Wisconsin Badgers to train at UW-Platteville

PLATTEVILLE, Wis. — The Wisconsin Badgers will hold their first week of football training camp on the UW-Platteville campus, in preparation for the team's inaugural season under new coach Luke Fickell.

The Badgers will be in Platteville August 1-8 for closed practices, meetings, meals and other team bonding experiences.

"We are extremely grateful to partner with UW-Platteville on this opportunity," UW head coach Luke Fickell said. "This is a tremendous way for our team to start fall camp and focus on coming together as a group both on and off the field. I think it will greatly benefit us as we prepare for the season."

"We are thrilled to welcome the Badgers to the UW-Platteville campus for their pre-season training camp," said Assistant Chancellor Kristina Navarro, Director of Athletics and Recreation. "We have a longstanding tradition of supporting football training camps with the Chicago Bears. It is a point of pride for all on campus to provide this type of transformational experience to athletes. As a Badger alum and former employee, it was extremely important to me to provide an opportunity Badger student-athletes will remember when Coach Fickell and Greg Gillum reached out. Chancellor Tammy Evetovich, Head Coach Ryan Munz and I are excited to welcome the Badgers to our first-class dining facilities, residence halls and athletics facilities during their closed practice sessions."

The Badgers will 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. 

Written by: Paul Erickson, UW-Platteville Chief Communications Officer, 608.342.1194