Athletics

The Charlotte 49ers will hold the fourth annual Green-White Spring Football Game at 7 p.m., Saturday, April 23, at Jerry Richardson Stadium. The game, which marks the end of the spring 2016 practice season, is open to the public.

Conference USA bestows the Commissioner’s Academic Medal to student-athletes who achieve a cumulative 3.75 GPA or higher. For the 2015-16 academic year, 45 UNC Charlotte student-athletes were honored.

Charlotte 49ers softball and women’s soccer led the way; the teams had nine and seven members, respectively, achieve the honor. Also, 210 Charlotte 49ers were named to the C-USA Commissioner’s Honor Role for maintaining a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher.

The Dale F. Halton Arena opened Dec. 2, 1996, as a state-of-the-art facility intended to showcase sporting events and major functions. It honors a generous University supporter whose name also graces a reading room in Atkins Library and the tennis complex.

Halton is the granddaughter of Henry Barksdale Fowler, the founder of Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company of Charlotte, which was established in 1905 as the nation’s first Pepsi franchise. At the time, Charlotte had a population of about 15,000.

Carolina Panthers tight end Greg Olsen was at Richardson Stadium March 17 to film a promo for the upcoming Showmars HEARTest Yard 5K on Saturday, April 9.

Proceeds from the 5K support the Levine Children’s Hospital. Olsen, through his foundation, established the HEARTest Yard initiative, a cutting-edge program that provides families of babies affected by congenital heart disease with a multitude of services. The Levine Children’s Hospital administers the program.

The Charlotte 49ers football program will open the 2016 spring season with spring practice starting Saturday, March 19. The spring season will conclude with the annual Green-White Game at 7 p.m., Saturday, April 23. This fall, the 49ers will begin their second season in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) as a member of Conference USA.

Head coach Brad Lambert returns 17 starters and 54 letter winners from the 2015 season.

Returners include second team all-Conference USA selections Larry Ogunjobi and Kalif Phillips. 

Ulrick Edmonds is the outside linebackers coach for the Charlotte 49ers football team. Edmonds, who served as the quality control director for N.C. State’s football program for the past two years, was a long-time assistant at James Madison University, his alma mater. He also had a short stint as linebackers coach at Old Dominion University.

The Harlem Globetrotters will bring their family show to Halton Arena for two performances on Saturday, March 26, during the team’s 90th anniversary world tour. Game times are 2 and 7 p.m.

Student-athletes excel on the fields and courts, and intercollegiate athletics plays a major role at colleges and universities. For Mark Verburg, the men and women who comprise Charlotte 49ers teams are students first.

The Charlotte 49ers have released the 12-game 2016 football schedule, which includes five contests with 2015 bowl teams and rematches of each Conference USA game played during the 49ers debut in the league, last season.  In 2016, Charlotte compete in its second season at the FBS level as a member of Conference USA and its first with bowl eligibility.

Professional tennis player and North Carolina native John Isner is bringing his annual Ebix Charity Challenge to UNC Charlotte’s Halton Arena on Thursday, Feb. 4. Tickets for general admission start at $35; discounted tickets for UNC Charlotte faculty and staff start at $10. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.; the exhibition starts at 7:30 p.m.