For three years students, faculty and staff at Longwood have gathered in Willett Hall on the night before the year’s first classes before walking a couple of miles to the Athletics Complex to take in a women’s soccer game.
This year, everyone will do just that, but instead, there will be field hockey and men’s soccer games on tap.
In February, longtime Associate Head Women’s Soccer Coach Steve Brdarski resigned his position in order to take charge of the program at St. Bonaventure. “Coach Steve,” as he was known in Farmville, was the mastermind behind the Greatest Athletics March Ever, known as the G.A.M.E. With Brdarski no longer at the school, those involved knew that the show must go on, and it will, albeit in a different fashion.
“I have certainly missed working with Steve because he has been an integral part of the event since its inception,” said Stacey Wilkerson, assistant director of the First Year Experience & Family Programs.
“He brought much enthusiasm to the event and his interest in enhancing Lancer Pride on our campus is unprecedented ... It has been nice getting to know and working with other members of the Athletics community such as Coach Iain Byers and Coach Jon Atkinson as well as reconnecting with key partners such as Troy Austin, Eric Stoller, Whitney Curtis and Scott Bacon.”
Instead of a regular season women’s soccer match, there will be two games to take in, both starting at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday at the Athletics Complex: men’s soccer plays William & Mary while the field hockey team takes on the Georgetown Hoyas. Before that, there will be a spirit room from 4:00-5:30 p.m. in the Grand Hall at Dorrill Dining Hall, which will feature tailgating food, WMLU- provided music and two professors will be there to share their Lancer spirit: Dr. Jake Milne, associate professor of Sociology, and Jeff Halliday, associate professor of Communication Studies. At 5:30 p.m., the doors to Willett Hall will open and the omnipresent scarves that have become a fixture on campus will be given out, and the rally itself will start 15 minutes later. The walk will start at 6:00 p.m., allowing just enough time for supporters to get to the fields in time. Students who don’t participate in the march will have transportation provided, and shuttles back to campus will also be provided to everyone starting at 8 p.m.
Details of the scarf’s design are as yet unknown, but Wilkerson said that she doesn’t believe students will be disappointed, and that it is “probably” her favorite version to date. Students recognized at Sunday’s pep rally for their assistance in this year’s scarf design will include Kylie Dyer of women’s soccer, Jeylani Dublin of men’s basketball, Peer Mentors Brandon Kelly, Katie Sites and Jacob Brumfield, Kaye Goulding of field hockey and Lancer Lunatics president Molly Monaghan.
11th-year Men’s Soccer Head Coach Jon Atkinson said that his program, who won two Atlantic Soccer Conference titles in four years before moving to the Big South last season “feels honored to represent the athletic department and Longwood in such a prestigious game. Being able to bring in the new semester and athletic season with all of the Longwood students and staff, as well as supporters of athletics is exciting as well as nostalgic ... We are grateful to William & Mary and especially Tribe Head Coach Chris Norris for working with us to ensure we got a chance to showcase our athletes on a big stage such as this.”
Atkinson, whose squad finished 3-12-3 with a 2-7-1 mark in confer- ence play in 2012, understands the honor of his team playing on this sort of a stage. “I feel blessed to head up men’s soccer in front of the school’s body on such a prestigious night of athletics,” he said. “We know how hard people have worked to make this such a great event, and we know this night will be no exception. Our school may not boast the size of some of our peer institutions, but our heart is as big and spurred on by our twelfth man in the stands makes coming to Longwood a formidable challenge for opponents.
“Our lads will be buzzing with the prospect of playing in what should be their biggest crowd to date in front of their peers. Our players are students themselves and will be sitting in classrooms alongside the supporters this semester and we hope we can represent them well with a good showing not only on the night but throughout our 2013 campaign.”
Ninth-year Field Hockey Head Coach Iain Byers, whose team finished 8-13 last year with a 6-2 record in the Northern Pacific Field Hockey Conference (NorPac), added, “We are very excited about the prospect of being in- volved in this amazing event for the first time. The G.A.M.E. has be- come an important part of every incoming stu- dent’s experience and I know that this year’s will be a great event.
“I know that the play- ers will be very excited for it. It is also great exposure for our sport; field hockey is a very popular sport, and we hope that those that come to the G.A.M.E. will be back for more as the season progresses.”
“It will be great to see all the students and fans watching two games going on right next to each other at the Athletics Complex,” said Eric Stoller, assistant athletics director for Market- ing/Game Operations.
Stoller added, “Stacey Wilkerson and Darrien Drummond in First Year Experience & Family Programs have done a great job with this event and the tradition of the G.A.M.E. The G.A.M.E. is something everyone is excited about and is the perfect way to start the school year.”
In the past three editions of the G.A.M.E., Longwood holds a 1-2 record. In 2010, the Lancers fell to Richmond 1-0. In 2011, the Blue and White beat Howard 2-0 before losing 3-0 to Virginia Commonwealth last August.
The regular season fall home openers are as follows for the teams that play at the Athletics Complex: women’s soccer against Howard on Tuesday at 7 p.m., field hockey against Saint Joseph’s next Saturday at 1 p.m. and men’s soccer against IUPUI on Sept. 8 at 11 a.m.
