Owl Football Spring Game

On Saturday, April 19, at 2 p.m. join the Sun Belt Conference and New Orleans Bowl Champions at the 8th Annual Spring Game held at the Track and Field Complex. The whole family can come out and get a sneak peek of the Owls while enjoying an interactive area for kids, an athletics memorabilia surplus sale and a special appearance by the FAU Cheerleaders and Owsley the mascot.

Parking and admission are free.

The Ring

The rings are here! The rings are here! The FAU Football team finally received their championship rings from the New Orleans Bowl. After four months the guys were presented with there rings before they started practice on April 9, which signified a culmination of their success.

The Bowl Championship ring:

- Comes in gold or platinum

- Has 15 diamonds in the shape of a football with a blue gem in the center

- Owls Sun Belt Champs/ Florida Atlantic on the top

- RL Carrier New Orleans Bowl, on one side

- Owl face on the other side

- Each players name and number engraved on the inside

GOD and Sports...

FAU athletes are not just dedicated to their sport many are also dedicated to God. Every Monday night at 5pm athletes from the many sports at FAU congregate together in the Founders Lounge in the Tom Oxley Center to worship God.

Every week, a Fellowship of Christian Athletes(FCA) member chooses a verse from the bible that touches them in some way, they share it with the group and each person reflects on the verse as well. Each session opens and closes in prayer. Not only are these meetings for the athletes meant to bering them closer to God but it also gives these athletes an outlet for venting any stresses they have had in their everyday lives.

Athlete Spotlight

Hey did you know that we have a lot of international athletes here at FAU. They come all the way from fromplaces like Norway all the way to Australia. Friederike Feil or "Ike" as she is affectionately called by her friends and teammates is a German born Cross Country runner.

She is the top distance runner on the team and for a person who runs no less then 5 miles a day, she better be. She was named All-Conference for the second year in a row and finished 43rd at the NCAA Regional in Gainesville in a time of 22:25.91 in the 6k. Ike is also the first two-time cross country all-conference member in FAU history.

Helping Hands

On Tuesday, April 8, the Lady Owl Volleyball team volunteered at the Boca Helping Hands Center. The team arrived at the facility at 8am and began prepping food to be be cooked and served. The entire orchestration takes about 5 hours to prepare, cook, set-up, serve and clean up. Although many girls left early due to classes a couple stayed to complete the whole process.

Katie Arvidson, the captain of the FAU Volleyball team said, "It was a great experience to do this for the community, I didn't think that it would be that much fun."

Boca Helping Hands first opened as a Food Center in November, 1998, serving nutritious hot lunches 3 days a week and giving out bags of groceries to families. An after-school sandwich program started in March, 1999. Currently we serve 5 after-school programs for low-income children during the school year, making and delivering over 60,000 sandwiches annually to approximately 360 children.

The Food Program has expanded to five days a week and includes delivering home cooked meals to homebound disabled and elderly individuals. In 2005, we served nearly 25,000 lunches to an average of about 100 people per day and delivered over 7,000 meals to the homebound.

BATTLE OF THE BUCKET

On Thursday, March 20 from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday, March 21 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Florida Atlantic University competed in the "Battle for the Bucket" blood drive competition. The blood drive took place in the football locker room of the Tom Oxley Athletic Center, Boca Raton Campus.

FAU athletes as well as staff competed against long time rival Florida International University to see who could donate the most blood for the Community Blood Centers of South Florida. The school with the highest percentage of staff and athletes compete will receive a traveling trophy.

The athletes and staff who did donate blood received free T-shirts and pizza.

It's Spring Training Time

For the past two weeks the FAU football team has been having spring training from six to seven am on the FAU track. They have been focusing on conditioning and position specific drills.

On some occasions the condition was so intense that over half the team has actually thrown-up after work out. It's done now, at least it was only two weeks. Other sports don't get the luxury of only having intense training for such a short amount of time. Other FAU sports start training at 5a.m. and do this for months.

Beach Becoming Official

Beach Volleyball may be becoming an official NCAA sport. This would be great for schools in the south because of the simple fact that they have the advantage of the weather and for those schools close to beaches, such as FAU, finding a facility won't be an issue.

"This is something we want to expand on," Gators coach Mary Wise said. "The NCAA is looking for viable team sports to help increase the number of women participating in college. We think NCAA beach volleyball is one of those sports."


This is going to be great for Florida Atlantic Volleyball, why? Because we already have the advantage of having so many beaches at our disposal. Other teams in the north will have to struggle to find facilities with beach courts.

The rules of the game have CHANGED...

The NCAA has changed the rules of the game for volleyball in a couple ways:

• Games will be played to 25, instead of 30

• Substitutions will go from 15 to 12

• Many hand calls will be eliminated
  

"The 25-point sets will add an intensity and excitement level to our matches that has been missing," Marcia Alterman of the Women's Volleyball Rules Committee said Thursday. "I believe that players, coaches and fans will agree that the critical nature of every point will emphasize the need for focus and consistency to every play."

Their reasoning behind the change is so that college play matches international play. So now people are really going to play dirty with all these changes that are going to change the intensity of the game, or now newly named "set" .

This great for Florida Atlantic Volleyball, why? Because we already have the advantage of having so many beaches at our disposal. Other teams in the north will have to struggle to find facilities with beach courts.

FAU Volleyball plays the BIG DAWGS!!!

This past weekend, FAU volleyball took on some other the counties top teams and held their own the entire time. They competeed against Wichita State University Schockers, The University of Miami Hurricanes and the #3 seeded Nebraska Cornhuskers.

The FAU Volleyball, although slightly intimidated, dove in playing with a purpose. The girls didn't let Nebraska's Status get in the way of their playing. During game play, although the girls fell to the Cornhuskers they never lost by more then 6 points (19-25, 27-29, 23-25, 12-15)which says a lot for a team who season record was 6-23 playing against a top five team. The Cornhuskers used their trip to Florida Atlantic as their Spring Break.

"This gives us a lot of confidence going into the rest of the spring and it should carry over to the fall. We played with one of the strongest teams in the country and represented ourselves well," said Katie Arvidson, who is one of FAUs co-captains.

You Thought It Was Over, NOT!!!

No, the renovations for the FAU Arena aka "The Burrow" are far from over. The $10 Million dollar renovation of the arena began in March of 2007. It now features refurbished locker rooms, lobby, and scoreboard, which feature a high definition monitor. There is also chair back seating on the west side of the Arena, and an enhanced exterior look to the Arena.

The arena is still under renovation, unfortunately after the interior work to the arenas hardwood floor was completed, the paint job was damaged and some areas of the floor where noticeably unstable. So, once again, starting in the summer of 2008 the area will be closed down due to interior renovation. Not only will the floors be repaired but the east side of the arena is said to receive chair back seating as well as the addition of sky boxes for, elite ticket holders, on the second floor balcony.

SPORTS DAY

SAAC is going to be holding its annual Sports Day for the kids of Boca Raton. This day is a great opportunity for kids to be around collegiate athletes. Although the location and date are unknown at the moment,what is for sure is that the kids are going to have fun.

They will be competing all day in kickball, baseball, flag football, soccer, obstacle courses, relay races and all types of other events.

Bukovich Squared

Hey did you know that there are siblings who play the same sport here at FAU, but not exactly.

Softball player, Amy Bukovich is second base(wo)man, third baseman and at times short stop who is a local player. She attended Olympic Heights High School right in Boca Raton and is currently a Junior here at FAU.

She's not the only Bukovich making a name for herself her at FAU, she has a brother who plays baseball. Sean Bukovich is a Freshman who and hasn't exactly gotten a chance to get his feet wet yet. But, there is no doubt that he will be able to live up to the Bukovich name. The only difference is that they attend different High schools, Sean went to West Boca Raton High School but, they are both infielders.

Dodge and Relay for Cancer

It's almost that time for everyone to come out and help show their support for those who have been affected by cancer. Relay for life is holding their event April 11 thru 12 at Henderson field. One thing that has just been added to the event is a dodgeball tournament. This 18 hour event will not only involve walking around a track to signify that cancer never stops but this dodgeball tournament will also incorporate a little fun.

The dodgeball tournament is scheduled to start at around 10 p.m. and the even itself will end around 8 a.m.

When the sun goes down, hundreds of luminaria light the way under the stars to remember those lost to cancer,those figghting cancer and those who have fought cancerr and won. The ceremony of light symbolizes the hope and preservance with whic we all continue to fight.

Hall of Famer "To Be"

Florida Atlantic University's head softball coach, Joan Joyce, will be inducted into the Palm Beach County Sports Hall of Fame, on Sunday, March 9 at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach.

Joyce came to FAU after a legendary softball career which garnered the Connecticut native All-America honors 15 times, including a National Tournament batting title (.467). She tallied a career pitching record of 753-42. Included in those totals are 150 no-hit, no-run games, and 50 perfect games. She also is credited with striking out both Ted Williams and Hank Aaron.

Joyce was also a member of the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) for 19 years. Her best round was a 66, which did not include the round which she set a Guinness Book World Record for fewest putts in a round at 17. She also has played professional volleyball, basketball and was a participant in the famed "Super Stars" television show on ABC and hosted by Howard Cosell in the mid-1970s.

Read more about Coach Joyce's induction and her great achievements.

The Last Hoorah!!!

Yup, FAU Basketball is coming to a close this weekend. Both teams will be facing the University of Western Kentucky in the Arena aka "The Burrow."
This game is going to be a determining factor for the men's team as to whether or not they will be hosting the conference tournament and have another home match. The Florida Atlantic Men's team current record is (14-16) and they have won 9-of-12 of their conference matches.

It's Senior Day for both teams. The women's team will be graduating one member while the men's team will be graduating three members.

Pros v. Joes II

The FAU Men's Soccer match against Major League Soccer team, Real Salt Lake, took place at the Holiday Inn Soccer Complex in Sunrise, FL and was part of the Owls' spring schedule as they prepare to defend their 2007 Atlantic Soccer Conference regular season and tournament titles. FAU head men's soccer coach Kos Donev was upbeat after the match, even with the 2-1 lose.

Donev said after the match. "I am pleased with the way we've played. It has been a very good spring for us."

Rec & Roll

Construction on the new recreational & fitness center is on a roll. The FAU Recreation & Fitness Center will be an $11 million, 38,100 sq. ft. state-of-the-art facility. The facility will provide new and improved recreation and fitness space, programming opportunities, and serve as a community hub for Florida Atlantic University.

Facility features include:

• 6,600 sq. ft. fitness center


• 40 pieces of cardio equipment


• Two circuit training units


• Free weight area


• Stretching area


• Two fitness performance rooms designed for yoga, pilates, aerobics, and spinning


• Men’s and women’s health club style locker rooms


• Multi-purpose gymnasium for basketball, volleyball and special events.

The architect for the project is Borelli + Partners, Inc. (Miami, Florida) Construction, managed by Kaufman Lynn General Contractors (Boca Raton, Florida)

Location: North End of the Breezeway

Expected Completion: January 2009

Pros v. Joes

FAU men's team recently played the Colorado Rapids as part of its spring scrimmage schedule. A match between a Major League Soccer team and a Division I team.

The Owls tied the Rapids 0-0 in a match held at the FAU Field. The Colorado Rapids are currently in preseason training getting ready for the upcoming MLS season. "It was a good match against a professional team," head coach Kos Donev said afterwards.

Yes, the FAU soccer team isn't pro but they sure held their own by not even letting the Rapids score on them.

Men's Soccer is the Oddball

Florida Atlantic Men's Soccer is the only FAU team that is not part of the same conference as all other FAU sports. FAU athletics is a part of the Sun-Belt Conference but the soccer team is part of the Atantic Soccer Conference, a league of their own.

The Atlantic Soccer Conference (ASC) began play in 2000 as nine colleges and universities offering NCAA division I men's soccer while holding various divisional classifications within the NCAA membership.

Work it Out

Many universities have their own weight training facilities but because of the limited space and time many FAU teams have to go to a different facility off campus, IHP. IHP known as Institute of Human Performance works with teams such as men's and women's basketball, track & field, cross country, swimming, and volleyball.

Juan Carlos the owner and head trainer of the facility assigns trainers to each team and the one benefit of using the facility for the athletes is that they are not just restrictied to train during team workouts. Juan Carlos also works with other world class athletes in sports such as wrestling, competitive weight lifting, football, hockey and many others.

A Home For the Owls

Finally, the FAU Fighting Owls are going to have a home stadium. Not only that, plenty more additions to the Florida Atlantic University campus are going to be made. The $62 million, 30,000-seat on-campus stadium is to open September 2010.

The proposal is modeled on a concept from the University of Central Florida for that school's 10,000-seat convocation center for basketball and concerts, dormitories with 2,000 beds, a new cafeteria, retail and additional parking. The university initially planned for the development team to take on all the costs, but once it studied the potential revenue streams decided to raise the money for the project, but still partner with the development.

This entire new development is to be called Innovation Village (PDF). Which will not only incumpus the stadium but also an addition possibly and new arena as well, which will also have new dorms, stores and parking.

Something Old is Now New

The winter track season is just starting to warm-up and with the direction of new women's Sprinting coach Owen McGregor the women are really beginning to prove themselves in the new conference.

However, that isn't all that is going great for the FAU Track & Field team. The FAU track was only completed in 2007, after the construction of a facility it normally takes 2-3 years for any officail event to happen because of all the pre-scheduling. But, the team doesn't have to wait that long, they are going to be holding a meet at the track this March, the 15th to be exact. It's going to be the facilities first official track meet.

SMART ATHLETES?!?!

Its a bad stigma but many athletes don't help to deter many from thinking that they are focused on being good students. However, there are a bunch that go unrecognized for actually caring about their education and pulling in the those good grades. Of nearly 400 FAU athletes 176 of them made a 3.o GPA or higher. Out of that 176 student-athletes only five made the Dean's List (achieved a 4.o or higher.) But, when you think about it, it almost seems like an amazing feet that these five student-athletes managed to obtain a Dean's List status, especially when you think of how demading the life of an student-athlete is.

Student-athletes have to deal with games/competitions, practice, weight training, travel and because of this many athletes are forced to miss classes which can cause many to fall behind, if they are not good with managing their time. However, others stay on top of their work by forming a strong relationship with their professors and fellow classmates so they stay caught-up with class work and maintain a good grade point average.

To find out who these SMART ATHLETES are then check them out.

It's Almost Over!

The men's and Lady's Owl Basketball teams only have a few more home games left. The women face Arkansas State on Feb. 9 at 5 p.m., Florida International University on Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. and Middle Tennessee State University on Feb. 23 at 5p.m. The men face Arkansas State on Feb. 9 at 7 p.m., Longwood University on Feb. 11 at 7 p.m., Florida International University on Feb. 2o at 7 p.m. and Middle Tennessee State on Feb. 23 at 7p.m. On March 1, both teams face Western Kentucky University, which is a school that rivals FAU in nearly all sports, at the FAU "Burrow" Arena for their very last home game of the season. The women's team will take the court at 5 p.m. and the men's game will be right after at 7 p.m.

This will be the last home game for the woman's senior Adel Lizama and the men's seniors Sean Alarcon, Seydou Kone, Jeff Parmer and Derrick Simmons.

Softball's "Kick-Off" Classic

The FAU Lady Owls will begin their "Kick-Off" Classic on Friday, Feb. 8 thru the 10th and take on five teams over three days. The Lady Owls will face the University of Maryland, University of Massachusetts, University of Michigan, University of North Florida and the University of South Carloina.

The tournament will begin at 9 a.m. at the FAU Softball Stadium and end at 10 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday. Sunday the teams will face off in the championships which will begin at 9 a.m. and end at 3 p.m.

Relay For Life

Florida Atlantic's chapter of The American Cancer Society Relay For Life is holding a event on April 12 thru the 13. This event is an all-day affair (an overnite event, up to 24 hours) that will be held on the Henderson School Soccer Fields which are right beside the Florida Atlantic Campus.

Teams of people camp out in tents and take turns walking and running around a track or path, each team is asked to have a representative on the track at all times because CANCER NEVER SLEEPS. Relay for life is always looking for donations to help the cause because cancer has touched .

Volleyball is going to NICARAGUA!!!

Did you know that the FAU Volleyball team is going to Nicaragua this summer? Well, they are. The girls, along with coach Jody Brown and assistant coach Todd Raasch, are leaving for Nicaragua on May 3 and are going to get an experience of a lifetime. Not only will they be playing other teams from all over the world but they also have a mission.




The team is colaborating with Mission Nicaragua and are going to be helping by donating goods and time to the inpoverished. Each member of the team will be allowed to bring an additional bag up to 50lbs full of clothing and any other materials and/or resources that the Nicaraguan children desperatly need. Through this trip the team will also get the chance to gain knowledge about the Nicaraguan culture.

If You Can Dodge a Rench, You Can Dodge a Ball

Florida Atlantic University's SAAC (Student-Athlete Advisory Committee) and Relay For Life are teaming up on Feb. 19 from 7 to 10 p.m. on the FAU tennis courts and are holding a Dodgeball Tournament in the effort to fight cancer. All the proceeds go to Relay For Life which go towards cancer research and education.

Who can play?

*Minimum of 6 and a Maximum of 8

*ALL teams MUST be Co-Ed

*At least one member on every team must be of the opposite sex

What do we wear?

*Each team must wear matching colors the night of the event

How much is it?

*Entry Fee: $5 per player

*Team must be paid in full in order to complete Registration

How and when do I sign up?

*Registration is going to be for the next two weeks in the Breezeway from 10:30-1:30 p.m.

*TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY the Feb. 5 and 6 and Feb. 12 and 13

*You MUST have MONEY in hand for all team members in order to register

*Registration will be CLOSED on Feb. 13, one week prior to the event.

NO REFUNDS

The Fighting Owls Will Eat You Alive

Yes, the Florida Atlantic Owls are moving up in the world of sports. Last year most all the female sports of FAU came out on top in their conference championships, and now the football team has made their mark and don't plan on backing down from any challenge.



The FAU Fighting Owls have been trying to put their name out there to show that they can't be messed with and in 2007 that's just what they did. And, the crazy part is it only took the team 6 years, the shortest amount of time for any team in history to become established and accomplish what they have.