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Corporate Scholarships & Donations (added 2/23)

Great news has been the constant theme surrounding the UTSA athletic program over the past two months. UTSA's first million dollar donation, the hiring away of a young bright offensive innovator from a rival to be the new offensive coordinator of the football team, a seasoned veteran O-line coach has been added, Brooks Thompson leading the men's b-ball team through a three game grinder with three straight victories over rivals, UTA, A&M-CC & an epic OT thriller where the Runners knocked off previously unbeaten SHSU at the convo. The men's b-ball team getting back on track coupled with the inaugural 2010 football signing class. IT IS A GREAT TIME TO BE A RUNNER OR UTSA SUPPORTER!!!

With the Bodenstedt's recent donation, many diehards of RunnerNation are wondering if this is finally the big break for the athletic program. Will prestigious business people such as a Red McCombs, Ernesto Ancira, NBA Player and former UTSA Alumn Devin Brown, or even Peter Holt begin to be curious and initiate a financial relationship with the up and coming UTSA athletic program?

One answer is for sure, DOCUmation, the San Antonio based technology company has agreed to a deal that can be as long as five years and worth up to $260,000 in cash and in-kind services. As reported by goutsa.com, the deal is actually three years with two one year options for the fourth & fifth years respectively. In return, Lynn Hickey and Coach Larry Coker will make personal appearance at DOCUmation events and Larry Coker will be a DOCUmation spokesperson. UTSA will also provide tickets for athletic events to DOCUmation and also provide advertisement and signage as well. This Corporate Sponsorship could very well be one of the biggest in the history of UTSA athletics.

Furthermore, what about the major corporations of South Central Texas or San Antonio? USAA, Valero, AT&T, Toyota Manufacturing, State Farm and Whataburger, all have some sort of corporate headquarters or regional branch in the South Central Texas area. Are they even interested and will they donate or send a gift to the UTSA athletic program? "We deal directly with the Office of the President," said Barbara Gentry, Senior Vice President of Community Affairs for USAA. "Not to say that athletics hasn't asked, but we deal with academics." USAA has consistently for several years been a big sponsor and donor to UTSA, but strictly for the academia. That amount is donated to UTSA and then the office of the president decides how to appropriate the donation. USAA has not made a direct donation to UTSA athletics.

Just this past year in 2009 Valero donated 2.5 million to UTSA for academics and research. A lot of UTSA athletic supporters think that Valero will be key in our success as an athletic program. Valero has it's hand print on various sporting events around San Antonio, "The Valero Texas Open" and "The Valero Alamo Bowl" are two of the biggest sporting events that Valero sponsors. For those that don't know the Valero Headquarters are literally the next door neighbor of UTSA. Billy Day, The Executive Director of Media Contacts for Valero said, "In 2009 we donated $3,000 to the UTSA athletic program." There is no donation or a gift in the immediate future to UTSA athletics according to Day.

Supporters and RunnerNation diehards are chomping at the bit to see what kind of affect DOCUmation and the Bodenstedt's donation will have on the entire community and its financial support of UTSA athletics. Undoubtedly, UTSA athletics will need more corporate sponsorships and private donations to succeed and arrive at the FBS level of competition it is striving for.

Fundraising hitting its stride (added 9/16)

Reports are that UTSA has raised approximately $900,000 in 7 months of actively seeking donations for the new football program slated to kickoff in 2011. With a goal of raising $15 million by 2016, that leaves only $14.1 million over the next seven years or so. At an expected rate of $2 million per year, the goal seems within reach

Didn’t someone once say the first million is the toughest? We hope so!

UTSATailgaters.com encourages all of RunnerNation to donate what you can to support the cause. Every little bit helps plus donating ensures you’ll be one of the first in line when tickets are made available.

THE BEST WAY TO CONTRIBUTE IS TO DONATE TO THE ROADRUNNER ATHLETIC FUND DIRECTLY.

The Athletic Department does not receive any state aid nor tuition money. Its budget is funded by student fees, donations and sponsorship/ticket sales. Annual donations to the Roadrunner Athletic Fund help pay for scholarships, recruitment of student athletes, recruitment and retention of the highest quality staff and coaches, academic support, team travel and other operating expenses. In most cases, donations to the Roadrunner Athletic Fund are 80% tax deductible. This means that you may deduct 80% of your donation amount on your taxes.

Visit http://www.stepuputsa.com/ to donate today! Or contact the Executive Director of Annual Giving Andrew Haring by phone at (210) 458-4665 by email at Andrew.Haring@utsa.edu more information is available at http://www.goutsa.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=13100&KEY=&ATCLID=612133

UTSA is searching for its first big football fundraising gift

W. Scott Bailey

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/stories/2009/09/14/story3.html?ana=from_rss

The University of Texas at San Antonio’s quest to add Division I football and improve 16 existing sports programs comes with a hefty price tag. University officials set out in February with a goal of raising a total of $15 million by 2016.

Roughly seven months into that fundraising process, UTSA has secured commitments totalling roughly $900,000. And while a lingering national recession could slow the pace of giving, UTSA Athletic Director Lynn Hickey says the Roadrunners will kick-off their inaugural season in September of 2011 as planned.

UTSA Associate Athletic Director Brad Parrott says the university is seeking to raise a total of about $2 million per year from donors. Those funds would help raise the athletic department’s annual operations budget from $10 million currently to almost $20 million by 2015-2016.

After that point, the enhanced budget would be sustained through donations, student fees, football-generated revenues, and other sources, he says. The increased operations budget would support the addition of an NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly known as Division I-AA) program and UTSA’s existing athletic programs.

Our T-Shirts have arrived (added 7/4)
The first t-shirts of UTSATailgaters.com have arrived. We made a small initial order and have limited supplies available. Please email us if you are interested. Cost will be $25. Depending on demand, we will be placing another order in a few weeks. It takes about 10 days to make the t-shirts. The t-shirts are Hanes Beefy Tees 90% pre-shunk cotton and 10% polyester. Available sizes are: youth extra small, youth small, youth medium, youth large, youth extra large, small, medium, large, x-large, xx-large, xxx-large, xxxx-large. NOTE: THE SIZES APPEAR TO RUN ABOUT 1/2 SIZE SMALLER THAN THE ACTUAL SIZE.

jj@utsatailgaters.com
antonio@utsatailgaters.com

Larry Coker Alumni BBQ (added 6/20)
Friday night was the Larry Coker meet and greet on the UTSA campus. A decent crowd, nice breeze and good BBQ made for a good event. Utsatailgaters were there and although we didn't get to sit down and speak with the man of the hour, we did talk with some of his staff and got a great feel of what LC and his men are doing.

Of course, LC stole the show with his introductory and motivational words. Athletic Director Lynn Hickey riled up some laughs asking people to give up their Starbucks, Movie money & Chic-Fil-A in order to become a part of the Roadrunner Athletic Fund and not only provide the physical support, but financial as well. Coker reiterated how hard he and his staff been hitting the pavement. Over 19,000 miles by car in getting to high schools ranging from East Texas, the DFW Metroplex and the Midland-Odessa area to name a few parts of the state that LC and his staff have been blazing recruiting trails through.

Coach Coker has surrounded himself with an experienced, personable and winning staff. Assistant Football Coach/Recruiting Coordinator Eric Roark, Assistant Football Coach David Ross and Associate Director of Development Sloan Thomas were some of the staff members that utsatailgaters were able to speak with last night. All were very approachable, friendly and willing to talk about the miles logged going around the state, about experiences at other universities and just the drive and positive aura that the community and region are expressing towards UTSA's new football program.

Coach Roark served 3 years as the recruiting coordinator over at Tennessee with then Head Coach Phil Fulmer from 1997-2000. In between there Tennessee did win the national title in 1998 and Coach Roark was right there for it all. Coach Roark is straight shooter, with a no-nonsense style that's accentuated by the hard hat mentality he has. With his 24 years of College Coaching experience and 13 as a recruiting coordinator Coach Roark brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the UTSA football staff. Coach Roark said it best when he summed up the most important thing of recruiting, "Listening. That's all you have to do." Simple, straight & to the point. Coach Roark will definitely bring it everyday and it's only a matter of time as he starts to make great strides in our fledgling program.

Coach Ross tote's 27 years of Coaching experience and 20 of them at the collegiate level. I talked about the ground pounding that LC and his staff have been doing, "That's what you have to do. Some of these small towns and places you can't fly in there anyway. You have to hit the road to get there." Signing day is still over eight months away, but Coach Roark & Ross are definitely doing what they can to make sure that UTSA's inaugural signing class is a great one.

As for Associate Director of Development Sloan Thomas, most know him as the former bally-hooed recruit who was a part of the historical WR signing class of Roy Williams and BJ Johnson for Mack Brown and Company up at UT. Although Thomas is not listed as part of the football staff, his involvement is a given. After talking about the excitement, the positive press for UTSA, Thomas pointed out that another Former UT WR was in attendance. Tony Jeffrey made the trip to UTSA and was there for the LC meet & greet as well.

Over the next 24-26 months, LC has to round out his staff and hire an additional 6 more assistant coaches and a director of operations. Utsatailgaters will remain in contact with LC and his staff and try to keep you updated on any and all events.

GO RUNNERS!!!!!!!!