Army West Point Athletics
Ask the AD - June 20, 2006
June 30, 2006 | General
Ask the AD - June 20, 2006
Rich DeMarco: Rich DeMarco back for another edition of "Ask the AD," your chance to ask questions of Army Director of Athletics Kevin Anderson and have Kevin Anderson answer your questions about the Army athletic department. v Kevin, the 2005-06 academic year is in the books, summer is right around the corner and soon it will be the fall sports season.
Kevin Anderson: Rich, it's always good to be with you. I'm looking for a hot and short summer and getting ready for football.
RD: A short time until R-Day and that's almost the signal that 2006-07 is here.
KA: Well, I'm looking forward to next week and welcoming all the plebes. We are getting ready to see what kind of athletes we have brought in here and strap it on and get ready to go.
RD: For supporters of Army athletics, just a few weeks after R-Day is the new deadline for donations for the Army "A" Club. That means that those wishing to give money to the "A" Club have until July 7 to qualify for ticket priority for Army's 2006 road football games as well as the 2006 Army-Navy game.
KA: Well Rich, we have extended the deadline to July 7, and we are looking forward to growing the Army "A" Club. If anyone has any questions out there, please feel free to call Matt Borman at 845-938-2322. So, if you have any questions about the Army "A" Club, please contact Matt, he's more than welcome to help you with your questions.
RD: And, we have had a lot of people asking questions about donating money to the Army "A" Club, so that is always a good sign Kevin.
KA: It's always a good sign to keep the money coming in folks.
RD: Football season is right around the corner and preseason camp is starting in a little over a month. It always seems like we aren't too far away from something happening football-wise here at West Point.
KA: Rich, you are absolutely right about that one. It seems like we were just up at Boston College a couple of days ago for my first Army football game as the athletic director. I am really looking forward to this season, and I believe that we will continue to make progress. Coach Ross has an excellent coaching staff, and we have some great recruits coming in, and we have great returning football players coming back. I think it is going to be an exciting football season for the Army team. I believe at the end of the year, we are going to have a lot to celebrate.
RD: The game time has been announced for Army's home opener against Kent State on Sept. 9. That will be a 1 p.m. kickoff. So for those planning on heading out to West Point for the opener, you know the 1 p.m. kickoff for that home opener.
KA: Rich, I appreciate everyone being patience with us because, with our ESPN contract, we don't know the game starts until 12 days out. So, we do know that we will be playing Kent State at 1 p.m. on Sept. 9. We are looking forward to everyone coming out, and we would love to have that first game be a sellout.
RD: Kevin, in the past couple of weeks there have been some changes in the Army men's and women's swimming and diving program, could you talk about them?
KA: Rich, at the end of every school year, we evaluate all our coaches and teams. We evaluated the men's and women's swimming and diving teams and their coaches, and we decided to go in a different direction. We are committed to giving each cadet-athlete every opportunity to compete at the highest level - both in the classroom, militarily and athletically. We decided at the end of this year it was time to make a change with the men's and women's swimming and diving teams.
RD: Time now for questions for Kevin Anderson on "Ask the AD." If you have a question for Kevin Anderson, log on to the official web site of Army athletics, www.goARMYsports.com, click on the "Ask the AD" button and you can submit your question there.
Kevin, we have gotten several questions about the status of the men's and women's swimming and diving coaching search. A question comes from San Juan, Puerto Rico, wanting to know if there is any update you can provide about the coaching search.
KA: I can share this with everybody, the response has been overwhelming. We have emails and resumes coming in by the handfuls everyday. I will say that we are talking with people who have won major conference titles and who also have been Olympic swimming coaches. I believe that we are going to hire the very best that we can and the very best this country has to offer.
RD: Kevin, that brings us to the end of another edition of "Ask the AD." We talked about R-Day, football training camp right around the corner and some hot summer days we are heading into. But before we all know it, it will be Labor Day and that first football game, Army at Arkansas State.
KA: Well Rich, I can't wait for that first football game because I believe that like every other team, the football team is going to be very good for us this year, and we are going to have a wonderful season. I am looking forward to all the fall sports because we have some great returning athletes and some great plebes coming in. It looks like Army athletics will continue to be on the up-swing.
RD: Kevin, always a pleasure to spend some time with you on "Ask the AD." I look forward to catching up next month. We will have a lot to talk about in July.
KA: Rich, just remember one thing, no double bogeys.
RD: Kevin, good to be with you. We will talk soon.
KA: Thanks Rich.
RD: That's Army Director of Athletics Kevin Anderson. For Kevin Anderson, Rich DeMarco on "Ask the AD," thank you so much for listening and have a great day.
