Athletic Director's message to Falcon Nation
6/1/2020 9:00:00 AM | General
Hello Falcon Nation,
I hope this update finds you well and staying healthy and safe. As restrictions begin to ease across our nation, it is important that we all continue to stay vigilant and do our part to control the spread of COVID-19. We have a lot of exciting news to share with you in this update! As we turn the calendar to June, we will be starting some significant movement at the Academy and in athletics. Early this month, cadets will begin to return to campus in phases to prepare for their on-campus summer activities.
Safety remains our primary concern and all cadets will be tested upon arrival and then remain in a Restriction of Movement (ROM) for two weeks before being tested again. Following that ROM period, cadet-athletes will be allowed to voluntarily participate in some conditioning and training activities put together by our strength and conditioning coaches. We anticipate for the remaining cadet-athletes for fall and winter sports to return later in the month under the same guidelines. Once the ROM period is completed, cadets will have the opportunity to begin voluntary team related activities and utilize athletic facilities. For the first time, the Academy will be on as close to a level of a playing field as we have been with our competitors, who typically have their athletes on campus all summer working out together. While our cadets will miss the operational Air Force activities across the country for obvious safety reasons, the Academy will be offering significantly more academic courses this summer along with a similar amount of airmanship opportunities to fill those gaps.
We are actively preparing to have collegiate athletic competitions this fall. While we do not know yet exactly what they will look like, we are working on multiple scenarios for fans in attendance. We are also looking at what in-game operations will look like. While there is still uncertainty in this area, our early planning now will help us be prepared to provide fans with a safe and fun environment. To continue to offer maximum flexibility, we are extending the football season ticket renewal deadline until June 30, 2020 to help you to plan for the 2020-21 season as more details become clear. As we have committed previously, should a season not proceed with fans in attendance at Falcon Stadium, full refunds would be offered to all patrons effected. Also on the football front, the Mountain West and Air Force were part of a combined statement last week about a delay in kick times and television assignments. Due to all the uncertainty of what professional and college sports will look like, our network partners along with the conference felt it was best to wait to select games until we have more clarity on the 2020-21 season later this summer:
Statement on Television Selection: Collectively, the conferences and television networks have agreed to an extension for determining college football's early season game times beyond the standard June 1 deadline. These kickoff times and network designations will be announced at a later date as we all continue to prepare for the college football season.
In response to fan feedback and through observations of queuing during Parent's Weekend and Army games last season and the NHL Stadium Series this winter, I'm pleased to share that we will be taking a major step to improve your game experience at Falcon Stadium this season. To do this we are removing all football gameday cash parking payments at the lots for next season. Instead, we will add a $3 per ticket fee to all ticket purchases, thus eliminating cash collection in the lots altogether at Falcon Stadium. We believe this will significantly improve traffic flow and expedite travel into the parking lots so fans can enjoy more time tailgating, socializing and our Falcon Alley festivities. The elimination of cash handling will also increase safety by reducing physical contact points in the parking areas. Please check out our website this afternoon for the full release and details on our new process. You can also check out the frequently asked questions tab at the top of this message for more information on this important change.
We could also use your help with gaining more insight into your fan experience. I would like to encourage each of you reading this update to provide us your feedback on our fan survey if you have not done so already. The survey was emailed out recently, but we have received reports that several supporters have had it go to their spam folders. Please check those settings to enable future communications from Air Force Athletics, you can also check out the fan survey on our website under fans or click HERE. Please take a few minutes to give us your thoughts on how we can improve and make your experience the best, by doing so you will automatically be entered to win some impressive Falcon items as a thank you.
Last week we had some great news from our fencing program, as head coach Omar Elgeziry was named the 2020 Western Fencing Conference Coach of the Year. I'm thrilled for him to be recognized by his peers as a first-year head coach. The award is a testament to the achievements and buy-in of our outstanding cadet-athletes in the program. He has done a tremendous job building his staff and setting the culture and vision of our program.
We also continue to try new ways to get our message out to supporters, so in addition to these bi-monthly updates, we have started virtual AD Roundtable discussions via Zoom. We have been getting supporters from a number of areas together for updates on the department and some live question and answer time with yours truly. Our first two weeks have been with supporters in Chicago and in Arizona and we are planning to continue these with more groups across the country in the coming weeks. We are also working on details to do one locally with fans in Colorado to give them a chance to hear directly from me and ask questions. Keep an eye out for our social media channels, and website for more details, dates and times.
In closing, I would like everyone to know how excited we are for this coming year and the prospect of having intercollegiate athletics. I hope to see you soon and thank you for your continued support of our cadet-athletes and Air Force Athletics.
Go Falcons!
Nathan Pine
Director of Athletics
I hope this update finds you well and staying healthy and safe. As restrictions begin to ease across our nation, it is important that we all continue to stay vigilant and do our part to control the spread of COVID-19. We have a lot of exciting news to share with you in this update! As we turn the calendar to June, we will be starting some significant movement at the Academy and in athletics. Early this month, cadets will begin to return to campus in phases to prepare for their on-campus summer activities.
Safety remains our primary concern and all cadets will be tested upon arrival and then remain in a Restriction of Movement (ROM) for two weeks before being tested again. Following that ROM period, cadet-athletes will be allowed to voluntarily participate in some conditioning and training activities put together by our strength and conditioning coaches. We anticipate for the remaining cadet-athletes for fall and winter sports to return later in the month under the same guidelines. Once the ROM period is completed, cadets will have the opportunity to begin voluntary team related activities and utilize athletic facilities. For the first time, the Academy will be on as close to a level of a playing field as we have been with our competitors, who typically have their athletes on campus all summer working out together. While our cadets will miss the operational Air Force activities across the country for obvious safety reasons, the Academy will be offering significantly more academic courses this summer along with a similar amount of airmanship opportunities to fill those gaps.
We are actively preparing to have collegiate athletic competitions this fall. While we do not know yet exactly what they will look like, we are working on multiple scenarios for fans in attendance. We are also looking at what in-game operations will look like. While there is still uncertainty in this area, our early planning now will help us be prepared to provide fans with a safe and fun environment. To continue to offer maximum flexibility, we are extending the football season ticket renewal deadline until June 30, 2020 to help you to plan for the 2020-21 season as more details become clear. As we have committed previously, should a season not proceed with fans in attendance at Falcon Stadium, full refunds would be offered to all patrons effected. Also on the football front, the Mountain West and Air Force were part of a combined statement last week about a delay in kick times and television assignments. Due to all the uncertainty of what professional and college sports will look like, our network partners along with the conference felt it was best to wait to select games until we have more clarity on the 2020-21 season later this summer:
Statement on Television Selection: Collectively, the conferences and television networks have agreed to an extension for determining college football's early season game times beyond the standard June 1 deadline. These kickoff times and network designations will be announced at a later date as we all continue to prepare for the college football season.
In response to fan feedback and through observations of queuing during Parent's Weekend and Army games last season and the NHL Stadium Series this winter, I'm pleased to share that we will be taking a major step to improve your game experience at Falcon Stadium this season. To do this we are removing all football gameday cash parking payments at the lots for next season. Instead, we will add a $3 per ticket fee to all ticket purchases, thus eliminating cash collection in the lots altogether at Falcon Stadium. We believe this will significantly improve traffic flow and expedite travel into the parking lots so fans can enjoy more time tailgating, socializing and our Falcon Alley festivities. The elimination of cash handling will also increase safety by reducing physical contact points in the parking areas. Please check out our website this afternoon for the full release and details on our new process. You can also check out the frequently asked questions tab at the top of this message for more information on this important change.
We could also use your help with gaining more insight into your fan experience. I would like to encourage each of you reading this update to provide us your feedback on our fan survey if you have not done so already. The survey was emailed out recently, but we have received reports that several supporters have had it go to their spam folders. Please check those settings to enable future communications from Air Force Athletics, you can also check out the fan survey on our website under fans or click HERE. Please take a few minutes to give us your thoughts on how we can improve and make your experience the best, by doing so you will automatically be entered to win some impressive Falcon items as a thank you.
Last week we had some great news from our fencing program, as head coach Omar Elgeziry was named the 2020 Western Fencing Conference Coach of the Year. I'm thrilled for him to be recognized by his peers as a first-year head coach. The award is a testament to the achievements and buy-in of our outstanding cadet-athletes in the program. He has done a tremendous job building his staff and setting the culture and vision of our program.
We also continue to try new ways to get our message out to supporters, so in addition to these bi-monthly updates, we have started virtual AD Roundtable discussions via Zoom. We have been getting supporters from a number of areas together for updates on the department and some live question and answer time with yours truly. Our first two weeks have been with supporters in Chicago and in Arizona and we are planning to continue these with more groups across the country in the coming weeks. We are also working on details to do one locally with fans in Colorado to give them a chance to hear directly from me and ask questions. Keep an eye out for our social media channels, and website for more details, dates and times.
In closing, I would like everyone to know how excited we are for this coming year and the prospect of having intercollegiate athletics. I hope to see you soon and thank you for your continued support of our cadet-athletes and Air Force Athletics.
Go Falcons!
Nathan Pine
Director of Athletics
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