I am going to meet with Eric Buskirk tomorrow about increasing student support/game experience for students. Any ideas you may have would be greatly appreciated
I am going to meet with Eric Buskirk tomorrow about increasing student support/game experience for students. Any ideas you may have would be greatly appreciated
Thanks so much for initiating this!! I've no ideas but sure want to wish you the best and express support and appreciation. There's such an opportunity!
A well defined student section. Since we've hired event staff, have them keep others out of that section. When students walk in, have the person say student section is ___(fill in the blank). Place the student section someplace visible and have it some place where it will be audible. Promote the games more. Facebook things worked for football. Promote the stars more. Kyle Gibson is a awesome talent. It's too bad people don't know too much.
Get the local businesses more involved. I know I paid attention to the Canes scoring challenge.
I can't be the only one with ideas...if I can think of more, I will post them.
***
Part II -
Giveaways. Students love free stuff. Money. Gear. Food. Whatever. Students love free things. You just have to promote them. Let the students know they can win this or that. I would think a book promotion would be big. One student will get their Spring Quarter books paid for. You can't do that all the time, but you could do that. It's winter. Hoodies are expensive. Give a few of those away. Talk with Johnnys or Pizza Inn or Papa Johns about pizza for a month or something. Get subway to help with food.
Students like video games. Give away a wii. They are $200. I know it's hard to give away a ton of free stuff, but students love free stuff. Everyone does, but students seem to gravitate towards it.
Get students involved in the halftime contests. I liked the techteamshop and smoothie king things at the half. I would like to see some interesting half time shows too. I know little kids dribbling is cute, but I don't care about it.
Give me a dunk contest. Give me some interesting contests or something at half. Globetrotter stuff.
Last edited by rockdog; 12-14-2009 at 09:27 PM.
This may be picky but I talked to a few friends who are casual student fans, they agreed it was mildly annoying to have to walk halfway around to TAC just to wait in line. Just as we had issues getting students in at the early football games this year, this could be worth addressing?
Also (big stretch but worth throughing out there) just as dawgvilla transformed football experiences, updated video boards with changing graphics, cheers, stats... replays of dunks to make the atmosphere more dynamic and alive. This combined with our hoop troop and regale would add to the "entertainment" aspect. This could be a long term phased project.
Game day email reminders to students, faculty, staff
Competitions between organizations (Greeks, BCM, Wesley, etc.) such asI've got more ideas but I've got to make some phone calls to several people who are interested in attending the Murray State game, and then it's off to bed.
- 3 point shooting,
- free throw shooting,
- TECH idol,
- tricycle or big wheels races,
- blindfolded dollar bill scramble for at least 100 dollar bills when the Vandals vist,
- farm related contests (cow milking contests, horseshoeing, etc.) for the sandy Aggies' visit,
- for the mountain Aggies visit make it a "snowball" contest or snowman building contest using styrofoam or packing peanuts and some glue,
- for the Broncos get some blue barrels and have the organizations decorate them like ponies and let the crowd choose the winner,
- for the Spartans - a reprise of the 300? or a Spartan look alike dress up contest.
- for Hawaii, a swimsuit/bikini contest, of course.
For long term purposes I thought this would be a good idea. Just as student recruiters are used for the advancement of the university and get a small stipend put together another group for this purpose: The more students that are involved, the greater the fan interest and attendance. A good way to increase student involvement is by developing a student-led spirit organization. A Student Spirit Booster Club (SSBC) can significantly bolster the student support of athletic events. Its sole purpose is to create enthusiasm for sporting events. The structure can range from highly organized student-led committees to informal gatherings at athletic events. The SSBC could have a specific mission such as pledging to provide student support by attending home games.
A partnership between the SSBC and athletic department personnel could be further developed through regular meetings and projects designed to improve school spirit and attendance at sporting events.
The members of the SSBC could brainstorm, present, and discuss ways to recruit and maintain student involvement and enthusiasm, while the athletic department should provide T-shirts that distinguish them from others groups at the events.
If properly cultivated, SSBC's enthusiasm can carry over to the general student population and provide a significant jump in student support for athletics.
Another way to increase student involvement is by offering incentives for attending the games. Students who attend a certain number of games can be awarded a free booster club T-shirt or opportunities to participate in various promotions throughout the year. Students may also be rewarded by sitting in a special section.
Students like to feel important and part of an exciting experience. Let them know that they make a difference, like being the sixth player on the court. Provide them with a sense of ownership by giving them responsibility such as helping at contests, marketing, promotions, and special events.
Allow the students to be creative in finding appropriate ways to cheer for their team. I found this on a website and thought it would be a spectacular idea.
major props to all of you for the ideas! keep them coming!
Plenty of good suggestions above, a couple more...
When I was at Tech Andy Russo went to the beginning of each of the Greek meetings (Wednesday night) and simply asked us to come to a game as a group. I think he did this for the first conference game to get us in the habit of going to the games. If say, Karl Malone made some meeting visits like this I'll bet it would add another couple hundred students.
$250 cash given to the loudest Tech student group (one at halftime and another given with 2 minutes left in the game). These type of contests used to draw the Dorms, Sororities, Fraternities, BSU,... all kinds of student groups.
Double the size of it.
Give the students some room. Then they'll come. Good, cheap seats brings students the fastest. Once you get more in there, they'll organize by osmosis.
But make it bigger. That 30-seat "student section" is a joke. The section for football games is as big as students want it, but they know it's their spot. So if there's less people at the game than normal, everyone packs it in and gets crazy, but they have freedom to expand if they want it. Not so at basketball.
http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/...atingchart.pdf
There are more than enough good seats for the students that are attending -
You need to get there early and CLAIM your good seats
''Don't be a bad dagh..."