Article on the Status of BGSU hockey and FUnd raising

[MACMAN]

I was told to check this out last night froma friend, some positives and excitment and my understanding is that we may have a VERY BIG announcement Friday night at the earliest MAybe Mondayish
any of other "well informed" have an confirmation on this ?



Campaign to raise funds for Ice Arena
After receiving state and reallocated University funds, the committee is beginning fundraising effor

By Josh Whetherholt

Print this article
Share this article

Published: Friday, November 6, 2009

Updated: Friday, November 6, 2009

The fundraising campaign to renovate the University Ice Arena and bring approximately $2 million in scholarship funds within the next 18 months now has an official committee and is underway.

After receiving $1.5 million from the Ohio government this past summer and a $2.5 million reallocation of University funds by President Carol Cartwright, the campaign now has $4 million dollars out of the prospected $5 million.

“It’s going very well,” Cartwright said. “We have the money we need to make renovations. It’s been going along well for the early stages and it’s off and running. It was obvious to me how important the hockey program was and is to the BGSU community and the BG community.”

The recently announced committee to head the fundraising campaign boasts several big name players from the Bowling Green world, including Olympic gold medalist Scott Hamilton and members of the 1984 National Championship Hockey team Mike Pikul and Garry Galley. Dave Ellett, another 1984 team member, built recently built a hockey arena in New Mexico and is now on board for the ice arena renovations at his alma mater.

“It’s very important that we tap into those people,” Galley said. “All those people have been living hockey for all those years.”

While some of the money to raised will be focused into simple mechanical renovations, most of it is being used to help rebuild and sustain the Hockey program, Pikul said.

“Raising funds for the arena has been neglected for a long period of time and we have to get it back to the point where it’s not hurting itself anymore,” Galley said. “We need to market the rink and the program better. [The project] needs to have everybody pulling on the same rope at the same time and I think we have that now.”

For Pikul, the stability of the program is what is most important.

“We want to be able to solidify the program for years to come,” Pikul said. “Bowling Green was a big part of my life academically, professionally and from a hockey standpoint. The viability of the program is very dear to my heart.”

The campaign largely seeks donations from alumni and private donations from community members. One of the donation options is to choose which part of the campaign to donate to: the scholarship endowments or the arena restoration. To Galley, community support will be key for the success of the campaign.

“We have energy and spirit, [and] that alone is going to drive this thing,” Galley said. “We don’t need just money, we need the support of the alumni, the community and the students.”

As part of the fundraising campaign, the committee plans to have various Presidents Club meetings that will be used to strategize ways to get people interested in donating and sustaining one of the University’s most storied athletic programs. This first of these meetings will take place on Nov. 14 at the hockey game between BGSU and Alaska where the 1984 National Championship team will be honored.

“I think it’s a real point of pride that we had a championship team,” Cartwright said. “We are going to need to find ways to return it to another level of competitiveness.”

If the campaign works, Cartwright plans to employ fundraising strategies to help boost other University programs. She said athletic programs could use this method rather than relying solely on University funding while academic programs are not necessarily getting as much financial support.

While some students may feel the University should be giving their efforts to improve academic aspects, Galley said he thinks such an historical program will gain the needed support of the students and community.

“Hopefully they won’t be saying, ‘why did they do this?,’” he said. “They’ll be saying, ‘it’s about time.’”

[toddpav]

That's good news and all... but over the summer when our program was in possible peril, I heard a lot about supporting the team this year and record breaking attendance and guess what... I've yet to see any of that. Seems like its just the same crowd (the true fans) that come to the games still.

[MACMAN]

yea, and it is hard work to create fans, and we have our work cut out for us.
No help from BG youth hockey, numbers are dismal from what I have heard, more than even last year. ITs really a sad state.
But it to can come back.

[pdt1081]

yea, and it is hard work to create fans, and we have our work cut out for us.
No help from BG youth hockey, numbers are dismal from what I have heard, more than even last year. ITs really a sad state.
But it to can come back.

Youth Hockey has had many problems and they just keep getting worse.

As for generating fans, marketing, marketing, marketing. You can't place one ad in the newspaper the day of the game and expect people to show up. Stop using high school sports as an excuse to not market and get the word out that hockey still exists in Bowling Green. There was one ad in The Blade last week about the Michigan game in Toledo. That's it outside the weekly ad that runs in the Sentinel. Until the marketing is expanded outside of Bowling Green there aren't gonna be large crowds in the Ice Arena.

[falcons86]

I know where there's almost 20,000 available bodies every Friday and Saturday! You have to get the students to get behind the team first. Not saying that there isn't a core group of students who aren't behind the team, because they are. WE NEED MORE!!!!

Jim and Cookie

GO FALCONS!!!

NEVER GIVE UP!!
NEVER SURRENDER!!

[bgbill]

There should be a "Game On!" electronic billboard along I-75 to lure in the Canadians passing by. Free parking for 18-wheelers, too.

Do as they do in Omaha: beer.

[MACMAN]

...beer sales would help...

[BGDrew]

Throughout the whole cluster**** earlier this summer Pikul and Galley were constantly reminding the administration that as long as they made a commitment to the program they would guarantee a very sizable donation to the program. I would imagine that with all of the festivities this weekend we're going to see the "kick-off" donations from committee members. I would imagine something in the $1.5-2 million range.

[bgsufalcon24]

That's good news and all... but over the summer when our program was in possible peril, I heard a lot about supporting the team this year and record breaking attendance and guess what... I've yet to see any of that. Seems like its just the same crowd (the true fans) that come to the games still.

You know, you can advertise all you want, bring in donations, get the administration behind the renovations to the IA, and hold pep rallies and really do whatever you can to drum up support. I'm not disqualifying any of these things because they are important, certainly with our program so close to being canned earlier this year. You get support any way you can. But when it comes to attendance, in any sport, the bottom line is that if you don't WIN, they won't come.

The diehards will always be there, but for the "average" fan of BG athletics to really get tuned in and turn out, you have to win. It doesn't matter if you're talking about football, volleyball, hockey, basketball, cross country, etc. I don't like it, I know most of you don't like it, but the types of people we need to come out to the IA on these cold winter nights aren't the people posting consistently on azz, they're already there for the most part. It's the fringe fans that need to see W's, or at the least a consistent, strong effort against quality opposition.

Edit: In fact, I'd go so far as to say you not only need to win, you need to win a big majority of your home games too. Look at football. Even though our team hasn't been all that bad in recent years, we're not winning at home, and it's hurting our attendance tremendously. Home wins are what really get people feeling good about the program and make them want to come back.