UAPB’s football team ready to welcome fans
Timing means a lot at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.
When the football team was originally scheduled to kick off the spring season Feb. 27, the city was still suffering from a battered water system as the result of two snowstorms in the same week, which forced the relocation of some players and other residential students to hotels in Little Rock.
Exactly a month later, UAPB will finally play its first home game — as a team that’s 2-0 overall and in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
“Can I just say, wow?” interim Athletic Director Chris Robinson remarked from his office, where he has a view of the inside of the 16,000-seat Simmons Bank Field. “We’re just excited. This is an unprecedented time across the board. We have all 13 sports going on at the same time, in the midst of this covid pandemic. Everyone has stepped up to the occasion, starting with the student athletes. They’ve done a good job. Coaches are monitoring and making sure they are following protocol. Our training staff has been instrumental in making things happen, so we’re excited about that.”
Tickets are going fast, Robinson said, for UAPB’s Saturday night home opener against Alabama State, which can also be streamed on the WatchESPN app and ESPN3.com. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
“We have people coming up and buying them as well,” Robinson said. “We’re encouraging everyone, for safety protocol, to purchase their tickets online at www.uapblionsroar.com. We also have a free UAPB athletics app where you can have access to all things UAPB athletics.”
Prices are $20 for general admission tickets, $25 for reserved bleacher seats, $40 for reserved bench-back seats and $40 for chairback seats. UAPB students are admitted free with valid student identification.
If available on game day, in-person ticket purchases can be made at Simmons Bank Field starting three hours before kickoff. Prices increase by $5 on game day.
BIG HOUSE, LITTLE SEATING
Robinson and the athletic department have set the seating limit at 3,000 for Saturday’s game.
Although that’s less than 20% of stadium capacity, that still gives UAPB a chance to showcase fan interest to a nationwide audience, the former Lions quarterback and assistant coach said. He remembers playing in front of packed houses at the now-demolished Pumphrey Stadium, where he and the Lions played for a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics championship in 1994.
“Just from looking at riding the bus or coming into the game, one thing that has really helped us, we looked to see those cars with flags flying and you saw the UAPB paraphernalia everywhere, you just get chills,” Robinson recalled. “You go into this game, it’s 11 of us on the field, but we’re not by ourselves. That’s why we were awarded [home field advantage in the playoffs] when I was playing there. We had the best attendance in the nation at that time.”
The Lions also were two years into the reboot of their football program after receiving the NAIA death penalty for eligibility rules violations.
Simmons Bank Field opened in 2000 — the last time UAPB started a season 2-0 before now — as Golden Lion Stadium to nearly double the capacity of old Pumphrey. The move helped UAPB, which had moved up to NCAA Division I three years earlier, facilitate larger crowds.
“That’s what we need to get back to,” Robinson said. “I know it’s a limited amount at this time, but again, we can show who we are, show up and that way, the more presence we have, the more we can get on the other ESPN channels, ESPN2, 1, whatever it has to be. I just think, please support these kids. They’re working hard. They’re trying to stay disciplined and trying to stay safe. Of course, covid is out there. Covid is rampant, but they’ve policed themselves in a lot of ways to make sure they’re doing the right thing and represent the university.”
Robinson said he hopes that if Gov. Asa Hutchinson lifts Arkansas’ mask mandate March 31, it will allow UAPB to increase its seating limit to 50% for its two other home games (April 17 vs. Prairie View A&M and April 24 vs. Texas Southern, the team originally scheduled for Feb. 27).
He said the UAPB athletic department follows recommendations from Hutchinson, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Arkansas Department of Higher Education and the University of Arkansas System in setting seating limits.
STADIUM PROTOCOLS
UAPB utilizes a ticketing system with an algorithm to create a social-distancing bubble around individuals or groups of people who purchase reserved-seating tickets.
“In the general area, we go and physically mark off those areas,” Robinson said. “Masks will be required. We ask everyone to mask up.”
Concession stands will be open. Robinson said foods will be packaged in a manner sensitive to covid-19 issues.
“If you come to this game, you’ve got to be loud and you’ve got to have fun,” Robinson said. “Those are the two things we require.”
The Marching Musical Machine of the Mid-South, UAPB’s band, will play during the game but will not have its customary on-field halftime performance because of Southwestern Athletic Conference covid-19 protocols, which also prohibit the visiting university from bringing its own band.
For UAPB, it’s better than not having any semblance of a game-day atmosphere. The school decided to halt admission into home sporting events in January as covid-19 cases rose in Arkansas, Robinson said. But he said upon being promoted to interim athletic director in February that he would welcome fans to outdoor events.
“We had been looking at it the whole time,” he said. “Initially, we looked at everything. We wanted to bring our fans in to show them what our kids are doing, and we started out with basketball. But because of the increase in covid cases, we decided to halt that.”
Robinson is praying that seating capacity returns to 100% or close to it by the traditional fall season.
“Again, we’re going to stay within the protocols and stay within CDC recommendations,” Robinson said. “In the fall, the way the vaccines are being distributed, and with all the covid numbers trending down — there have been spikes in certain areas — I’m excited about having some kind of normalcy.”