From the Desk of Ross Bjork

Howdy!

With all of the hard work over the past several months in preparation for fall sports to begin, I am pleased and proud that we have successfully kicked off Texas A&M athletics for 2020-21! I am beyond impressed with the hard work and dedication our entire athletics department has shown to get us to this point. This entire process has only highlighted how the Aggie Core Values of Respect, Excellence, Leadership, Loyalty, Integrity and Selfless Service are the fabric of the Texas A&M community.

I want to say THANK YOU to everyone who helped get our student-athletes, coaches, staff and fans equipped for the unprecedented and unique season that COVID-19 has brought us. I specifically want to thank the following team members who have worked relentlessly to adapt to the changes and surprises we have recently faced:

THANK YOU to our student-athletes who have been resilient and adapted so well to all the new procedures and protocols they now must endure to compete.
THANK YOU to our Sports Medicine, Athletic Training, Sports Psychology, Performance Nutrition, Sports Performance and Sports Science teams who prepared our student-athletes for return to workouts, practice and competition.
THANK YOU to the 12th Man Foundation who adjusted our stadium seating plans several times and reseated Kyle Field and our other venues to accommodate only 25% capacity.
THANK YOU to 12th Man Productions who has increased our social and digital presence as we have adapted to this new virtual world.
THANK YOU to our Facilities, Events, Game Management and Field Crew who implemented an entire new stadium and game operations plan.
THANK YOU to the Texas A&M University leadership who has guided our entire campus through this pandemic and brought us all safely back to campus.

Everyone listed above, and many more, have worked so hard to give us the opportunity to participate in and host sporting events in our facilities this Fall and beyond. Tomorrow at 11 a.m. we host our second home football game in Kyle Field against the Florida Gators, and it is always a privilege to play at Kyle Field. Those attending the game in person will see the protocols we have implemented to host fans as safely as possible.

This is where we need the Aggie selfless service now more than ever. In order to BTHO COVID, and for Texas A&M to continue to have the best home field advantage in college football, we must do our part at all times! You must wear your face covering the entire game unless you are eating and drinking and stay in your assigned seats when yelling for our team. When you enter Kyle Field, when you stand or sit in your assigned seats, when you walk around the concourse and when you leave, wear your face covering.

We are asking you to show great leadership and commitment to excellence on Saturday at Kyle Field in support of the work we have all done to this point. These two simple acts will not only allow us to continue to yell at Kyle Field on Saturdays but also are the only chance for the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band and tailgating to possibly return to the gameday experience.

We appreciate the support of our donors, season ticket holders, fans, and everyone associated with our great University and athletics program for all of your support. I hope to see you soon at an Aggie sporting event - wearing your face covering of course!

Gig 'Em!
Ross

Fall Sports Update

We have a sense of normalcy in the department as our fall sports have begun to kick off with many more gearing up to compete for the first time this month or in November.

It felt good to be back at Kyle Field and watch the football team beat Vanderbilt to open the season. After last week's game against Alabama, Coach Fisher and the Aggies have another tough test against a top-5 opponent in Florida tomorrow.

Soccer is off to a 1-1 start and also hosts a critical match against Florida, who is ranked 15th, on Sunday at 1 p.m. Men's and women's golf began their seasons this week at the Blessings Collegiate Invitational in Fayetteville with fifth and 11th place finishes.

Men's tennis racked up three singles titles last weekend at the LSU Invitational and cross country has had strong performances in their first two races of the season and are set to host the Arturo Barrios Invitational on October 17 with SEC Championships to follow on the 30th.

Equestrian, volleyball and women's tennis are set to begin competition this month with men's and women's basketball are ramping up to begin their seasons in just over a month.

Swimming & diving begins next week and are scheduled to move in to the brand new Anne S. & Henry B. "Hank" Paup '70 Pavilion, which features a dryland diving training center, locker rooms, expansive athletic training room and coaches' offices.

It sure is an exciting time here in Aggieland!

UNIFIED

Beginning with the season opener against Vanderbilt, our football team proudly wore patches on the jerseys that stated "UNIFIED". This word was chosen by our student-athletes that best exemplifies who they are as people and Aggies.

As our student-athletes stated in this video, we are all human beings and we are all Aggies. Being an Aggie is incredibly special and comes with great responsibility.

This patch serves as a reminder that we compete in solidarity versus inequalities.

Hispanic Heritage Month

We are proud to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month all month long and share stories of success and triumph from our Hispanic student-athletes.

We have had several Hispanics from a multitude of sports not only break barriers but excel on and off the field. From Olympians to All-Americans we have a proud history that is worth celebrating.

You can see all of our Hispanic Heritage Month content here.

Aggies Register to Vote

On September 22, Student-Athlete Services, in partnership with Aggies Vote, hosted its inaugural voter registration drive at Davis Diamond, and I am proud to say we had 237 student-athletes register to vote.

Representatives from every sport in the athletics department, from student-athletes to staff, registered.

This was a great opportunity for everyone to get together and we hope to host future voter registration drives in the future.

12th Man Mobile App Presented by St. Joseph Health

We recently launched a brand-new, dynamic mobile app that I encourage all of you to download if you already haven't.

The app includes digital ticketing, customizable push notifications, live and archived video and audio, podcasts and more. It is available for free in the Apple App Store and Google Play.

The app allows for customizable push notifications including final scores, news, venue information as well as photos, rosters, schedules and stats. Live game audio is also available free of charge.

While in-venue at select athletics events, fans can utilize the Rev Zone feature to participate in pre-game introductions, in-game promotions and contests.