An Update From AD Jon Gilbert

Pirate Nation:

Thank you for a memorable weekend in Greenville.

Congratulations to Coach Houston and everybody associated with our football program for an important conference win against Tulane. Most importantly, I'm excited for our student-athletes who have worked tirelessly over the last three years to rebuild our program. We have had some ups and downs, but those young men continue to believe in each other.

I loved seeing all the Pirate faithful in the Carl and Connie Rogers Pirate Club Level prior to the game listening to country music band Parmalee. I'm sure many of you are like myself and have been singing Carolina (probably off key) all weekend. We are extremely grateful to the band for the halftime concert and the 30-minute acoustic show prior to kickoff. It was great to have the band members in the locker room post-game enjoying the win with the team.

How about the ECU students? We are extremely pleased with the continued participation of our students. The Boneyard has been rocking' for our first three home games with an average of 7,500 student tickets being claimed each game. I know the team loves when their peers are in attendance and students play an important role each week creating the atmosphere inside the stadium.

In terms of overall attendance, we are averaging nearly 38,000 fans in our first three home games which ranks in the top three among AAC schools. The 2021 numbers through three games are approximately 3,000 more fans per game compared to 2019. Our premium seats continue to sell well with all suites and loge boxes in the TowneBank Tower sold out for the season and we have sold more than 90 percent of available seats in the Trade Club.

Again, thank you Pirate Nation. We are fortunate to have your support and we have a lot to be proud of. I believe we are moving in a positive direction and you deserve to celebrate a 3-2 start to the football season. It's extremely difficult to win each week in the AAC and we travel to play a talented Central Florida team on Saturday.

Let's work together to create a special atmosphere when we return home for a nationally televised matchup on ESPN against South Florida on Thursday, Oct. 28 at 7:30 p.m.

Pirates Supporting Pirates
On one of my first days on the job in 2019, I went into a Greenville restaurant and noticed an old Pirate Supporting Pirates sticker in the window. I had never seen that before at any of my previous stops and it really stuck with me. It was an early indication to me of the partnership between ECU, the local community and surrounding region.

I'm excited the Pirate Club announced last week that the Pirates Supporting Pirates initiative is back for 2021. The Pirate Club staff have worked to create additional benefits and exposure for businesses. Let's work together and have Pirates Supporting Pirates stickers in all our local businesses. Give the Pirate Club a call (252) 737-4540 and get involved with this program.

Calling All Pirate Letterwinners
A major priority for ECU Athletics and the Pirate Club continues to be more engagement with our past letterwinners. It's important that the individuals who represented the Pirates remain a part of our family.

We announced the launch of the East Carolina Letterwinners Club last week with the goal to recognize and engage with the student-athletes that invested so much time and effort at ECU. One of the things I really enjoy is meeting our letterwinners, seeing them with former teammates and coaches at tailgates, and hearing about their collegiate experience.

In the first day, we had nearly 100 individuals sign up for the East Carolina Letterwinners Club. Letterwinners can sign up online at ecupirateclub.com or call the Pirate Club offices at (252) 737-4540. Assistant Director of Development Danielle Morrin is the main contact for the East Carolina Letterwinners Club, and she can be reached at MorrinD16@ecu.edu.

Home Events This Week
If you are looking for something fun for the family to enjoy this week, the Pirates volleyball, soccer, and swimming teams will be action. The volleyball team will host Cincinnati on Wednesday, Oct. 6 at 7 p.m. in Minges Coliseum and Temple on Friday, Oct. 8 at 6 p.m.

The Pirates soccer team has five matches remaining in the regular season including a conference tilt against Temple on Thursday, Oct. 7 at Johnson Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

ECU swimmers and divers opened the 2021 season on Friday at UNC Asheville and claimed seven individual wins. The Pirates will host a meet on Saturday, Oct. 9 beginning at 1 p.m. in Minges Natatorium with Chowan, Barton, Richmond and UNCW making the trip to Greenville.
Admission is free for all volleyball, soccer, and swimming events.

Women's Basketball Tip-Off Dinner
The women's basketball team will hold a Tip-Off Dinner on Thursday, October 21 at 6 p.m. in the TowneBank Tower. It's a great opportunity to hear from our coaches and student-athletes as they get ready for the 2021-22 season. You can register for the event here.

Men's and women's basketball season tickets are on sale now. You can purchase tickets online at ecupirates.com or call the ECU Athletics Ticket Office at 252-737-4500. The priority deadline for purchasing tickets is Friday, October 15.

Tidbits

The Pirates cross country team competed in their third meet of the fall last weekend at the Paul Short Run at Lehigh University. The Pirate women finished 15th out of 38 teams while the men finished 29th in a 40-squad field. Abby Yourkavitch was the top ECU finisher with a career-best time of 21:22.
The Pirates 2021-22 baseball recruiting class was ranked No. 26 national by Collegiate Baseball and was listed in the Top 35 by Baseball America.
Congratulations to women's golfer Oda Sofie Kilsti for winning the individual title at the Pirate Collegiate Classic last month at Greenville Country Club, her first collegiate victory. The Pirates won the team championship for the fourth consecutive season.
The freshman tennis duo of Anne Lou Champion and Ines Bachir won the doubles title at the Elon Invitational last month. The pair knocked off UNC Greensboro, Navy and Kennesaw State for their first collegiate titles.
First-year head coach Shane Winkler and the Pirates softball team are in the middle of an eight-game fall exhibition schedule. The Pirates will host Pitt Community College on Friday at Max R. Joyner Family Stadium at 5 p.m.

Enjoy your week, wear your Purple and Gold with pride, and we will see you on campus again soon.

Go Pirates!

Jon

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