Appalachian State fans and supporters can reach out to Director of Athletics
Doug Gillin each month with questions regarding Appalachian State Athletics. Please submit questions via email at
AskTheAD@appstate.edu.
APRIL 2019 – ASK THE A.D.
What are the latest construction updates?
The Owens Field House demolition took place a few weeks back, and almost all of the remnants have been cleared away to make room for where the end zone facility will be built. It's exciting to look out the window and see that progress on a daily basis. We're still on track for the end zone building to open in the fall of 2020.
In addition to raising money to fund projects such as removing the track/resurfacing the field at Kidd Brewer Stadium, there are several other projects that are planned for the immediate future but still need lots of support because of the expenses involved. Namely, replacing the baseball stadium turf will cost between $500,000 and $600,000, and new soccer turf will cost approximately $300,000.
The Appalachian 105 project is currently in the design phase, and we're seeking more donations to help that project move forward for new homes for tennis, track & field and softball. There is a domino effect, because as we raise money to build a new softball complex at Appalachian 105, that effort is critical in creating room to move forward with additional parking at the site of the current softball stadium.
Clicking here and contributing to A Mountaineer Impact, A Drive for Excellence is the perfect way to Make an Impact and play an important role in these facility enhancements.
We've heard about the need for help and support to make App State as competitive as possible. What is the best way to support the long-term goals of App State Athletics?
At Appalachian State, it always starts with our core values of integrity, social responsibility, competitive excellence and giving student-athletes a world-class experience.
When I talk with our coaches, they frequently discuss student-athlete wellness, with topics ranging from making a bigger investment in summer school to improving the nutrition options available to our student-athletes.
We need your support in many areas, and two of the best ways to make a lasting, long-term impact are to buy season tickets for football and join the Yosef Club. Increasing season ticket sales and Yosef Club memberships are vital as we work to become fully funded when it comes to scholarships, because we are still well short of that goal, and addressing matters like retaining the great coaches we already have on campus.
While the addition of AppFuel stations and partnerships with people like Dr. Desaree Festa, a renowned sports psychologist, are great steps forward in giving our student-athletes a world-class experience, there's still more work to do. In particular, we currently need to raise significant amounts of money to cover the cost of summer school for all of our student-athletes, because that is an important element to success both academically and competitively in college athletics.
The deadline for season ticket renewals is April 30, just around the corner, and right now we're about 2,000 tickets behind last year's pace. That uncertainty creates plenty of challenges, so I'm asking our season ticket holders who haven't renewed yet to do so as quickly as possible and not wait until the last minute.
Joining the Yosef Club is another great way to commit to the well-being of our student-athletes, and every new membership helps. That's why we launched the Each 1 Reach 1 effort, and we would still urge current members to take an active role in finding one non-member to join as we strive to double our membership. It's as easy as clicking on this
Give Now link.
To borrow a line from football coach
Eliah Drinkwitz, we want to do things that have never been done before at Appalachian State. To reach the next level, it takes a village, and we need everyone's support, because it's a group effort.
I wasn't able to make it to a Spring Tour stop this year. Now that it's over, can you hit some highlights of what I missed?
We recently concluded our tour, which involved appearances in six cities across the state, and there was a lot of great news to share.
The tour gave fans a chance to meet and interact with some of our new coaches, namely Coach Drinkwitz and men's basketball coach
Dustin Kerns, who was hired in late March. Their excitement about being in Boone and the fans' excitement in talking to them was fun to see.
It was also great hearing from coaches like
JohnMark Bentley, whose wrestling team won a fourth straight Southern Conference championship, volleyball coach
Matt Ginipro, whose team won a Sun Belt East Division title and reached the Sun Belt Tournament championship match, and women's basketball coach
Angel Elderkin.
With the women's basketball team playing deep into the spring and Coach Elderkin's program winning the WBI Championship, we can't thank all of you enough for the support you showed during that postseason run, which included a record-breaking crowd for the WBI final in the Holmes Center.
We make no secret about our goal to finish atop the Bubas Cup standings, which measure the competitive excellence of Sun Belt programs across the board, and the accomplishments of many teams this winter and so far this spring have helped App State reach new heights as we challenge Texas State for the No. 1 spot.
Under the leadership of third-year coach
Blake Mosley, the women's tennis team captured its first-ever conference championship, thanks in part to a great win over Texas State on Senior Day. Second-year coach
Shelly Hoerner has the softball program setting records for team success, particularly at the Sun Belt level, and third-year coach
Kermit Smith helped the baseball program post a winning record in one of the nation's top leagues during a year-long stretch counting the second half of 2018 and the first half of 2019.
We also have some outstanding academic-related news that we'll be able to share in the near future, so while it's always an exciting time to be a Mountaineer, this spring has only confirmed that.
Thanks for your continued support, and Go Mountaineers!
