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Anyone not attending the first annual VolleyRoo Festival Saturday evening missed out on a great time. With pie-eating contests, volleyball matches, tug-of-war, a live band and lots of free food, the ingredients for a great experience were set in place.
UMKC Athletics director Tim Hall was pleased with the event. Dressed in a brown sport coat, which by night's end sported a nice spat of baby drool on the shoulder (a father's job is never done), the top Roo couldn't say enough about the crowd, head volleyball coach Geno Frugoli, his department, and of course the squad on the floor.
"It was a great opportunity to start the year off … from an administrative standpoint … to send a strong message to our student athletes, as well as the general student body, that we're really behind a strong student experience on this campus," Hall said. "It reinforces Chancellor Bailey's and my notion to have one of the top student experiences in the country."
Hall mentioned that, though the turnout was not what he or the department had hoped for, it was a great place to start.
"If the weather had been as nice today as the forecast for the next two [Sunday and Monday], we likely would have had an even better turnout as well," Hall said. "It is definitely something we can build on for the future."
His thoughts then turned to the so-called "brain child" of the kickoff celebration, Frugoli himself.
"I think Geno is a very strong coach and I have absolute confidence in him," Hall said. "I am extremely impressed with the way that the girls respond to his leadership."
Having traveled with the team to Texas for a tournament earlier in the season, Hall seems to have a strong feel for all things volleyball.
"This program was at a pretty low point in the last couple of years," Hall said. "I think what he's [Frugoli] been able to do … not only with his ability to coach, but also the manner in which he has these young ladies carrying themselves. They represent the school in a first class manner."
Having a large barrage of student athletes and their coaches in attendance for the event seemed a pleasant surprise. It was less surprising to Hall.
It seems one of the many details UMKC's athletics guru fosters with unwavering determination is a need for the athletics department as a whole to consider itself one big family. That family in turn, he sees as an extension of the university.
"Great organizations help each other and support each other," Hall said. "I said at the beginning of school to our staff that everyone sitting in the room would at one time or another need someone else in that room's help. We need to continue looking out for each other and I'm pleased with the response this evening."
On this nightthat camaraderie was truly felt by all who attended the match.
To the west side of the court, one could see junior basketball forward Brian Gettinger rooting for not only his sister, sophomore Kelly [Gettinger], but the rest of the squad as well with every call. Sitting against the wall was another basketball player, junior big man Alex Pledger, and three seats further down was new men's head basketball coach Matt Brown taking in the action.
On the east side of Swinney sat the softball team. Though, truth be told, little sitting was going on. It was more like dancing and maybe a little chanting by the squad led by head coach Meredith Smith, also in attendance at the game.
The women's basketball team represented, sporting green t-shirts earlier in the afternoon at the festival. Head coach Candace White-Whitacre and her assistants were all on hand for the action.
Track was represented on the field and in the gym as well, holding its own with the rest of them. Apologies are rendered to any athletes not included on this page, but the point, by this time, should be resolute: The student athletes at UMKC came out strong.
Though these folks might have had other things to do with their off-season time, there could be little doubt most had a great time with each other and the rest of the UMKC crowd. It was a raucous night of fun.
The students of UMKC, and this writer is among you, come to school from all across the heartland each day for one unified purpose, to attain a college education.
Naysayers have stated over and over again that UMKC is merely a commuter campus; there is no need for sports here. That mantra, with help from students and faculty alike at times, has seen fit to hold the possibility of a new, and to use our Chancellor's word, "vibrant," campus at bay for many years.
Our Student Government Association (SGA) is beginning efforts anew to find funding for a new student center. They speak vociferously about support for the "dream."
But where was the SGA Saturday afternoon? Where were the representatives from the Student Life office, even from the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender organization?
See, there's room for blame all around, and while no one in the athletics department is pointing a finger, it's time for us all to step it up.
Some of the greatest thrills people can have involve attendance at sold-out sporting events. A quarter million people will claim to have been at the game when Giants' homerun slugger Barry Bonds hit his 756th homerun. The stadium itself holds approximately 50,000 people.
Wouldn't it be great to say you were part of the largest crowd ever to see a sporting event on the UMKC campus? Perhaps one of our student or faculty organizations should take up the challenge of organizing such an event.
Until that happens, though, don't expect Hall or Frugoli, or any of the other coaches on staff to quit looking for ways to show us how much fun we're missing. It's not just a job to these folks anymore … it has become a passion. RooYah!!!
dstroud@unews.com
