Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Preseason Workouts


Akron Women’s Basketball preseason training is well under way. The goal of our strength and conditioning program at The University of Akron is to help the athletes reach their full athletic potential. Three times a week early morning our team gets up and meets at the weight room. After a thorough warm up, to get the blood flowing, we head into the weight room. Inside the walls of the weight room we work to become strong and powerful. This team is starting to see the benefits after several weeks of hard work. As the team adapts to their workouts, the weights are going up and the girls are getting stronger.

Outside the walls of the weight room we become fast, agile and conditioned. The Zips Women’s Basketball team gets together for conditioning several times a week. These conditioning sessions have increased in difficulty each week leading up to the peak of preseason. We are getting our team fully prepared to head into practice and prepare for a rigorous schedule of both non-conference and Mid American Conference match-ups. Last week was the hardest sprint workout the girls had to face yet. They worked through it as a team, and pushed themselves harder than they have before. Each athlete is learning, in their own way, how to give it a little more when they think there is nothing left to give. Heading into season if we can transfer over that mentality with the physical preparedness, it seems as if it will be a good year to watch Akron Women’s Basketball.


- Coach Loyd

Associate Head Coach

Monday, September 28, 2009

Zips New Football Stadium


When the start of the football season neared, a new excitement was growing on and around campus. I was one of the lucky fans to have taken a stadium tour before it had opened to the public. My expectations were exceeded and I was blown away by the result of two years of construction. Every little detail was taken into consideration and after sitting in almost every section, I would have to say that there is no bad seat in the stadium.

Opening day was one I will always remember. Zip fans made their way to campus, some for the first time in many years to celebrate this historic moment for the university. The atmosphere was great, with a live band providing entertainment and a bunch of activities for the little Zip fans. Our team decided to join in on the festivities by tailgating. We had a great spread and we even had brand new corn hole boards!!

Infocision Stadium is the best football stadium in the MAC. Combine that with our field house and any program in the country would be hard pressed to beat our facilities. I encourage all fans to make it to a game and take in the game-day experience on our beautiful campus. Hope to see you at the next home game. GO ZIPS!!!


- Coach Ruffing

Monday, September 21, 2009

Welcome!!!


Hello Zip Fans! We have decided to keep up with technology and add a blog as another way to read about your favorite team. As we take on this new venture, we hope to provide you with fun pictures, exclusive interviews, current news and a whole lot more. You will hear from our players, coaching staff, and a few special guests. We are excited about our new blog as we look forward to sharing with you all that is Akron Women’s Basketball.

As summer “officially” ends, we are very busy preparing for the upcoming season. We have been on campus for about a month and the team’s schedule has been full of activity. This time is very important to us as we want our players to get off to a great start academically. We also are in the midst of our preseason conditioning efforts and the girls are working hard every day to build a strong foundation for the season.

Also, during this time the NCAA allows us to have 8 hours of contact (a week) with our players. Only two of those eight hours can be spent on the court with a basketball. Up until last week, Sept 15th, we worked with our players in groups of 4 working on skill development. We are now allowed to use those two hours and workout as a whole team. Sept 15th is like Christmas for the coaching staff :)! Although we love working our girls out individually there is just something special about having the whole team together for the first time! The first week of our “mini” practices went really well. The upperclassmen were focused and the freshmen really caught on in the drills and concepts that we taught them. We are looking forward to another great week of team individuals, conditioning, lifting, and open gym!

We officially begin practice on October 16th. These next four weeks are very important as we work towards our goals. Our coaching staff is confident that the girls will continue to push themselves both in the classroom and on the court. We want to be as ready as can be on October 16th!


Until next time! Go Zips!



- Coach Jackson