SPORTS
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24.1994
Women's soccer team reorganizes leadership
By Kent Hohlfeld
Kansan sportswriter
SECTION B
The Kansas women's soccer team hopes to put its problems of the past behind it this season.
In the last three years, the team has had problems obtaining equipment, field space and people to play.
"In the past we had the club president doing all of the work," club co-president Karen Bibb said. "Sometimes things would get missed or just take us by surprise."
During the latter part of last fall's season, the club began making moves to resolve those problems.
Bibb and co-president Liana Hemphill split the club president's responsibilities. They also created the field coordinator position who is in charge of obtaining equipment and field space from Recreation Services.
"We split the duties," Bibb said. "Now we have one person in charge of filling out the paper work for Recreation Services and another in charge of getting things like equipment and field space."
The changes in the club's structure will make it run better. Hemhull said.
"In the past, things got confused sometimes with what had and had not been done," Hemphill said. "Now people know what they're supposed to do."
dends. Last spring the team hosted the Big Eight tournament, which helped the club financially.
the newfound structure already has paid some divi-
"It went off pretty well," club treasurer Megan Poplinger said. "We were able to make a bit of needed money."
Previous money problems also has troubled the club. Each club member pays a $25 fee to participate, and the team also receives some money from Recreation Services.
"We have very limited funds so we have to limit our trips," Poplinger said. "We can't afford to get a bus and travel to the big tournaments."
However, the team hopes it can use money generated from the Big Eight tournament to travel more. The team wants to go to this year's Mardi Gras tournament in New
Orleans.
Another problem that the club hopes to address is its lack of a paid coach. Currently the team uses a player-coach.
The lack of authority of a coach has hurt the team in practices. Bibb said that many of the 50 to 60 girls who originally show up for the first practices do not regularly attend the season's practices.
"We have about 10 to 15 girls who are pretty stable," she said. "It's hard to get some of the rest to stick with it."
She said that part of that problem may have been associated with members' frustration with the club's past problems.
How many Student Season Tickets are sold every year?
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994
PROFILE
Noah Musser / KANSAN
No lottery needed for sports tickets
By Jill Johansen
Kansan sportswriter
Students who purchased the sports combination ticket package will be glad to know that men's basketball tickets should be available to all student buyers.
Bernie Kish, director of ticket operations and sales, said that more than 6,500 sports combo packages had been sold. With student athletes and band members receiving tickets, that number will nearly reach the maximum availability of 7,000 tickets.
"Forty-five percent of the field house seating is reserved for students," Kish said. "It doesn't look like we'll need to have a lottery for men's basketball tickets this year."
The sports combo can be purchased for $85. This allows students into all football games, men's basketball games and the Kansas Relays. Season tickets for only football games can be purchased for $35.
Ironically, Kish said, the sports combo package began in 1981 because basketball attendance was low. In order to draw students to basketball games, basketball tickets were sold with football tickets.
Tickets to football games for the general public are $19 each. The Kansas State game is the premium game this year, and individual tickets are $25.
Brian Vanderylift / KANGAN
Bernie Kish, foreground, has been the director of ticket operations and sales at Kansas since 1992. He said he appreciated the hard work of his staff, who include from left to right, Sherry Benda, Sandi Roberts, Diana Grover and Kathy Frederickson.
Kish deals out best seats in house
Perhaps Bernie Kish
is not the first person fans think of
when they see a packed field house.
By Jill Johansen
Kansan sportswriter
Enthusiasm radiates from Bernie Kish when he talks about his job as director of ticket operations and sales.
sports ticket office, the games
"I love this job," Kish said. "Last week was just amazing. The phones were ringing off the hook. I love the atmosphere."
Kish, originally from western Pennsylvania, became the director of ticket operations and sales at Kansas in 1992 after he retired from a 30-year military career. He was an active Kansas booster, and Kansas athletic director Bob Frederick asked him if he would like to work in the athletic offices.
now the former military officer is very active in Kansas athletics, working hard to fill the stadium and Allen Field House.
Kish said his staff has tried to emphasize ticket sales for all Kansas sports.
"It talk to alumni and put an emphasis on the Olympic sports (at Kansas)," Kish said. "This year we're pushing women's basketball, volleyball and baseball. Our work is easier because we have a great group of coaches to work with and the best athletic director in the country."
His interest in sports doesn't end when he leaves his office. He is an avid runner who enjoys road races. He also is an aspiring writer and had a chapter published about the Pittsburgh Steelers in a professional football book.
Kish came to Kansas in 1971 where he met his wife, Judy. Her father was former Kansas assistant football coach George Bernhardt. They have two daughters: Keri, a KU senior in political science, and Katy, a junior at Lawrence High School.
"That was very exciting for me because the other writers in the book were big-time," he said. "One was from The New York Times."
in his childhood. Even as a high school student, he remembered getting phone calls from men in bars arguing about where a certain player went to college.
Kish's sports interest started early
"I was known as the kid who knew "everything about sports," he said. "My nickname in high school was 'Sports Page.' I played baseball, but I didn't play much else. I was always around sports though, as a manager."
Kish said he was in Vietnam during the 1969 Orange Bowl. He remembered listening to the Penn State-Kansas game and rooting for Penn State.
As Kansas fans remember, Kish's team won, and the Jayhawks suffered a heart-breaking 15-14 loss. Now, Kish cheers on the Jayhawks instead.
Kish credited his staff for making the job easier.
"They're very hard-working, and they're a great group of people," he said.
Conference to challenge recruiting
New Big 12 arrangement to increase competition
By Matt Irwin
Kansan sportswriter
If the Kansas football team wants to contend for the national championship, it must beat Nebraska, Oklahoma and Colorado — this season.
In two years, the Jayhawks also will have to deal with the tradition-rich programs of Texas and Texas A&M. Despite the number of nationally-known Kansas opponents, the emergence of the Big 12 in 1964 could improve the Jayhawks' chances to do well nationally.
"I think it will benefit KU," said freshman placekicker Jeff McCord, who is from Mesquite, Texas. "KU doesn't have too many players from Texas. Football is pretty big in Texas."
Not only is Texas considered a sizable state geographically, but it also is known as a state which produces many college football players. High school football tradition is strong as well.
"There's a lot of great athletes down there," Kansas quarterbacks coach Dave Warner said. Warner recruits the Wichita area as well as Texas.
"I think we've got a little bit of success recruiting players out of Texas. We've increased our efforts in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, and we've gotten some players out of there."
Warner said that this recruiting success is prior to the addition of the Texas teams, and that adding these teams might not make it easier to recruit.
He said teams like Oklahoma, who recruit heavily from Texas, have four or five recruiters in that state. Kansas has only one.
"The exposure down in that area is going to help broaden our name in Texas," Warner said, but added, "It is going to attract other schools to come down there and recruit Texas. All the Big Eight schools will be going down there to recruit."
The Western Athletic Conference also will add three Southwest Conference teams to its conference. Warner said this would bring even more recruiters to Texas, making it harder to recruit players.
Kansas sophomore cornerback Tony Blevins was recruited by several nationally known programs, but chose a school close to home.
"Everybody likes to play in front of people that have been there all along." Blevins said. "You like to go to better conferences because if you play against better competition you become better yourself. People watch better conferences."
With the addition of Texas and Texas A&M, several teams will compete for the high profile players in Texas.
"It's going to be nice because my parents can't travel up here," McCord said. "I'm excited I get to go back."
Freshmen to contribute to solid lineup
By Chesley Dohl
Kansan sportswriter
Upperclassmen aid in team unity
Pressure enhances performance
"There's definitely pressure on us, but it's not a bad pressure," freshman middle blocker Kendra Kahler said. "It's a good pressure. It's a pressure that makes everyone come together, and it made everyone improve their play."
The Jayhawks return only five upperclassmen, but they have six strong freshmen coming into the program, and two freshmen who were redshirted last year.
At least that seems to be the case with the six newcomers to the Kansas volleyball team.
"The girls are really coming through and playing strong," she said. "They're working hard in practice — but it's something they know they have to do for the team."
And a lot of how the team will do this season lies in their hands. It is pressure, but Kansas volleyball coach Karen Schonewise said she was pleased with the newcomers.
"Just the fact that there are so many freshmen means there is more competition among us. That's what makes us work harder," Kahler said. "There's still a lot of competition in practices right now."
Coming into the Kansas volleyball program, the freshmen said they were unaware Kansas was returning only a handful of upper classman.
But they said that did not bother them.
The volleyball players spend three hours practicing each day during the
school year as they vie for a starting position. Before classes began though, the team practiced for three hours twice-a-day.
"Right now we're just trying to work hard and give it our best shot," freshman middle blocker Maggie Mohrfield said. "It's the preseason that determines how well the teams are going to do. Now is when we work hard. During the season we work on strategy and the little things."
Along with the pressure felt about contributing positively to the team, the six freshmen also have to deal with the transition from high school to college.
The transition includes more intense practices both physically and mentally, a new coach and new surroundings. But Mohfeld said there wasn't much time to think about the pressure.
"We're always moving quick, and Karen (Schonewise) always keeps things going," she said. "It's intense, but intensity does come up when you have everyone working for the same goal."
As the players entered the program, they said it was the upperclassmen and the coaches that made them feel comfortable with their roles on the team.
"The upperclassman made us feel a lot better about everything," Mohrfield said. "They make us feel like we can go in there and do something to help this season."
The pressure should be on the newcomers' shoulders, but it seems to be building confidence in the players.
"We were excited coming into the program because we realized we're all in the same shoes," freshman middle blocker Leslie Purkeyple said.
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Jay Thomton / KANSAN
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Junior Jenny Larson returns the ball during practice. The first home volleyball game will be Sept. 6 at 7:30 p.m. in Allen Fieldhouse against UMKC.
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