Welcome to our busiest time of the year, with the majority of our sports active on the links, tracks, courts, fields and water! I hope your plans include attending several of these events in support of our talented student athletes.
Coach Jo Evans and the Fightin' Texas Aggie softball season is underway. Coach Rob Childress and preseason top 25 Aggie baseball brings us an incredible opportunity as their season opens up in two days. Is there a better way to show your Valentine how much you care than to take your date to the season-opener Valentine's Night at Blue Bell Park? The Aggies host Miami (Ohio) for a three-game stand starting Friday evening at 6:30. In fact, Aggie Softball hosts Lamar at 3:00 p.m. followed by St. John's at 5:15 p.m. Take a romantic stroll from Davis Diamond to Blue Bell Park and make a celebration out of your Valentine's Day. As a Valentine's Day extra, longtime baseball public address announcer Judge Rick Hill is taking the special day to heart. All songs between innings will have a "love" theme. Love will be in the air in Aggieland!
After successful launches for wider availability for alcohol at Kyle Field and Reed Arena, this privilege has been extended at Blue Bell Park and Davis Diamond. We were very pleased with reports received from Kyle Field this past fall, as alcohol-related incidents actually dropped when compared to previous seasons. So far, the reports from Reed Arena are also positive. Thank you to our incredible fan base for acting responsibly.
We always have room for more fans in the stands, and two of our sports in particular are making waves in the SEC. Buzz Williams and his staff have surprised many in the conference with their "#getBETTER", "never quit" attitude. Gary Blair and the women's basketball team continue their streak of being nationally-ranked and in contention to host postseason games. Both teams are in the home stretch of the season. There are five remaining opportunities to see the men play at Reed Arena and three to see our women's team play. I hope you'll make every effort to see these teams, and we always would like to see more support from students. Let's work together in doing all we can to increase support by attending these games, especially encouraging students to be at Reed to see our Aggies on the court.
Congratulations to Coach Jimbo Fisher and the football staff for another top 10 recruiting class. The program continues to bring incredible talent to Aggieland. Many thanks go to those that have invested their time and resources to ensure we have the best facilities in all of college athletics. With more student-athletes graduating than in recent years, our student-athletes earning higher GPAs, and a great coaching staff, it is apparent why Texas A&M leads the entire state in football recruiting.
A big Aggieland welcome to the newest members of our football coaching staff. When a team performs at a high level, has an impressive bowl win over a nationally-ranked opponent, and is consistent in recruiting some of the best athletes in the country, it is not uncommon that other people want what we have. Coach Fisher went out and recruited great coaches to join our staff and I believe that with every change comes opportunity. We remain focused on winning at the highest level. We will move forward with a commitment to hiring quality people who embrace our University's core values and those who bring out the best in the athletes we serve.
Thanks for all you do in support of our teams and student-athletes.
Gig'Em!
Ross
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Fall SEC Academic Honor Roll
An incredible 78 Aggie student-athletes were recently named to the 2019 Fall SEC Academic Honor Roll. The honor roll includes the sports of cross country, football, soccer and volleyball and was based on grades from the 2019 spring, summer and fall terms.
I say it time and time again, but I am so proud of the hard work that our student-athletes continue to put in on-and-off their respective field of play. Our academic services staff is second-to-none, and they continue to push our student-athletes to their maximum potential.
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Paup Aquatic Center Construction
Fans can now follow the progress of the construction of the Anne & Henry B. "Hank" Paup '70 Aquatic Center on the 'Construction Cam' on 12thMan.com, the official website of Texas A&M Athletics.
The live stream can be seen here.
The Anne & Henry B. "Hank" Paup '70 Aquatic Center was made possible due to the tremendous fundraising efforts by 12th Man Foundation. While the Aggies will remain in the same location, the facility project will provide significant upgrades and additions that will allow the teams to be in a central location and feature new locker rooms, coaches offices, an athletic training room area, dryland training space and fueling station.
The most noticeable change will be the addition of a highly-visible exterior lobby that will provide student-athletes, coaches and fans with a designated entrance, separate from that of the main Student Recreation Center. The lobby will showcase A&M's history and accomplishments, featuring graphics and a large, built-in trophy case.
More information on the Anne & Henry B. "Hank" Paup '70 Aquatic Center can be found here.
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National Girls and Women in Sports Day
February 5 was the 34th annual National Girls & Women in Sports Day and brought attention to the importance of equal opportunity for all girls and women in sports.
Texas A&M student-athletes seized the opportunity to go out into the community and visit with fourth and fifth-grade girls, discussing the importance of sports, confidence and motivation in their day-to-day lives.
NGWSD is one of the most meaningful occasions in athletics, as the event highlights the accomplishments of female athletes while recognizing the influence of sports participation for women and girls nationwide.
Wednesday's festivities in College Station were a collaborative effort led by A&M's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and the W[E]3 (Women Empower, Equip, Encourage) group. The importance of celebrating this event in our community cannot be understated, as it inspires Aggies everywhere to live out Texas A&M's core values of excellence, integrity, leadership, loyalty, respect and selfless service.
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Miles Marks Earns NAADD Lifetime Achievement Award
Former 12th Man Foundation President and CEO, Miles Marks, was announced as the 2020 recipient of the National Association of Athletic Development Directors' Lifetime Achievement Award.
During his 15 years at Texas A&M, Marks served as the President and CEO of the 12th Man Foundation--an organization that he modernized to become more professional along with enhancing its communication efforts to members and prospects. With his staff and the 12th Man Foundation Board of Trustees, Marks implemented the Priority Points system, which was transformational for athletics fundraising at Texas A&M. In 2003, the 12th Man Foundation assumed the responsibility of ticketing all sporting events at Texas A&M, and today all events are ticketed, organized, and handled by the 12th Man Foundation.
Marks worked tirelessly, as a leader for the 12th Man Foundation, to increase funding for Texas A&M Athletics. The Foundation's fundraising increased 435% during his tenure, and under his guidance, the Foundation first embraced Major Gift fundraising. Today, the Major Gifts fundraising operation at the Foundation is one of the most successful operations in collegiate fundraising. One of Marks' proudest moments was being told by then-SEC Commissioner Mike Slive that his efforts through the 12th Man Foundation to improve A&M's facilities had positioned Texas A&M to be the perfect fit for membership in the SEC. Marks went on to be one of three signers of the Texas A&M/SEC agreement.
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Aggieland to Host SEC Indoor Track Championships
Texas A&M is proud to be the home of the 2020 SEC Indoor Track & Field Championships, which will be contested at the Gilliam Indoor Stadium on Feb. 28 and 29. It will be the third time the SEC indoor meet has come to College Station, and I know Coach Pat Henry, who is the architect of a record 36 NCAA track team titles over his illustrious career, will have his Aggies ready. The SEC Championships are annually one of the fastest and most compelling conference meets in the nation, and I encourage fans to get to Gilliam to support the Aggies. |
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Texas A&M Joins INFLCR
Last month, I was able to announce an exciting partnership as Texas A&M Athletics became Influencer's (INFLCR) 100th college client. INFLCR provides real-time photo and video content to more than 500 student-athletes who will utilize the app to share content on their personal social media channels and help build their own brands.
The student-athletes and brand ambassadors are able to access their content galleries through the INFLCR mobile app, and can then share the content to their personal social media accounts. After the fact, we are able to measure the increased audience engagement coming from the much-larger collective audience of those athletes and brand ambassadors. We plan to use this approach to bolster their online presence in a way that impacts event attendance, recruiting, fundraising, and other strategic goals.
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Upcoming Home Events
A multitude of home events are on tap throughout the month of February. Below is a list of home events throughout the rest of this week. You can view or subscribe to our composite calendar here.
- Wednesday, Feb. 12: MBB vs. Florida, 7:30 p.m.
- Thursday, Feb. 13: SB vs. McNeese, 6 p.m.; WBB vs. Vanderbilt, 8 p.m.
- Friday, Feb. 14: WTEN vs. Illinois, 1 p.m.; SB vs. Lamar/St. John's, 3 p.m. & 5:15 p.m.; WTEN vs. McNeese, 6 p.m.; BSB vs. Miami (Ohio), 6:30 p.m.
- Saturday, Feb. 15: SB vs. Lamar/Binghamton, 12:15 p.m. & 3 p.m.; BSB vs. Miami (Ohio), 2 p.m.; MBB vs. Georgia, 2:30 p.m.
- Sunday, Feb. 16: SB vs. St. John's, 11:15 a.m.; BSB vs. Miami (Ohio), 12 p.m.
Gig'Em!
Ross
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