Kicking off the 2023 Football Season with a Strong Foundation—and on the air!
The Pacific Football team is packed with leaders and competitive players that are skillfully
preparing for the 2023 season, which is expected to bring in a larger audience, thanks to a sports
television channel based in Portland.
The Boxer football team and staff recently made an agreement with Portland’s KRCW Channel 32. Four Boxer football games will be televised this season, starting with the game against
Chapman University, Saturday the 2nd at 7pm. Other games that will be broadcasted include Sat.,
Sep. 9: vs George Fox, 7pm, Sat., Nov. 4: vs. Willamette, 4 p.m., and Sat., Nov. 11: at George
Fox, 4 p.m.
Pacific Athletic Director Keith Buckley is looking forward to the opportunity to showcase the
university to an audience in and beyond the local range. In a previous interview, Buckley said,
“We are excited to begin this partnership with Portland’s CW this fall and bring Boxer football to
the airways in the Portland metro area. Showcasing the Northwest Conference on television is a
nod to the highly competitive football played in this region.”
Beyond the games being broadcasted on Channel 32, those curious can check out goboxers.com
to tune into the live streams of every Boxer home game.
Ian Falconer, the Pacific Head Football Coach, is confident in the group of coaches and players
this season, and is happy to see seniors that were aimed to graduate last year return to the field.
“The NCAA granted them an extra year of eligibility because they lost the 2020 year. A lot of
people elected to do it. Other people have decided to graduate on time,” Falconer stated. On the
number of student athletes who decided to take the opportunity to come back and play, Falconer
shared, “It’s as simple as the guys who love it, are committed, and who want to play for as long
as they can.” Falconer is determined to continue to build a competitive environment moving
forward this season. Instead of being lenient about the student athletes that suit up just to be a
part of an extracurricular activity, he wants to “create an environment where people are getting
better everyday, with the mindset of earning the right to suit up.” To practice this idea, the travel
roster for this season will be downsized. “There’s some other sports that have a varsity and JV
roster. Ours is all the same roster. It’s just a matter of who plays and what game. It’s another way
for guys to take pride as a student athlete,” Falconer stated. “If we fly, we take a much smaller
group, and that is budgetarily connected, but it’s always been that way.” Falconer confidently
predicts that the number of people who suit up for the home roster will remain the same this
season.
The players have a major role to play in running the team as a whole. Falconer believes it takes
both coaches and players to help make the team strong and prepared for hardship. He is proud to
say that he has trust in the team this year. “They’re just generally good human beings that I think
have a maturity that you don’t always see. It’s nice to see that because there are always bumps
and detours. For a small school like Pacific, there is a good, healthy relationship to athletics here.
There’s a lot of students here that are in a sport just to listen to each other. It’s a supportive culture
on campus for students to play sports.”
Last season, the Boxers had 15 student-athletes selected to an All-Northwest Conference team
including returning senior, Tyler Vargas, who was named to the first team. The conference has
established itself as one of the most competitive NCAA division III conferences in the US. It
comprises nine private institutions, including Pacific University, Willamette University, the
University of Puget Sound, Linfield University, George Fox University, Whitworth University,
Pacific Lutheran University, and Lewis and Clark College. Last year’s football team finished 5-4
overall and 4-3 in the Northwest Conference. As the season kicks off, the Boxers will look to
start the season in rhythm when they go toe to toe with Chapman University. The game will take
place in Forest Grove at Hanson stadium in a 7pm night game to kickoff the year. — Libby Findling
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