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NIU fall sports seasons are already underway as women's soccer kicked off 2024-25 Huskie Sports competitions last week at DePaul. They open the home schedule on Thursday, while men's soccer plays its season opener on the road before coming home for a Sunday evening match-up versus Chicago State. Both teams are building off of 2023 seasons that saw them contend for conference titles in November.

Fall semester classes begin on Monday and next weekend, football and volleyball join the party. The football season opening game versus Western Illinois on August 31 at 2:30 pm is sandwiched by a pair of volleyball matches Friday and Sunday. Like the football team, volleyball opens its season versus Western Illinois at 6 pm and then hosts Milwaukee Sunday (Sept. 1) at 3 p.m. Don't forget about the Huskie women's cross country team - they open the season with a home meet at the NIU North 40 on September 6.

Whether you love a fall Saturday at Huskie Stadium, the raucous environment of Victor E. Court or the precision and teamwork on display at the NIU Soccer/Track & Field Complex, I encourage you to come out and support the Huskies this fall and at all our venues all year long! Our student-athletes work extremely long and hard to represent Northern Illinois University. NIU games are a great time for the whole family and unquestionably, the best value in all of Chicagoland. We need you in the stands this year!

Currently, tickets for Huskie football, volleyball and men's and women's basketball are on sale at NIUHuskies.com/tickets. It's past time to lock in those football and volleyball season tickets - but they are still available, highlighted by five Saturday home games in Huskie Stadium. Volleyball will once again play matches in the main arena of the NIU Convocation Center, including a match-up versus Northwestern.

It's never too early to think about basketball! The teams were here working out and practicing all summer, the Mid-American Conference dates are out, and the complete schedules will be available in the next few weeks. Mark your calendars for November 4 as both teams will open the season with the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge games, the women with a home game versus Louisiana and the men on the road at Georgia Southern.

Next time you visit the Convocation Center for Huskie volleyball, basketball or any event, be sure to check out the new Huskie Apparel Store. The opening of the locations in the Convo and the NIU Recreation Center is the result of a year-long effort by Associate Athletic Director for Brand and Equipment Management Paige Shinberg. While the Convo store will be open during home events, the Rec Center location will have regular daily hours. A kiosk will enable us to sell merchandise at our outdoor venues, including on gamedays at Huskie Stadium. Coming soon, online sales! Stay tuned!

In addition to the Huskie Apparel Store location inside the NIU Recreation Center, there have been multiple improvements made to the facility over the past year. As we welcome students back to campus this week with the Rec Open House on Friday, new signage, equipment, locker room renovations and more, as well as enhanced services, programming, club sports and intramurals, have helped make the Rec an even more attractive part of the overall student experience at NIU.

The Huskie Apparel Store is an example of our continuing emphasis on revenue generation, which has been made even more important going forward with the pending settlement in the House Case which will affect all Division I Football Bowl Subdivision institutions. I am in regular conversation with our conference colleagues as we look at all aspects of the decision, including roster caps and future revenue streams. In addition, as 2nd vice-president of NACDA (National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics), I am a part of the national conversations on this issue and many others in this changing landscape of college athletics. As I mentioned in my annual beginning of the year address at DeKalb Media Day, more change is coming and we must make sure we are ready.

Our focus remains: providing the best experience for our student-athletes, serving our great Huskie Nation fan base and engaging with the community. The fundraising efforts for the 1899 Club, which will provide enhanced nutritional services for NIU student-athletes via a training table, continue and are an example of our student-athlete centered initiatives. Through our new multimedia company, Van Wagner, the new Huskie Athletics Sponsorships unit, led by General Manager Dan Bieritz, is expanding our outreach to local partners and building our sponsorship base. Growing the Boneyard Victor E. Collective will allow us to remain competitive in the new and aggressive environment of Name, Image and Likeness.

While these larger issues are and will affect the future of NIU Athletics, seeing the Huskies take the field, the court and the course to compete for championships, to cross the stage for graduation and then to return as successful alumni is the reward.

I hope to see you in the stands at Huskie Stadium next Saturday (August 31) as we celebrate the start of the 125th Anniversary of Huskie Athletics. To commemorate this anniversary, you will be seeing this logo on various items throughout the 2024-25 athletic seasons, with ticket deals, giveaways and more in store as we look forward to a fantastic year!