Eagle Nation,
The 2021-22 Eastern Washington University Athletic season has started! Our fall sports have been working hard for the past month getting prepared for their seasons and we are excited that we will soon be seeing many of you at our events. Our coaches have all been very pleased with how competitive our students have been in their fall camp practices. Our Eagles are ready to soar!
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We currently are prepared to have our venues open at full capacity and back to our regular game day operations. If the governor or county changes any COVID medical protocols for our events, we will share those adjustments as soon as possible. Our staff and students are following all of the medical mandates we have received from the campus, the county, our state, the Big Sky Conference, and the NCAA. Please know that local and state mandates will always take precedent with our operations so that we can keep everyone as safe as possible. All staff members and the majority of our students are vaccinated so that we can compete this season with minimal disruptions.
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As home events go, our cross country program is hosting the Clash of the Inland Northwest on our campus this Friday with races at 10 and 10:30 a.m., if you are around, we would love spectators to come out and view the race. Our women's soccer team is also in action this Sunday at home against Bakersfield at 11 a.m., and we will be hosting our first-ever non-conference volleyball tournament on Sept. 17-18 at Reese Court.
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We "kick-off" the football season in Las Vegas on Thursday evening and are looking forward to a great experience in Allegiant Stadium for our team. The Alumni Tailgate has been sold out and we expect more than 1,000 Eagles inside the stadium cheering our team on. The game will be streamed via www.watchstadium.com for those not able to be in Vegas.
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For Eagle fans, the 2021-22 athletic season will look a little different as we have advanced in several areas. This summer the Big Sky Conference announced a conference-wide media agreement with ESPN+. We are excited to have the level of visibility that ESPN can provide our program and the conference. Our first production was a women's soccer game and the look was outstanding. For the most up to date broadcast information, please take a look at the schedules on www.goeags.com. Â
Another shift, new this season, is the move to digital ticketing. Our new Ticket Manager, Andrew Flanagan has overseen this industry-standard transition as last week many Eagle fans should have received their football season tickets via email. There is a helpful mobile ticket instruction guideline on our website that will help answer any questions. Click here to view. I first encountered digital ticketing at the Final Four almost six years ago. We are so excited to advance our operation to this level moving forward. Rest assured, we are anticipating many game day scenarios and will be prepared should any ticketing issues arise. This is a great fan accommodation and it will be a huge efficiency for our operations.
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As always, thank you for your support. Thank you for showing your Eagle Grit as we are all working through the pandemic. We are still in a space that we need everyone to continue to be vigilant about your health - - but working together we can have a great start to a new year. We look forward to seeing you at our events. Please contact me: lhickey@ewu.edu with any questions that you have - - or suggestions on how we can be of better service to you.
Lynn Hickey
Associate Vice President / Athletic Director
Eastern Washington University
