#oconnellcenter

Like Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan or Florida Georgia Line? Then make sure you go to Florida Country Superfest at EverBank Field (Jacksonville, Florida) on June 14-15! Need tickets? Then you're in the right place! REBLOG THIS POST to be entered to win. We're giving away SIX pairs of 1-day tickets and a GRAND prize of a pair of weekend long tickets to Florida Country Superfest! Winners will be announced on April 4th!

Not a week goes by without something exciting happening here at the O’Connell Center! Check out what happened this week (10/12-10/18):

On Saturday (10/12) UF's Indian Students Association hosted their Garba Dance event, a celebration of India and its diverse cultural and artistic background. 

Isa Garba Dance

On Sunday (10/13), our Volleyball team swept the Georgia Bulldogs.

And don't forget to visit the University Box Office (located outside Gate 1) to pick up your tickets for our upcoming events:

10/23 & 10/24 - Sesame Street Live: Cant' Stop Singing

10/28 - SGP Presents: Florida Georgia Line

11/5 - JoyFM Presents: Chris Tomlin

Not a week goes by without something exciting happening here at the O’Connell Center! Check out what happened this week (10/5-10/11):

This Tuesday (10/8), Islam on Campus brought back their annual Fast-A-Thon to continue their fight against World Hunger. 

Set-up for Fast-a-Thon

Yesterday (10/10), we had our first concert of the year. Thanks to truth and SGP for bringing TeamMate and OneRepublic!

OneRepublic at the O'Connell Center, 10/10

And tonight, come watch our Volleyball team, ranked number 2 in the country, take on the University of Kentucky!

Not a week goes by without something exciting happening here at the O'Connell Center! Check out what happened this week (9/21-9/27):

Wednesday and Thursday marked our UF student and General Public on-sales for Student Government Productions' first show of the year: Florida-Georgia Line, Colt Ford, and Chris Lane Band on Monday, Oct. 28th at 7 p.m.

UF student Gaines Hayes (pictured below) claimed his place as first in line by waiting outside the University Box Office from 5am Wednesday morning! 

Tickets can still be picked up at the Box Office (located outside of Gate 1) and online at Ticketmaster.

  Today is the opening day of the All Florida Invitation Swim Meet. This weekend, Florida Swimming and Diving program will be collecting new and unused items to be sent to deployed US Troops in all branches of the service.

Tonight’s session begins at 7 p.m. Both Saturday and Sunday sessions will begin at 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.

  NEXT WEEK: Pick up your tickets for TruthLive and SGP's concert featuring OneRepublic and TeamMate at the Box Office on Tuesday, October 1st.

The O'Connell Center is the home to 6 different University of Florida sports including: volleyball, men's/women's swim and dive, men's/women's basketball, and gymnastics. As it stands for the current year in sports, the Gators have captured Southeastern Conference (SEC) titles in volleyball, men's swim and dive, and basketball. 

On Saturday, March 23rd, the Gator Gymnastics squad will be looking to capture their 9th SEC Title in Little Rock, Arkansas. They are currently the #1 ranked team in the country and the favorite to win. 

The SEC is widely considered to be one of the most prestigious conferences in the nation for just about every sport. So if gymnastics can manage a win, Gator teams who call the O'Dome their home will be an amazing 4 for 6 in taking home Titles. 

The banners are starting to pile up around the O'Dome, but there's always room for one or two more. Go Gators!

*Photos courtesy of gatorzone.com

On Monday night, February 25th, Kendrick Lamar made his debut as an arena headliner at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. Previously, Kendrick toured with Drake as an opening act, which included a trip to the O'Connell Center in February of 2012. This time around he had two opening acts of his own: Will Brennan and Melanie Fiona. Kendrick kept everyone alive throughout his set. 

Two years in-a-row Kendrick has played in Gainesville, and both shows were a success. 

Starting on February 21st and ending the 25th, the O'Connell Center will be experiencing one of the busiest weekends of the year. Tonight the Florida women's basketball team faces off against Vanderbilt, but that is only the start of a busy weekend. Tomorrow the Florida gymnastics team plays host to Kentucky, Saturday the UF men's basketball team plays host to Arkansas, and Monday Kendrick Lamar is live at the O'Connell Center. 

What does this mean for the O'Connell Center and its workforce? Massive amounts of clean ups, changeovers and sets for the next few days. The arena is prepped and ready for basketball tonight, but as soon as the game ends, preparation begins for the next day. The basketball floor will be pulled up like the disassembling of a giant jigsaw puzzle, the bleachers will be cleaned, and the gymnastics floor will be arranged accordingly. Then once the meet ends on Friday, the O'Connell Center pulls up the gymnastics floor in exchange for the basketball floor on Saturday. 

Once Saturday night's game has ended, the O'Connell Center has one day to tear down everything for athletics and set the stage for Monday's concert with Kendrick Lamar. Like a spider to its web, nobody notices the diligent work and numerous hours to pull off such a spectacle, but the O'Connell Center takes pride in weekends like this. 

A special shout out to all of the workers who make this place run so smoothly, and here's to another exciting weekend at the dome.