FORT MYERS, Fla. - Courtside season tickets for the 2016-17 FSW men’s and women’s basketball campaigns have sold out less than 40 days after being made available to the public for reservations.
“We are very happy about the enthusiasm in Southwest Florida about FSW basketball season tickets,” said FSW Athletics Director Carl McAloose. “We kept telling people that the better seats were going to go fast and they are. Selling out the courtside seats basically a year before we tip off our first home game in Suncoast Credit Union Arena is an indication of the excitement of Buccaneer basketball. The good news is that Suncoast Credit Union Arena is going to be a beautiful arena without a bad seat in the house and that coaches Richter and Ward are going to be putting a good product on the floor.”
The FSW Athletic Department is still taking reservations for new season tickets (men’s and women’s combo) and fans still have several options to select from. FSW students will be admitted for FREE with a valid BUC Card.
- Courtside 1 (Section 106 courtside seats) - $300 SOLD OUT!
- Courtside 2 (Section 105 & 107 courtside seats) - $250 SOLD OUT!
- Club 1 (Section 106, Row B; Section 116/117 Row A - $250
- Club 2 (Section 105 & 107 Row B) - $200
- Reserved 1 (Sections 106 & 116) - $180
- Reserved 2 (Sections 105, 107, 115, 117) - $125
- Reserved 3 (Sections 104, 108, 114, 118) - $100
- General Admission (Sections 101, 102, 103, 109, 113, 119, 120) - $75
The Buccaneers will compete in the brand new Suncoast Credit Union Arena. When complete, Suncoast Credit Union Arena will be approximately 75,000 square feet and will host the Buccaneers’ basketball and volleyball teams, and a student athletic center. The arena will seat approximately 3,300 fans and include six skyboxes, a hospitality event center, competition courts that convert into recreational courts, athletic office space, student, faculty and staff wellness, and an athletic center with a fitness pavilion, men’s and women’s locker rooms and a weight training area.
In addition, the arena will also host the annual City of Palms Classic basketball tournament beginning in Dec. 2016 and there are plans to host concerts, and local, regional and national events.
The Buccaneers will be coached by Marty Richter (MBB) and Dr. Kristie Ward (WBB). Richter, the former men’s associate head basketball coach for Florida Gulf Coast University, brings a history of success on a national level. While at Chipola College, he compiled a 69-4 record and a number one ranking, and played a big role in the success of FGCU’s NCAA tournament run to the Sweet 16 with all the fanfare of “Dunk City”. He has also worked as a basketball analyst for ESPN and as a top notch scout for ESPN’s Recruiting Nation.
Ward, former head women’s basketball coach at Florida State College at Jacksonville, had three consecutive 20-plus winning seasons while nationally ranked, plus back-to-back Mid-Florida Conference Championships at Florida State College at Jacksonville. She was also named Coach of the Year twice and in three seasons, 15 players were awarded four-year basket all scholarships. At Northwest-Shoals Community College, her team had a 100 percent retention rate over 16 years and a 95 percent graduation rate. She had over 60 players awarded four-year scholarships and took her team to the National Championship game while being ranked number one in the country. She was also a five-time Coach of the Year in her region and a four-time Coach of the Year in the Alabama Community College Conference. Her overall record was 384-141 (.730).
To reserve tickets, fans can go online at FSWBucs.com/Tickets.
For more information on Buccaneer Athletics follow @FSWBucs on Twitter or log on to FSWBucs.com.
FLORIDA SOUTHWESTERN
The Florida SouthWestern State College athletic program is a member of the Florida College System Athletic Association (FCSAA) and the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). The Buccaneers are one of 25 schools in the NJCAA Region 8 and are one of six schools in the Suncoast Conference. Florida SouthWestern State College currently supports four intercollegiate athletic programs (Baseball, Softball, Men’s Basketball, Women’s Basketball), with Volleyball coming in the fall of 2017.
Baseball and Softball will begin their regular season competition in 2016 at the City of Palms Park in Fort Myers. Located on the Thomas Edison (Lee) Campus in Fort Myers will be the brand new Suncoast Credit Union Arena (set to be completed by fall 2016), where FSW’s men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball teams will compete.
THE NJCAA
The movement to form a unique sports association dedicated to America’s two-year colleges arose in 1937 when several track and field coaches gathered in Fresno, California. A year later, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rejected a petition from 13 two-year colleges in California to grant their teams and athletes permission to compete at the NCAA Track & Field Championships.
In the spring of 1938, following the NCAA’s rejection, those same 13 two-year colleges gathered again in Fresno to organize and form an association that would promote and supervise a national athletics program exclusively for junior and community colleges…and the rest is history.
On May 14, 1938, the first constitution of the National Junior College Athletic Association was accepted by its charter members and the organization held its first national championship event a year later in May 1939.
The NJCAA has played a vital role in collegiate athletics for the past eight decades and continues to be the leader in championing academic and athletic opportunities for student-athletes. This section of the association's website is dedicated to celebrating the NJCAA's rich history and tradition as the national governing body of two-year college athletics.
For more information on the NJCAA log on to www.NJCAA.org.
THE FCSAA
The Florida College System Activities Association, Incorporated (FCSAA) is a statewide non‑profit corporation regulating, coordinating, and promoting intercollegiate activities in: Athletics, Brain Bowl, Forensics, Music, Student Government, Student Publications, and Theatre.
Membership in the Florida College System Activities Association is open to any of the 28 colleges in the Florida College System. Each member institution is represented in the policy‑making deliberations of the Association through that institution's President or other designated representative. The institutional representatives constitute the FCSAA Presidents Assembly, the ultimate authority in FCSAA.
For more information on the FCSAA log on to www.TheFCSAA.com.
NJCAA REGION 8 & THE SUNCOAST CONFERENCE
Member colleges of the NJCAA are allotted to a specific NJCAA Region upon membership to the association. Unlike other collegiate organizations that defer to conference affiliation, the NJCAA guarantees each member college's membership within the regional structure of the association. In most cases, region assignment is based upon geographic location of the college.
The region structure of the NJCAA is the primary method used by all sponsored sports of the association in determining qualification for national championship tournaments. In certain sports, two or more regions are partnered to form a competition 'district', which is then used for national championship qualification. The organization of districts varies per sport and is formulated every two years under the authority of the association's board of directors.
FSW is in Region 8 and is joined by ASA College Miami (Region 8 only; non-FCSAA member), Broward College, Chipola College, College of Central Florida, Daytona State College, Eastern Florida State College, Florida State College at Jacksonville, Gulf Coast State College, Hillsborough Community College, Indian River State College, Lake-Sumter State College, Miami Dade College, Northwest Florida State College, Palm Beach State College, Pasco-Hernando State College, Pensacola State College, Polk State College, Santa Fe College, Seminole State College of Florida, South Florida State College, St. Johns River State College, St. Petersburg College, State College of Florida Manatee-Sarasota and Tallahassee Community College.
The Bucs are also in the Suncoast Conference with Hillsborough Community College, Polk State College, South Florida State College, St. Petersburg College and State College of Florida Manatee-Sarasota.
For more information on Region 8 log on to www.TheFCSAASports.com.