Del Conte has engaging vision for Rice athletics program

Del Conte has engaging vision for Rice athletics program

By ARIE WILSON
Rice News staff

Believing in the great potential of the university’s coaches and student athletes, Chris Del Conte, Rice’s new director of athletics, is eager to help fuse Rice athletics into the culture of the campus and surrounding community.

 During an “Ask the Expert” roundtable discussion with faculty, staff and students Aug. 9, Del Conte discussed his ideas for enhancing student and community involvement in Rice’s athletics program. 

Chris Del Conte

“We really want to get the community engaged,” Del Conte said. “We want our students to know this is their school and their program.”

He believes that athletics is an important part of any university’s culture, and his vision for promoting the athletics program on campus extends beyond game day and the athletic facilities.

To help engage students, Del Conte has arranged for a movie to be shown on the jumbo screen at Rice stadium on Friday nights during football season. He hopes students will not only come out for the movie and a chance to socialize, but support the football team as well.

Recognizing Rice’s unique college system, Del Conte hopes to ignite an interest in athletics among the students by targeting colleges individually for pregame and tailgating gatherings.

Del Conte hopes to bolster student involvement at home games by having a different college lead the football team into Rice Stadium before each game. Once seated in the stands, nine “chant leaders” — one from each college — will help lead the student body in cheers.

But increasing attendance and interest also requires the support of the surrounding community.      

To help drum up local support, members of the Rice volleyball, football and soccer teams went door-to-door in the neighborhoods surrounding the university, selling tickets for the upcoming season. The concept is not only for people to purchase the tickets, but also be able to associate a face with the players.

With Houston’s sports market dominated by professional teams, Del Conte believes Rice will have to start on the community level to promote the athletic programs and attract crowds for games.

“First, we have to be the neighborhood team, and as we win games and become more successful, then we can move out to broader markets,” Del Conte said. “We cannot ignore our community.”

Del Conte also intends to focus on a market that has not been previously approached for ticket sales — students across the street at the Texas Medical Center.

“There are a multitude of students that graduated from many different universities that do not have a local college team to [support],” Del Conte said. “This is just another way to sell Rice as a community team.”
Del Conte believes that all of Rice’s teams have the potential to compete nationally — just as the baseball team has in the College World Series. However, Rice students not only have to be strong athletes, they also have to be able to meet the university’s academic standards. The new athletic director said those standards would not waver under his watch.

“Athletes work hard, and they work extra hard to prove everything they do [academically],” Del Conte said. “The biggest disservice we can do is bring someone in who cannot do the classroom work.”

To purchase tickets for the upcoming football, volleyball and soccer seasons, visit <http://riceowls.cstv.com/tickets/rice-tickets.html>.