and in the classroom. In the fall, our student-athletes had a cumulative GPA over 3.0 for the 11th semester in a row.
Thank you for your help in supporting these tremendous students, athletes and members of the App State community.
Go Mountaineers!
