Lucas Gebhart
Sports Editor
Idaho State University athletic director, Jeff Tingey and University of Idaho athletic director, Rob Spear, announced the unveiling of a rivalry series that marks the first yearlong athletic competition between the two schools.
For the next three years, the schools will partner with Idaho Central Credit Union and partake in a head-to-head point system across multiple sports that is based off athletic matchups.
“We value our competition against in-state schools,” Tingey said in a press release. “To have this trophy as part of our rivalry with Idaho only enhances the game-day atmosphere. Thanks to Idaho Central Credit Union for helping make this possible.”
This season will involve men’s basketball, women’s basketball, soccer and volleyball. Football will be added to the competition next season as the University of Idaho football program will be joining the Big Sky Conference. The athletic program that accumulates the most overall points will be recognized at the end of the 2017-18 academic year where they will be awarded a traveling trophy and will receive a specified donation to their athletic scholarship fund by Idaho Central Credit Union.
“We’re thrilled to be involved with these universities in the brand-new Battle of the Domes rivalry series,” said Idaho Central Credit Union CEO, Kent Oram. “While we’ve been a long-standing corporate partner of Idaho State Athletics, this will be our first opportunity to be engaged with the Idaho Vandals, their campus community and fan base, and we’re excited about that. We wish both programs the very best and look forward to a great year of competition ahead.”
The rivalry is named after the two domes the schools play in, Idaho State’s Holt Arena and University of Idaho’s Kibbie Dome.
“Creating opportunities where our student-athletes can compete against athletes from other Idaho universities benefits the entire state of Idaho,” Spear said.
The progress of the rivalry will be tracked on both team websites, isubengals.com and govandals.com. Currently, neither team has the lead since the schools have yet to matchup in any sport.
The inaugural “Battle of the Domes,” game will be October 22 when the Vandals women’s soccer team travels to Davis Field.
