An Update From AD Jon Gilbert

Pirate Nation:

When I accepted the position of athletics director at ECU in December of 2018, I understood the challenges ahead, but I was also told about the tremendous amount of loyalty among the fan base.

You have not disappointed.

Pirate Nation is unique, second to none. The passion is real. The support is everlasting. We unite and conquer obstacles together.

Yes, we have our challenges, but Pirates stick together.

Our department is motivated daily by your support and enthusiasm to move the Pirates forward. We are doing everything possible to remain fiscally responsible as a department during COVID-19.

The ongoing pandemic has taken a toll on all of us. These are difficult, frustrating and unprecedented times.

Individuals, families and businesses are all being faced with monumental challenges.

The resiliency of our 380 student-athletes, coaches and staff amaze me each day as we unify on this journey. These are unchartered waters for all of us.

It's important to understand the burden this takes on everybody. It's hard to grasp when you are informed you are positive for COVID-19 or be asked to quarantine for 14 days due to a close contact.

This is hard for all of us to process.

We have daily meetings with our medical staff to absorb new information and emphasize all our safety protocols to our sport programs. It can be overwhelming at times, but it is necessary. Our athletic trainers and medical staff have been amazing in their work each day.

It feels like each day brings a new obstacle to the table.

You were alerted yesterday to another obstacle in our way.

We had to make the unfortunate decision to postpone our football game against Marshall scheduled for Sept. 12.

Currently, we are scheduled to play five football games in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium on Bagwell Field in 2020.

The decision to postpone the Marshall game came after productive conversations with University and local health officials. I can't say enough about the leadership of ECU Interim Chancellor Dr. Ron Mitchelson and Pitt County Public Health Director Dr. John Silvernail. We have all worked together to make sure everything we do is in the best interests of our student-athletes, staff, coaches and community.

I do anticipate Pirate Nation having a presence in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium in 2020. This is simply a week-by-week decision based on the guidelines we receive from local and state health officials. I understand it's not what you want to hear, but it's our reality. It's imperative we protect each other.

If local and state guidance allows for limited capacity, seats will be distributed based on priority in the Pirate Club.

Each season-ticket holder will be emailed information early next week to indicate your preference for the 2020 season.

As a reminder, we have several options for season-ticket holders who wish to opt out of the 2020 season.

Receive a full refund for all impacted games.
Receive credit to your account for 2021 football season tickets.
Ticket credit amounts can be donated to the Pirate Club for student-athlete scholarships and receive bonus priority points. This would not be applied towards your 2020 Pirate Club Annual Scholarship Fund commitment. However, you will receive triple (3x) the priority points you would normally receive for making this donation. Example – 2 tickets totaling $600 would equal 12 points if donated. By tripling the priority points, you would receive 6 points for every $100 donated resulting in 36 total points.

As I have previously stated, it's not going to be a normal atmosphere for home games in 2020.

Face coverings will always be required, and we will have social distancing in seats. Tailgating will be prohibited on all University property until further notice. Again, it will be a week-to-week process.

We will have a zoned seating approach where you might not be in your exact seats, but our goal is to move you as close as possible to your original seat selection due to social distancing. For example, if you purchased seats in the purple chairbacks, our intent is to give you seats in those areas, but you most likely won't be in your normal seats.

Again, we will follow local and state guidelines. If we can do it safely, we want to have Pirate Nation in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium in 2020.

But we do need your help.

If we can accommodate fans at home games, we need you to choose one of the three options listed above by Friday, Sept. 11. This will allow us to produce a ticket manifest where we can move quickly when we receive clearance to have fans in our stadium.

We need you to stick with us. The financial implications to this pandemic have severely affected our athletics department and we would be honored to have your support.

With the cancellation of the Norfolk State game on Sept. 19, our department will lose approximately $1 million in revenue. Our financial shortfall will continue to rise with limited capacity.

If you are not planning to attend games in 2020, please consider donating your ticket refund to the Pirate Club to use for student-athlete scholarships. Scholarships for our student-athletes are approximately $8 million for the 2020-21 calendar year and the support of our annual fund pays for the costs of our student-athletes to attend class.

ECU Athletics will continue to rise, and we need each of you on this journey with us.

Go Pirates –

Jon

Related News

Related Videos

Footer