Getting fans to the games

[Sycamore75]

Women?s Basketball Picked To Finish First in East October 11, 2007, INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - The Bellarmine women?s basketball team ranked No. 1 in the East Division of the Great Lakes Valley Conference pre-season coaches poll released today by officials from the GLVC office. Drury was selected for the top spot in the West Division.
Bellarmine is coming off a 19-11 season, including an appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The team returns all five starters from last year?s squad, including senior guard Angela Smith (Greenville, Ind.), who was an All-GLVC second team selection last year, and junior forward Dana Beaven (Corydon, Ind.), an All-Conference honorable mention choice in 2006-07.

?We?ve been picked in this spot before and it doesn?t necessarily come out that way,? said head coach David Smith. ?What we saw in the poll today was not totally unexpected when you look at the year we had last year and the fact we have five starters back, plus the team that won the division last year (Lewis) really lost a lot.?

?The thing is, now we just have to play up to those expectations.?

The Knights received four first-place ballots in the poll. Coaches could only vote for teams in their division. Northern Kentucky, Kentucky Wesleyan, and Lewis were the other East Division teams that received a first-place vote.

Bellarmine will open their season with three games at the Disney Division II Tip-Off Classic in Orlando, Fla. from Nov. 2-4 before hosting their home opener on Nov. 18 against Grand Valley State at 2:00 p.m.

[ssoats]

This sounds like the making of a good game. Still remember I think it was 2 years ago when we played Drury in an exhibition game and nearly got beat. Maybe we did get beat. Cant remember. But do remember that team went far that year and I think our schedule this year is one of the strongest. It will help us down the road. Will we win them all? No. Will we be a better team for playing this tough schedule. Yes. The players just need to keep their heads up and things will fall in place especially come conference. Bank on it!

[Sycamore75]

Who's going Sunday???

[ssoats]

Ill be there with the family. I like these weekend games. Hopefully the place will be rocking. Also getting excited about our mens game coming up next week.

[Sycamore75]

Game has been canceled

http://www.sycamorehoops.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1581#post1581

[Pomeroy Fan]

The game was cancelled because there is a NCAA rule prohibiting Division I exhibitions before Nov. 1.

This is idiocy on the part of ISU and the women's program. How could they not know that?

[BlueHeart]

At least now the conflict with the Colts game Sunday is resolved. Makes one wonder how a mistake like that can get by the whole staff, but we need to remember that Bellarmine didn't catch it either. Maybe it isn't obvious. I'm more disappointed that I have to wait for action to begin at Hulman Center than I am about the slip up.

[ssoats]

I saw in the Trib Star today that the women are still playing Bellarmine but it is closed to the public due to the NCAA Division 1 rule. So I assume family of the players may be allowed in. If anyone out there is able to see the game, please post your thoughts. Thanks.

[Pomeroy Fan]

At least now the conflict with the Colts game Sunday is resolved. Makes one wonder how a mistake like that can get by the whole staff, but we need to remember that Bellarmine didn't catch it either. Maybe it isn't obvious. I'm more disappointed that I have to wait for action to begin at Hulman Center than I am about the slip up.

It's not Bellarmine's job to catch it because they're not Division I. It's only a Division I rule. Brain fade by Wiedie, simple as that.

[ssoats]

Pomeray Fan you are not a big supporter of the ladies basketball program, are you?

[Pomeroy Fan]

Pomeray Fan you are not a big supporter of the ladies basketball program, are you?

Why? Because I'm pointing out the truth?

[ssoats]

You didnt answer the question. Are you a fan of the womens basketball program?:confused:

[CoachTerri]

You didnt answer the question. Are you a fan of the womens basketball program?:confused:
In Pomeroy's defense...being a fan has nothing to do with realizing there are things that ISU could do much better on regarding the women's basketball program. Most of them concern marketing and building on what Coach Weidie has done in building his program...the are are administrative folks who drop the ball regularly...like not having a band during semester break...there are local hs bands who would probably jump at the opportunity to play for a game in Hulman Center... face it the women's program takes a back seat to the men's even though they have had much more recent success and have a loyal following

[ssoats]

I agree totally with you CoachTerri.The womens program is 2nd behind the mens for alot of people. I guess I was just jumping to the conclusion that pomeroy fan was a mens follower that doesnt like the women because of his 2 negative posts about Coach Wiedie. It was a mistake and thankfully it was found. My bad to jumping to conclusions. I hate people who do this and here I did it. I also agree that the administration could do more for the women. We could bring in more people for the mens and womens game if we had more halftime entertainment with local high school kids. The parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters and other family members would buy tickets and we could get them in the door to watch their high schooler perform at halftime either it be a music presentation as a high school choir or a high school band performing at half time. Once they are in the door and see the way our men and women play hopefully we will have them coming back for more.

[CoachTerri]

I couldn't agree more. I particularly think Coach Wiedie's program is one of the best things going in this town. I think last year I ended up getting 16 sycamore squad memberships for kids that I coach and other friends of my son. It's the best $10 anyone can spend on a kid they care about. Maybe some of the administrators are lurking around these boards and will realize the community really will support something good if they will put forth a little bit of effort outside the boundaries of campus.

Coach T

[Eleven]

...the are are administrative folks who drop the ball regularly...like not having a band during semester break...there are local hs bands who would probably jump at the opportunity to play for a game in Hulman Center... face it the women's program takes a back seat to the men's even though they have had much more recent success and have a loyal following

Um.... you do know that there are times that the men's game has no band as well right? It's pretty tough to do when all of your students are away on vacation. DK tries to put together an "Alumni Band" during the breaks.... but it's gotta be pretty tough to organize that as well.

Having HS bands play during ISU Games... I don't know... it would take a lot of effort on both sides to get a band "game ready" for all of our songs, and learning the timeout rules, etc...

[ssoats]

Eleven-I know there is no band for the mens game as well as the womens when they are on vacation. And what I am complaining about is during halftime during any given game,to bring more people into the games, especialy I guess the mens game because people are consistantly complaining about the lack of people at these games. Why not try to get high school choirs or bands or other high school activities there at half? They dont have to play our songs,know our timeouts,etc. because they are entertainment at halftime only. Parents of high school kids follow their kids as well as grandparents and brothers and sisters. They will be buying tickets to the games and putting bodies into the seats every game their kid is there. And then hopefully once we have them in the door they will come back for more. This is just my thoughts and you all have your own opinions which is why we post on this forum.

[CoachTerri]

Eleven,
The band thing is just one example of something that could do...putting forth some effort is the job of the administration!! They should know when there are games that the ISU band is not going to be there and arrange other things to draw a crowd from the community. DK does a great job and our band is the best in the MVC but there is room for other entertainment when the opportunity is there. There is no reason another band would have to play the same songs...there is opportunity for someone in the outfit to get out of the box and actually think of things to do. John Sherman has been doing a great job but he can't do it all by himself. If good things are going to keep happening then the folks in the fund raising have to go for the audience they have...not only the big $$ fish but the average family in our community who can fill the seats in Hulman Center. We should lhave more butts in the seats for both men's and women's games...not just when the men play IU or Purdue...Perhaps Coach McKenna will be more of a community builder than Waltman was. Having the men's team at the Big Blue BBQ was a step in the right direction. He's smart enough to see what Coach Weidie has built. Although it was a bit telling when several people left Hulman Center after the Lady Sycamores finished their scrimmage. We stayed to watch the men and were pleasantly surprised.

The people dropping the ball for both programs are not Coach Weidie, DK or the folks running the sycamore squad...the people who should have the organizational skills to know where the weak spots are and do something to improve them...starting at Prettyman and his associate athletic directors...The coaches are doing their job now it's the JOB of the atheltic directors to put butts in the seats...the coaches are doing theirs by giving us good teams...now we need some marketing and promotion to get not just the ISU campus but the Wabash Valley community supporting ISU athletics.

OK...I'm off of the soap box for now

Coach T

[BlueSycamore]

Wasn't sure what a pomeroy was..................but lo & behold:

What is a Pomeroy?
The name "Pomeroy" is not so much a thing, but a spirit of athletic excellence and sportsmanship. The team name is proudly worn by athletes in remembrance of an outstanding woman and her contributions to The Woods community. Mary Joseph Pomeroy, SP, a 1921 graduate of SMWC, served the college for nearly half a century as a student, teacher and administrator. She shone her light through her dedication to the Sisters of Providence and the goal of education for women.

Her service to the College community continues to this day through the Sister Mary Joseph Pomeroy Scholarship and the Sister Mary Joseph Pomeroy Faculty Excellence Award. Sister Pomeroy's dedication to excellence in education continues at the College and the athletic teams proudly display her love of sports. The next time someone asks you, "Hey, what is a Pomeroy?" with all the pride, knowledge and confidence that Sister Mary Joseph represents, answer their question.

[Sycamore75]

You guys & gals are bringing up some great points and I have to agree with 99.9% of it. The coaches are doing everything they can and they have thier time filled with coaching and recruiting to have to worry about promoting thier squads. This is where the Athletic Office needs to step up and put some effort behind the product we (ISU) has to offer. There is no reason we can't or shouldn't be getting 7,000-8,000 fans per game (both men & womens). The one big thing outside of the lack of marketing and promoting is the Wabash Valley community itself I feel. Terre Haute over the past 10 years or more has been a entertainment nightmare for promotors. A town the size of TH with all the students between ISU,Rose and St. Mary's should be drawing big time concerts and other events. There is a reason the Mellencamp concert last week was the first in several years, no one shows up for them. It has amazed me several years ago when HI 99 use to get the biggest names in country music to show up and there would be 5,000 people here for the show. Just this past Summer the WWE came to town and as huge as it was there was maybe 3,000 fans. Look at what has happened to the Action Track. The only thing that brings fans out in TH is Colts Camp and about 40% of that crowd is from outside the Wabash Valley. Our biggest crowds like mentioned before is against IU and Purdue and half the crowd are there fans. The culture of TH needs to change before we can change attendence at ISU game and other events.

[CoachTerri]

Fire...I would agree with the culture needing improvement but if you think back to the 70s...the local economy was much different. There were lots of good paying manufacturing and mining jobs...today our economy and that of the nation is changing to a service instead of manufacturing base...all the formerly good paying jobs are going to China where people work for .12/hr...but that's an entirely different message board...OY...

Coach T

[Eleven]

Eleven-I know there is no band for the mens game as well as the womens when they are on vacation. And what I am complaining about is during halftime during any given game,to bring more people into the games, especialy I guess the mens game because people are consistantly complaining about the lack of people at these games. Why not try to get high school choirs or bands or other high school activities there at half? They dont have to play our songs,know our timeouts,etc. because they are entertainment at halftime only. Parents of high school kids follow their kids as well as grandparents and brothers and sisters. They will be buying tickets to the games and putting bodies into the seats every game their kid is there. And then hopefully once we have them in the door they will come back for more. This is just my thoughts and you all have your own opinions which is why we post on this forum.

I absolutely agree with this.
More community involvement during halftime shows would be very welcomed.
Those kids have to get there somehow! ;-)

How about this...
Each home game, a differeent Elementary Schools receives free tickets to all students.
Tallies are taken to determine how many students show up on each night.
The school with the most students showing up at the end of the year receives an appropriate prize/donation/scholarship for the school.
(This may have already been done before...)

[Eleven]

The only thing that brings fans out in TH is Colts Camp and about 40% of that crowd is from outside the Wabash Valley. Our biggest crowds like mentioned before is against IU and Purdue and half the crowd are there fans. The culture of TH needs to change before we can change attendence at ISU game and other events.
And the Colts camp is free...

[Sycamore75]

And the Colts camp is free...

True but parking is about as much as a single game ticket at ISU

[Sycamore75]

I absolutely agree with this.
More community involvement during halftime shows would be very welcomed.
Those kids have to get there somehow! ;-)

How about this...
Each home game, a differeent Elementary Schools receives free tickets to all students.
Tallies are taken to determine how many students show up on each night.
The school with the most students showing up at the end of the year receives an appropriate prize/donation/scholarship for the school.
(This may have already been done before...)

I like your thinking but I don't see any chance of State giving away several hundred free tickets each game. I think having something themed nites where they discount upper level seats would be a better route. Maybe one nite have a Clay County nite, where all fans that can show prove of them living in CC gets in half priced, another nite have a Armed Services Nite and so on. I know they would be losing money cutting ticket prices in half but it's less than they would be losing having 6,000 empty seats each nite. Both the men and womens team are very exciting to wath in person and once you can get new folks out to the games the more likely they are to wanna come back.

[Sycamore75]

We have a great discussion going on in one of the threads in the womens section so I wanted to bring more light to it. Great ideals being brought up by our fans/members!

[CoachTerri]

I absolutely agree with this.
More community involvement during halftime shows would be very welcomed.
Those kids have to get there somehow! ;-)

How about this...
Each home game, a differeent Elementary Schools receives free tickets to all students.
Tallies are taken to determine how many students show up on each night.
The school with the most students showing up at the end of the year receives an appropriate prize/donation/scholarship for the school.
(This may have already been done before...)
Great idea Eleven...I think the men's program has tried this in the past...The problem is they don't publicize anything...much like the scrimmage/season ticket non event last week. You have to let people know what is going on. Not just on campus but all across the Wabash Valley. That would mean that people like Prettyman and John Sherman need to be making the morning TV shows...running some TV commercials...putting things in the Tribstar...before the eve of an event...actually do some PROMOTION of the programs before games...instead of ISU blowing $50K on the Air Show...$50K would have done lots of athletic promotion...of course that may be a different pile of money. The point is there are LOCAL resources who could help ISU but ISU hired firms from out of state to market them...that is Indiana money going to places like Colorado and California...ISU (administration) thinks so badly of Terre Haute they have no faith in the product they produce(which are ISU grads).

Colts camp is a good example of promotion...by the time it's over lots of folks are tired of hearing about it but it does do a great deal to promote the city and bring in revenue. Wouldn't it be great if there were no available hotel rooms every weekend when the ISU men's bball team played because people from all around were coming to watch them...it takes ISU and the city working together...you have to give Mayor Burke some credit there he has done more to work with ISU than any other city administration I can recall.

coach T

[CoachTerri]

I like your thinking but I don't see any chance of State giving away several hundred free tickets each game. I think having something themed nites where they discount upper level seats would be a better route. Maybe one nite have a Clay County nite, where all fans that can show prove of them living in CC gets in half priced, another nite have a Armed Services Nite and so on. I know they would be losing money cutting ticket prices in half but it's less than they would be losing having 6,000 empty seats each nite. Both the men and womens team are very exciting to wath in person and once you can get new folks out to the games the more likely they are to wanna come back.
Several hundred empty seats vs. full seats and free tickets...they could give a couple of thousand free tickets and it would be a great investment...there may even be good family package deals available now but no one would know it because they don't PROMOTE anything. Coach Weidie has done a good job of promoting himself with the money the big blue booster club has raised. The full page ad during Mel's senior year...that wasn't the university that was Coach Weidie.

Maybe Coach McKenna can get a Sycamore Squad like group together for the men's program and actually put some information out that can make it to the schools. I know most of the grade schools have sycamore squad information available. Teachers send flyers home with kids for all kinds of things. Adding ISU events to the pile wouldn't be difficult.

Coach T

[bent20]

Does the university not do commercials for their sports teams? I live in the Quad-Cities (eastern Iowa/northwest Illinois for those not familiar) and I hear commercials on the radio all the time for Western Illinois and its teams. Other than the student radio station, I can't remember ever hearing anything for Indiana State's teams when I visit Terre Haute.

[Sycamore75]

Maybe Coach McKenna can get a Sycamore Squad like group together for the men's program and actually put some information out that can make it to the schools. I know most of the grade schools have sycamore squad information available. Teachers send flyers home with kids for all kinds of things. Adding ISU events to the pile wouldn't be difficult.

Coach T

I agree what Coach Weidie has done with the Sycamore Squad is remarkable. The mens team has a similiar program where kids can get a $10 season ticket and shirt. They need to make the mens club like the womens where the kids can actualy go down on the court durring starting lineups and be directly involved. That gets the young ones excited and they tell all thier frioends at school how cool it was which leads to more families attending games.

[Sycamore75]

I'm in the process as I type of trying to setup a possiable Q&A session with John Sherman or someone directly related to marketing at ISU. John has done a great job but I'm sure alot of the stuff that needs to be done is out of his hands. Hopefuly we'll get a response so us fans and alumni can ask them the "hard questions".

[Eleven]

there may even be good family package deals available now but no one would know it because they don't PROMOTE anything.
Coach T

How about $190 for 2 adult and 2 child tickets for the season?

More info here:
http://calendar.indstate.edu//EventDetails.aspx?data=Nghe9Mdf%2b6qdZb56yM4bTkp%2 fazILRAqyFUNuwUMe9bg%3d

As well as on the GoSycamores.com site under season tickets.

Now... I don't know if you can buy those for single games or not... might be something to persue.

[Sycamore75]

MEN’S BASKETBALL TICKET PRICES
Season Tickets

Courtside $285 per Season Ticket
$400 Varsity Club Donation per seat

Floor I $225 per Season Ticket
$300 Varsity Club Donation per seat

Floor II $225 per Season Ticket
$250 Varsity Club Donation per seat

Priority I $180 per Season Ticket $146 (Faculty/Staff–Max 4 seats)
$175 Varsity Club Donation per seat


Lower Level
(Non-Priority) $164 per Season Ticket $114 (Faculty/Staff)
No Donation Required

Upper Concourse $120 per Season Ticket
$94 (Faculty/Staff–Senior Citizens )

Family Plan $190 (Upper Concourse–Section 206, 2 adult / 2 children

Rafter Rats $46 (top 3 rows only–excludes Section 218, 219, 200

Individual Tickets
Lower Level/Priority I $25 per ticket
Lower Level/
Non-Priority $15 per ticket

Upper Concourse $12 per ticket–Adult
$8 per ticket–Youth

Fan Zone
Section 218, 219, 200 $6 per ticket (limited number–all tickets $6)

Corporate Seating Section
Includes 2 courtside seats with complimentary game programs for VIP’s 98 non-priority lower level tickets (100 total tickets) Varsity Club Room access–
$750 per game

McKenna's Kids
(children thru 8th grade) $10–Upper Concourse
Priority Ticket and Parking Donation Guidelines Brochure
Hulman Center Seating Diagram

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TICKET PRICES
Season Tickets

Courtside $150
Floor I $134
Priority I $80
Priority I
(ISU Faculty/Staff/Senior Citizen) $67

All Other Seating
(excluding sections 124 & 125) $60
ISU Faculty/Staff/Senior Citizen $55
Sycamore Squad $10

Individual Tickets
Lower Level $8
Youth/Senior Citizen $7
25 or more $6

[Sycamore75]

For $270 a family of 4 (2 adults,2 kids) can get season tickets to both the mens & womens basketball. That's pretty darn reasonable.

[CoachTerri]

I think you are mistaken about the season ticket. They get a free ticket only if an adult purchases a ticket to a game. It has always seemed to me that the men's program had the attitude that they were too good to do things with the kids like the women's program does. I know not every parent can find the time or inclination to take their kids to games. I frequently take a car load and sometimes two car loads to women's games...but its worth it to see the kids excited about something great like the Lady Sycamores. Not much better role models around.

Coach T

[Eleven]

I think you are mistaken about the season ticket. They get a free ticket only if an adult purchases a ticket to a game.
Coach T

Can you quote the part that you think is mistaken? I'm not sure which post you are referring to.

[CoachTerri]

Sorry the season ticket for McKenna's kids. Maybe they changed it but the kid only got a ticket with the Waltman regime if an adult ticket was purchased. If so that's a good improvement. I'm not even sure with waltman's program it was free...I think reduced price or something.

I agree that it would be great to put the kids out on the floor for the men's program. What would a kids section in the lower level hurt...it's rarely full any way.

Seems like it would be a good idea to concenrate on getting the lower level full ...even if the prices had to be dropped...or some free tickets given away.

Does any one know how many people the lower level holds?

Coach T

[IndyTreeFan]

Does any one know how many people the lower level holds?

Coach T

I believe it's approximately 3,500...

[Eleven]

I was thinking 4k in the bottom, 6k in the top...