UTEP's battle plan for athletics ?

[MeanGreen61]

From a post on the CUSA board. Part of a UTEP report.

Sports Programs (to be implemented by 2014)

-Baseball?based on UTEP?s regional location and ?citywide? interest in baseball (high school programs, El Paso Community College, professional baseball, baseball academy). Possible facility partnerships may be available within the city.

-Swimming and Diving (Women)?based on ?citywide? interest in swimming and diving (high school programs, private swim programs) and Title IX legislation. Sharing facilities with the current UTEP Swimming and Fitness Center is a possible option.

-Bowling (Women)?based on the relatively low start-up cost of implementing a program, ?citywide? interest in bowling (league bowling), Title IX legislation, and the possible availability of a state-of-the-art facility near the UTEP campus.

-Equestrian (Women)?based on the relatively low start-up cost of implementing a program and on strong potential community support and access to both a facility and horses. Title IX legislation is also a consideration.

Rodeo (Women)?based on local interest and Title IX legislation. Additional research is needed.

-Competitive Cheerleading (Women)?based on a El Paso?s Quality of Life Committee Chair A.F. Ayoub and member Virginia W. Shapiro listened to a discussion about UTEP?s role in providing intellectual and cultural resources to the community. 39 current nationally recognized UTEP Cheerleading Squad and the possibility of developing a competitive UTEP Cheerleading Team. Title IX legislation is also a consideration.

-Facilities (New Construction and/or Improvements)

-Conduct a feasibility study to determine location, building components, and cost of a Men?s and Women?s Basketball Practice Facility. (Priority)

-Construct an on-campus dining facility to provide meal plans for student athletes.

-Conduct a feasibility study to determine the size, scope, and cost of the following additions or improvements to the Sun Bowl Stadium:Luxury suites

-Club section with chair backs

-TV monitors at concession stands and upgraded concession stands to provide greater customer service

-Additional seating?in the event that the UTEP football program continues its progress and thus generates more fan interest both locally and regionally

-Natural grass?in order to attract potential international soccer matches. However, associated costs and/or resources (e.g., maintenance, water) and a limited use requirement for a grass field may limit the feasibility of this option.

-Conduct a feasibility study to determine the size, scope, and cost of the following additions or improvements to the Don Haskins Center (Priority):Luxury suites

-Additional seating (15,000 to 18,000 total seats suggested), in the event that the UTEP men?s and women?s basketball programs continue their progress, creating more fan interest both locally and regionally. Additional seating would allow UTEP to host NCAA Basketball Tournament games and other special events such as concerts.

-TV monitors at concession stands and upgraded concession stands to provide greater customer service

-Upgraded arena lighting to provide greater fan entertainment

-Additional office space for Men?s Basketball, Don Haskins Center, and Special Events staff

-Secure a space for the football team to meet as one unit.

-Upgrade the Baltimore Field/Football Practice Facility (lighting, storage, an additional practice field).

-Upgrade the Kidd Field stadium seating and offices, to include a cover over both the track and stands, helping to eliminate sun exposure.

-Construct an on-campus tennis facility for use by UTEP students, the UTEP women?s tennis program, and the El Paso community (e.g., tennis camps).

-Expand UTEP?s Athletics Administrative offices to accommodate current and future growth in the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. These offices could be built as part of the men?s and women?s basketball practice facility.

-Football Game Atmosphere Enhancements

-Develop a Mesa Street Block Party by closing off Mesa Street and/or working with the City to construct a tunnel under Mesa Street for pedestrian traffic. The area on Mesa Street from Baltimore Street to University Avenue could be named the ?Mine Shaft District,? as is done on other university campuses.

-Improve the transportation system to ease access to the Sun Bowl:Coordinate efforts with Sun Metro to offer centralized pick-up and return for UTEP home football games at such places as Cielo Vista and Sunland Park Malls.

-Organize on-campus shuttle system/customer service carts to take fans from one side of Sun Bowl Stadium to the other as well as to provide transportation to the stadium from parking lots that are not within walking distance.

-Enhance merchandise stands and locate them throughout the stadium.

-Extend the marching band?s activities prior to entering the stadium (e.g., performance on campus for tailgaters) and provide the band with additional scholarship assistance.

-Miscellaneous Recommendations

-Increase UTEP?s athletics budget to $25-$35 million per year so that UTEP can become a Top 25 Intercollegiate Athletics program. In order to achieve this goal, UTEP must become a consistent 40/10 program (average fan attendance of more than 40,000 fans per home football game and more than 10,000 fans per men?s basketball game).-Develop a Community Steering Committee to assist in the implementation of all initiatives and recommendations.

-Develop satellite Miner Shop(s)/Ticket Centers throughout El Paso (e.g., East, Northeast) that would sell UTEP merchandise and tickets for all UTEP-sponsored events.

-Explore a possible ?tie-in? (both at the conference level and individually) with the Sun Bowl football game.

-Host first and second round games of the NCAA Men?s Basketball Tournament.

-Host the conference men?s and women?s basketball tournaments.

-Explore the possibility of creating UTEP?s own men?s and/ or women?s basketball tournament as a potential source of revenue.

-Develop elite team camps and/or tournaments to attract prospective students from all areas of Texas and the United States.

-Schedule competition in all sports programs with Top 25 teams as well as with the following regional teams?

University of New Mexico, New Mexico State, BYU, Baylor, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, UT-Austin, Arizona, and Arizona State.

http://ia.utep.edu/Portals/569/Quality_of_Life[low].pdf

Edited May 2, 2006 by MeanGreen61

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

The only I-A team in Texas not included is:----------North Texas!!!!. The rest are either CUSA teams or the four Big-XII teams mentioned.

Correction---they omited TCU also.