Wildcat Wednesday 08/23/2017

Wildcat Wednesday - Welcome Back To All Of Our Student-Athletes

WELCOME BACK TO ALL OF OUR STUDENT-ATHLETES

With school starting on Monday, we had the chance to welcome our student-athletes back to campus through the annual beginning-of-the-year presentation and barbecue. This was particularly enjoyable for me as it was the first time during my tenure that I was able to address all of our Wildcats at one time. We find this time valuable so we can go over a number of different topics important to the overall success of Arizona Athletics.

To kick things off, we were joined by a special guest, University President Dr. Robbins. He shared a terrific message of support to our young men and women. It's good for them to hear from University leadership about their role in campus life. We talk to them about it all the time, but I think there is some added emphasis when it comes from those outside the athletics department. Dr. Robbins also joined us for the barbecue following the presentation and spent time interacting with staff and student-athletes. We want to thank him for taking time out of his busy schedule to join us. It was very much appreciated.

Following Dr. Robbins' talk, we started to get into some of the topics we feel are important to address at the beginning of each year. We'll continue to reinforce these items throughout the year as well. First, we talked about what it means to be a Wildcat and represent not only the athletics department, but the University. As we like to tell our student-athletes, they are always in uniform. Lacey John, our assistant director of C.A.T.S. Life Skills, gave a rousing talk on The Wildcat Way and its five pillars: Engaged, Respectful, Committed, Innovative and Versatile.

We then moved into some information on both the NCAA's drug-testing policies and our own policies. The student-athletes were reminded that if they feel they need help, there are confidential programs they can take advantage of.

We moved on to the topics of discrimination, harassment and misconduct, which also included methods to confidentially report as well as counseling services that are available. We covered Title IX issues including sexual misconduct along with both the University's Student Code of Conduct and the department's Student-Athlete Code of Conduct.

This segued into the importance of making good decisions, whether it be socially, privately or through their social media channels. We feel it's important to remind our student-athletes that one poor decision can have life-changing implications, so make sure to stop and think before doing anything that might be regrettable later on.

We concluded the presentation with a reminder that Arizona Athletics is part of the University, which in turn is part of the Tucson and Southern Arizona community. We want our student-athletes to represent the ideals and values of this community, while they work to become better students, athletes and people.

It was a productive meeting followed by some food and fellowship on the Eddie Lynch Pavilion Plaza. It's great seeing our student-athletes back on campus and we're looking forward to a fantastic year.

STUDENT-ATHLETE ADVISORY COMMITTEE ANNOUNCED

The Student-Athlete Advisory Committee is made up of a group of Wildcats that help drive the direction of our athletics department. Among other things, the committee provides student-athletes with an outlet to work with our administration on issues, concerns or questions they may have. Representatives from each program share input they've received from teammates to help us address their priorities and any needed improvements.

We greatly value the work of our SAAC reps and they are crucial in our goal of providing student-athletes with a championship experience. With that in mind, we're excited to announce this year's representatives:

SAAC Presidents (pictured below)
McKenzie Jacobson (Volleyball)
Sammy Morrison (Football)

SAAC Vice Presidents
Austin Stadeli (Men's Golf)
T Statman (Softball)

SAAC Representatives
Baseball: Mitchell Morimoto, Seve Romo
Men's Basketball: Jake DesJardins
Women's Basketball: Kat Wright
Beach Volleyball: Olivia MacDonald
Men's Cross Country: Travis Thorne
Women's Cross Country: Claire Green
Football: Christian Boettcher, Jake Glatting, Malcolm Holland, Sammy Morrison
Men's Golf: Austin Stadeli
Women's Golf: Natalia Forero
Gymnastics: Maddy Cindric
Softball: T Statman
Soccer: Gabi Stoian
Men's Swimming: Matt Salerno
Women's Swimming: Katrina Konopka
Diving: Rhiannon Buttitta
Men's Tennis: Trent Botha
Women's Tennis: Devin Chypyha
Men's Track and Field: Avery Mickens
Women's Track and Field: Teagan Rasche
Indoor Track and Field: Tatum Waggoner
Volleyball: McKenzie Jacobson

BEANIE BOWL/MEET THE TEAM IS FRIDAY NIGHT AT ARIZONA STADIUM

One last reminder that the Beanie Bowl and Meet the Team event is this Friday at Arizona Stadium. We're inviting all fans to come out and enjoy our gameday dress rehearsal. The Beanie Bowl "game" portion starts at 6 p.m., but arrive early to enjoy the Pride of Arizona's pregame show and the team's entrance from the tunnel. Gates open at 5 p.m. and concessions will be available for purchase.

UA students, we will have some amazing prizes you could win by attending the Beanie Bowl. These prizes include TVs, Apple watches, and gift cards. Make sure you've downloaded the ZonaZoo Rewards App on your iPhone or Android. You'll need that to participate.

After the Beanie Bowl, fans can come down to the field and meet the team through a special 60-minute autograph session. There is no charge to attend and free parking is available in surface lots after 5 p.m. Click HERE for more information.

We also want to encourage you to get your football tickets soon if you haven't done so already. The deadline to purchase season tickets and receive a guaranteed Gronk bobblehead is Sunday night. You can learn more about our ticket options at ArizonaWildcats.com/FB.

As a reminder for our Phoenix area Wildcats, the Cat Cruiser transportation program to and from our home football games is available this year. We have two routes going from The Valley to Arizona Stadium and back. We have a bundle package, which reserves a spot for all six home games, for $120, while single-pass tickets are $25. Click HERE for more information or to sign up.

SOCCER WELCOMES UC IRVINE

Soccer will host their first regular-season match of the season when they welcome UC Irvine to Mulcahy Stadium on Friday, Aug. 25 at 7 p.m. The Cats are off to a strong start having won their three exhibition matches and securing a tough, non-conference road win at No. 16 Oklahoma last Friday. This Friday's match will be the first of three Tony Amato camper reunion nights and will be followed by an autograph session on the field. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit ArizonaWildcats.com/SOC or click HERE.

ARIZONA WELL REPRESENTED IN SOFTBALL'S NPF THIS SEASON

We had seven softball alums compete in National Pro Fastpitch this season, the most of any school in the country. Katiyana Mauga, who led all rookies with nine home runs, helped take home the NPF title in her rookie year as her Scrap Yard Dawgs defeated Chelsea Goodacre, Mo Mercado, Mandie Perez, Hallie Wilson and the USSSA Pride in the finals. Goodacre, Mercado, Perez and Wilson helped the USSSA Pride to the league title after a 40-9 regular season. Goodacre was honored with the league's Gold Glove after throwing out 65% of would-be-base-stealers. Goodacre and Wilson were named first-team All-NPF in their third seasons with the Pride.

Congratulations on a great year ladies and thank you for continuing to represent Arizona during your professional careers.

CATS IN THE COMMUNITY

Women's basketball was heavily involved in community service this summer as it looks to defend its hold on the Athletics Director Cup for Community Service. The Cup is awarded in April of each year to the team with the highest average amount of hours per team member. Last year, women's basketball averaged 20.9 hours per student-athlete and they are hoping to increase that average this year. To get started, the team volunteered with Catalina Methodist Church, the Boys & Girls Club, GAP Ministries, Tucson Community Food Bank, Diamond Children's Medical Center and Tucson Clean & Beautiful just to name a few.

Our staff also spent some time this summer volunteering in the local community and will continue to do so throughout the year. They helped out at the Community Food Bank and the Ronald McDonald Chef for a Day Program. They also helped UA freshmen move into their dorms as part of Residence Life's Move In Crew.

As a heads up, the Office of Community Relations offers free tours of Arizona Athletics and surrounding facilities for nonprofit organizations and schools. Often, our student-athletes like to tag along on the tours and meet with the visitors. They offer a great perspective of how the facilities are utilized. If you are interested in scheduling a tour for your classroom or nonprofit organization, you can submit an online request by clicking HERE. Once on the site, you can review our policy and submit an online request. If you have any questions, please call the Office of Community Relations at (520) 621-2331.

If you know of a non-profit that would benefit from the helping hands of our student-athletes, please let us know by submitting an online request by clicking HERE. We won't be able to fulfill every request, but we try to get to as many as we can. If you have any questions, please contact Natasha Harrison at naharris@arizona.edu.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

To view the list of upcoming events, broadcast information, start times and stat links, click HERE. (Note: All times are listed as Mountain Standard Time, i.e. Tucson time.)

To access live stats from your desktop or mobile device, visit ArizonaLiveStats.com.

WEAR THE COLORS – SHARE THE PHOTOS

Thank you for wearing the colors and sharing your Arizona pride! If your photo submission did not make this week's edition of the Wildcat Wednesday, please check our "Wildcat Wednesday" album at facebook.com/ArizonaAthletics on Fridays.

NOTE: Please submit photos for Wildcat Wednesday with an original email to uofaad@arizona.edu using the subject line 'Wildcat Wednesday photo.' Also, please ensure all submissions are clear and properly lit. We also ask that you identify everyone in the photo so we can highlight them accordingly.

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Continue to do what you can to help Arizona Athletics and:

Accept the Bear Down Challenge
Buy Season Tickets
Wear the Colors (Especially on Friday)
Get Others to Do the Same

Bear Down with Pride,

Dave Heeke
Director of Athletics
University of Arizona
uofaad@arizona.edu

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Wildcat Wednesday - Welcome Back To All Of Our Student-Athletes