PLATTEVILLE — The Wisconsin football program will again begin its season in Platteville this summer.
The Badgers will be in Platteville from July 29 through Aug. 12 for closed practices, meetings, meals and other team bonding experiences. The team will hold one practice open to the public on Saturday, Aug. 10.
Tickets to the open practice on August 10 are $5/person with 12 years and younger receiving free admission. The tentative time for the open practice is scheduled for 11 a.m., but is subject to change.
Mike Jacques of WMTV 15 News in Madison first announced Wisconsin football had agreed upon a three-year deal to host training camp at UW–Platteville at the Pioneering Forward golf outing June 27.
“I think first and foremost for us its about being able to be a great host,” said UW–Platteville Director of Athletics Knipe. “They are a sister institution and we love the fact that they choose our facilities to come down and use that to prep for the season. We are cheering for them and as a university its always just fun to put your best foot forward for people.”
“We can host anybody, obviously the Badgers this year and we have that contract moving forward,” added UW–Platteville head football coach Ryan Munz. “We used to historically host the (Chicago) Bears, right, so we have had Division 1 teams and NFL teams, and we joke, if its good enough for them its good enough for anybody.”
Wisconsin is entering the second season with Luke Fickell and his staff in charge in Madison and they will look to build off of a 7–6 campaign from 2023.
The Badgers will again take advantage of some of the premier NCAA Division III facilities in the country. UW–Platteville’s Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium served as the summer training camp home for the NFL’s Chicago Bears for 18 years (1984–2001). The stadium has a capacity of 10,000 and features a ProGrass in-fill surface, a 25-foot-wide Daktronics video scoreboard, new lockers (installed in 2019) and a 90-person press box.
In addition, the Pioneer Fitness Center in Williams Fieldhouse was expanded in 2019 by 55,925 square feet with another 2,681 square feet of remodeled space to the existing facility. The expansion added more wellness areas as well as a large athletic training center for student–athletes.
Williams Fieldhouse also contains a six-lane 200-meter track, and the Bo Ryan Court, named after the former Pioneer and Badger men’s basketball coach. Both universities’ basketball coaches are UW–Platteville alumni, with Greg Gard leading the Badgers and younger brother Jeff Gard guiding the Pioneers.
