NORFOLK
Old Dominion has a first opponent for its return to football in 2009: Division II Chowan University. The Monarchs will host the Hawks at Foreman Field on Sept. 5, 2009, ODU's first game in nearly 70 years.
"It's the first time we'll be lined up against another team when we'll be keeping score," coach Bobby Wilder said Wednesday.
"The challenges were to find someone we felt we could line up against knowing we're playing with redshirt freshmen, true freshmen and walk-ons," Wilder said.
The game with Chowan, a school 60 miles west of Norfolk in Murfreesboro, N.C., is a one-game guarantee, meaning ODU will pay Chowan an undisclosed amount for making the trip.
"This is a great honor for us," Chowan athletic director Dennis Helsel said. "Our young men will have a wonderful opportunity to play in a great facility, play against a program of promise and one with great fan support. I expect we'll play in front of a sellout crowd."
ODU will sign its first recruiting class in less than a month and begin play at the Division I-AA level in 2009. The first recruiting class will redshirt this fall. ODU is expected to join the Colonial Athletic Association in 2011.
ODU also confirmed Wednesday that it has a contract to play at Jacksonville University in 2009, with a return game the next year at Foreman Field.
Wilder also said Wednesday that a match-up against William and Mary for 2009 is under consideration.
While the Monarchs are still working on their schedules, this much is confirmed for 2009: vs. Chowan, Sept. 5; vs. Monmouth, Sept. 26; vs. Presbyterian, Oct. 10; vs. Georgetown, Oct. 31; and, at Jacksonville, Nov. 20.
"Chowan had an open date, and our No. 1 challenge continues to be finding opponents with open dates," Wilder said. "With most schools already having as many as eight of their dates filled with conference games, we've contacted 150 different schools trying to make our schedule work."
Chowan, which moved from Division III to Division II in 2005, annually plays one or two I-AA opponents. Two years ago, Chowan visited Western Carolina. This past season, when they went 2-9, the Hawks played Presbyterian and Coastal Carolina. They are slated to visit VMI this fall.
"We schedule a I-AA game each year and we do it to help fund our football program," said Helsel, who was assistant athletic director at ODU in the mid-1980s.
The 2009 game will fall two days before Labor Day, and Wilder has high hopes for the opener.
"I'm hoping people will be standing around the outside of the stadium that day trying to get in," Wilder said.
Rich Radford, 446-2463 rich.radford@pilotonline.com
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Don't Forget----
I think the folks at Norfolk State may object to the comments about big time football. Remember that NSU also has a college team in a much newer facility that Foreman Field. Interesting to see if the two schools will ever face each other!
Touchdown!
Let the games begin. The addition of local College Football is a win-win for all of the community. It will increase recognition of the school and surrounding area, as well as fatten the coffers of the locality hosting such a venue. Can we say PROGRESS?
It's amazing that you people
It's amazing that you people can find negative things about EVERYTHING!
COST OF FOOTBALL
Lighten up wr1956. Having football at an instutition like ODU should create a positive impact for both the school and community. Don't you understand that ODU will recoup the money through ticket sales, leasing of the luxury boxes, vendor sales, program sales, parking fees, sponsorship from numerous businesses throughout tidewater and I sure students do pay a fee yearly included in their tuition. Foreman Field will hold 20,000 people and I believe every home game in 2009 will be close to a sell out if it is not a sell out. ODU in time may sell the naming rights to Foreman Field like Christopher Newport did in Newport News. Christopher Newport received 1 Million dollars from POMOCO the car dealership to name the field, POMOCO Field. I believe ODU will be in good shape down the road. Also, paying an opponent to come and play on a 1 year contract is a normal practice in college sports.
Get your information together before you comment
All schools are required to pay certain teams to come play. This is nothing new. The school will get the money back at the gate. If they didn't pay them they would either have a portion of the gate or half. So to act like ODU is doing something wrong is ubsurd. It is a common practice in the game of college football. How dare you say something negative about a school who is doing something that will better our community in the long run.
First comment
If you don't like it, find a real estate agent and move out of Norfolk. The wave of excitement about college football in Norfolk has swelled to a tsunami. If you don't want to ride the wave, you can go ice skating downtown, or visit the Battleship Wisconsin, or go buy some new panties at Nordstrom. You have plenty of other options. ODU Football will only help bring more money into the area.
Go Monarchs !!!!!!
Glad ODU has football, but let's hope tuition...
..doesn't rise too much in the future. I used to attend ODU. I remember freshman year back in 2001-2002, tuition was around $120 a credit hour. I went to reapply for admission this past fall, and tuition is now $211 a credit hour. That's $1,000 more per semester for full time students. But I guess with all the construction going on campus, they have to fund it some kind of way. Too bad the majority of the student body attending now will be long gone and graduated by the time most of the facilities are finished.
Awesome!
Despite some people not being excited about ODU football (such as the comment prior to mine), as an alumni, I am very excited about this opportunity. I wish there had been football when I was at school. I (as well as other alumni I work with) am very anxious to buy season tickets. The new Foreman Field picture looks awesome! I was very sad to hear of the departure of president Runte from ODU. She has done amazing things with the school, and I am very proud to say I am an alumni more so now than ever! What an excellent addition to the best school out there!
wr
It's football, man. Lighten up.
I can't wait for tailgating on a crisp Autumn Saturday and an exciting game afterwards. What can be better? Go Monarchs! (though I still gotta support Longwood basketball).
Self-Supporting
College football teams quickly become self-supporting. For example, the corporate boxes have long been sold out at tens of thousands of dollars per box. The reason that coach Wilder has been hustling around so much is to gain corporate attention for ticket sales. There will also be endowments. Look at the Ted Constant Center and Ted Constant Hall. They were made possible by endowments from a local business man that didn't even go to ODU, but he supported his community school. I for one, will be a regular season ticket holder. They plan on selling approximately 10,000 season tickets at $120.00 each. That's $1.2 million per season right there. My son goes to VT and if you look at the size of their football program, as well as other programs, and then at tuition, you can see that it has no impact on tuition whatsoever. Tuition rates do not fund football teams, so get over it and let us ODU fans enjoy finally having a football team!!
Great for ODU
Football will be great for ODU. It will raise the school's profile over I-AAA schools in the region, and strengthen the CAA brand. Eventually, nice rivalries with W&M, JMU, and UR. Congratulations on another milestone along the way, Monarchs!
ODU football
With limited education funding, how is this being paid for? Where is the money coming from? Teacher salary? Lab equipment? Building infrastructure? Parking? Security? Apparantly ODU does not have any of these concerns and can afford to pay teams to show up for games. Now 24.8 million dollars for a stadium. STUDENTS your FEES are GOING UP. The cost of your education cost will continue to increase with the ever increasing cost of college football. With the millions of dollars established college\university programs generate, why are not there tution fees lower than they are?