Suggestion Box on how to boost Student Attendance & Enthusiasm at Games

[VU2014]

SIU's student section was impressive tonight. SIU is a much larger school but they were rowdy. Our students could take notes. Maybe our Athletics Department could ask their Athletics Department how they drive the turnout and build a culture as well. A big issue on our end as far as I'm concerned.
https://twitter.com/TheReal_MG3/status/960021627198234624

[VULB#62]

According to Paul, they all show up a half hour before game time and PRACTICE their cheers.

[VU2014]

According to Paul, they all show up a half hour before game time and PRACTICE their cheers.

We could definitely benefit from that. Back when I was in school everyone sort of was led by a few individuals in the student section who were the unspoken  leaders and led the cheers. Our student section could benefit from some sort of registered student group leading them. Nothing is going to change unless someone takes action, whether that be in the Athletics Department or individuals in the student body. Something needs to change.

[valporun]

One of the things I've been thinking has hurt student attendance, and I didn't think about it until today, Matt Lottich doesn't have the same winning tradition that Homer and Bryce did. A lot of today's VU students weren't there for the great years of Homer and Bryce coached Crusader teams. Until Matt builds His winning tradition with the Valpo basketball program, we're going to see a lot of empty bleachers that look like students.

[vu72]

SIU also handed out free t-shirts and free pizza. It was good to see their football team in mass also in the stands.  Supporting each others teams needs to be stressed.  Also didn't hurt that it was a Saturday night game.  I'm sure they wouldn't have been out in force for a Wednesday game.

[crusadermoe]

SIU is a bigger university by far, is located in a pretty lame community of Carbondale, IL, and has a strong tradition of reasonable success a few years back.  So I won't compare us to them. 

It seems to me that better comparisons are going to be Evansville, Drake, and Loyola.  I can't recall seeing the student sections there at Evansville and Bradley.  Does anyone else?  And we have yet to play at Drake or Loyola.

[talksalot]

They also had drawings for nice prizes for the students who were given raffle tickets as they walked in... all 1,500-2,000 of them!!  They had them playing Xbox games on the jumbotron.

Sad tho; they had to explain a few things.  We are giving you news papers to hold up when the other team players are introduced.   When that's over, tear them up and we'll have confetti when the game is over.  But don't make paper airplanes out of them.   Thus one Team Bench warning against ISU for having one of the paper airplanes land on the court during play.

They had students in their time-out contests.  Half-Court Shots... all you can shoot in 30 seconds for $100 visa card.  The guy hits it on his third attempt.   They had a progressive, Layup, FreeThrow and 3-pointer. where you risked the $25 to shoot the Free Throw for $50; and risked the $50 for the 3-pointer and $100.  Kid hits all three.   They were averaging 3-4 "items" during every timeout.  Contests, GameBall presentations, Dance Team, CheerLeaders...Name That Tune...  it was an atmosphere!  40-member pep band, including three tubas.

They did NOT have a sponsor the their 3-pointers.

[talksalot]

I can't recall seeing the student sections there at Evansville

We play there this coming Wednesday night.

[VU2014]

Look at the way Porter Moser interacts with his student section. He goes the extra mile to drive turnout and build a connection with the students.

To give full context Porter has been at Loyola for 7 years now and I think most of us on this board remember the Loyola in the Horizon League nobody showed up to their games and it was a very sparse student section. He's been working on  building that goodwill with the students for years and I heard he really stepped up his efforts after the Gentile reno.

It's easier to do during the great winning seasons like this one for Loyola but I would love to some more engagement and outreach.

https://twitter.com/BigJoeRambler/status/959897590975344652

[NativeCheesehead]

Really good interview on the new USH with one of the student leaders of the section. Seems like a bright, knowledgeable kid with a real passion for basketball. But when Paul pressed him a bit on reasons and ideas, he had nothing other than "The team isn't good." While true, and surely a factor, I was a little dismayed he seemed more ready to offer excuses than ideas. This year is what it is, but what do they intend on changing next year? Have they reached out to past leaders to gauge their ideas?

Being in charge of the student section is more than just running the twitter account.

[Billy Co]

Really good interview on the new USH with one of the student leaders of the section. Seems like a bright, knowledgeable kid with a real passion for basketball. But when Paul pressed him a bit on reasons and ideas, he had nothing other than "The team isn't good." While true, and surely a factor, I was a little dismayed he seemed more ready to offer excuses than ideas. This year is what it is, but what do they intend on changing next year? Have they reached out to past leaders to gauge their ideas?

Being in charge of the student section is more than just running the twitter account.

I tweeted at the student section leaders & Mark LaBarbera with some ideas to bring back the official student section organization called VU CRU but I pretty much got the same response. I even sent them the paperwork they need to fill out to create a student section and haven't heard if there is any movement on that front. I invited them to join the conversation of the message boards to brain storm ideas with alumni and fans and I haven't noticed their presence on this thread. It's a little disheartening but so is the Athletics Departments efforts and sense of urgency. This is a big problem for this program and this school.

Running social media is easy. It doesn't take much effort to send tweets. I appreciate that someone is trying but the goals for the student section should be set much higher. More can be done and more should be done.

[VU2014]

Now SIU is really good at outside the box thinking for promotion and getting the their students to come to the games lol.

https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/962057312247545857
https://twitter.com/5thYear/status/961999610431623170

[NativeCheesehead]

You mean the athletic department can engage the students directly? Inconceivable!

[VU2014]

You mean the athletic department can engage the students directly? Inconceivable!

I know, weird. I thought they could only hand out free foam fingers and t-shirts.

[talksalot]

Now SIU is really good at outside the box thinking for promotion and getting the their students to come to the games lol.

https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/962057312247545857
https://twitter.com/5thYear/status/961999610431623170

y'All did notice this is their Valentines' day game... for those who can't get a date otherwise...probably not a good game for the Kiss Kam.

[VUGrad1314]

I've been thinking a lot about this and I think a lot of this has to do with the student leadership. I don't get the sense that these guys are Valpo fans first and foremost, which isn't what I'd look for in a student section leader. I'm also not sure if they talk about Valpo enough in their radio show (I don't listen frequently so maybe someone can fill me  in). If content mostly unrelated to Valpo hoops is going out to the campus community, they're sending a message that Valpo basketball isn't important since they are the student section leaders. If one glance at their twitter shows numerous tweets about which (non-Valpo) game they should attend, which (non-ARC) arena they should visit, GCU content, Loyola (MD) content, content about other schools most Valpo students don't give a crap about, bracketology for the CBI\CIT, etc. before they see any Valpo content, they are again sending the message to the students that Valpo basketball isn't important. When their pinned tweet, the first thing they see when they come to their Twitter, is their student section leader sitting in Chicago State's gym with GCU gear on,what message does that send to other students? Some of these trips I'm sure have even conflicted with Valpo games (correct me if I'm wrong). What's a student section without its leaders?

In the interest of fairness, let me say that I admire their passion for college hoops, respect their ambition to try to cover teams from around the country,consider their twitter page to be a must-view for information, and feel that the experience they are gaining and the contacts they are making will serve them very well in the future and make them potentially great assets to the Valpo community as alumni; the unfortunate trade-off is the thing that will make them the most marketable once they graduate serves as their greatest hindrance to their role as student section leaders. I would suggest trying to work more Valpo content into the show and Twitter page, or starting a second show and page devoted to Valpo and their role as student section leaders. Maybe have Paul on as a guest if he's willing and able. Interview people around the Valpo Athletics (but especially basketball). Help the student body connect with and get to know the athletes as people, as fellow students, as classmates. Giving the students a way to relate to the players is a great way to foster that connection and community that is so necessary in the building and maintenance of a strong student section. Again, Paul is really good at this and could really help if these guys would reach out to him.

Lastly, it's fine to like other teams (I do too) but while they're Valpo students and while they're  the leaders of the student section, Valpo should be #1 in their hearts and that much should be made abundantly clear to their fellow students. They should be willing to listen to and tap into what the student body needs in order to make attending games attractive, and work within their power and to the best of their ability to provide these things. As has been mentioned before, pursue funding if possible. They should know and be able to articulate well the myriad reasons why basketball and athletics in general should and do matter to the university and the university community.

[bigmosmithfan1]

My nephew is a recent graduate of another mid-major school. His junior year, student attendance suddenly plunged despite the team having one of their best seasons in recent memory. As he tells it, the reason was that the two fraternities that were the largest drivers of student section participation were rarely around anymore. The reason? Two chapter presidents graduated, to be replaced by guys who didn't make attending sporting events a priority (in fact, he said one fraternity was basically led by a guy who actively dissed his own school's team in social media comments, choosing to skip home games to watch his favorite Big Ten team on TV and encouraged others to join him). The sororities that were paired with them followed suit, multiplying the issue.

At Big State U., this kinda thing wouldn't make much of a ripple. At a midmajor school where something like that can easily mean the difference between having a few hundred kids in the student section instead of 1,000 - 1,500, it's noticeable.

Obviously, this is not what's happened at VU this year. But to me, this shows the importance of having the effort for better attendance being focused across the entire student body instead of just letting the Greek organizations drive the car. If the Greek orgs are bringing people in the door, great, but when you get a couple chapter leaders who don't buy in, your student section can be empty real quick.

[VUBBFan]

By the way the so called student leaders were NOT at the game today. I would not call that leadership. No Valpo Crusader either. Even giving away prizes and sandwiches today to students didn't get them out of their Dorms. This school does not show any spirit for their own sports team.

[VU2014]

It's apparent the Greek Life support has fallen off a cliff the last 2 seasons, which is pretty disturbing because Smits & Jay are in two different fraternities and one of the basketball managers is the president of a fraternity. How can they not support their brothers? I've noticed a group of Phi Delts at a couple games (it may have been a recruitment event). Back when I was in school the Sig Eps and Phi Psi's were the two biggest fraternal groups at basketball games but they were also the two biggest fraternities. But even the Phi Sig's and Sig Pi's were big supporters too. The Sororities would come out in big groups sometimes. The Athletics Department needs to engage in meaningful dialogue with the Office of Greek Life, they should work with them.

We have big issues and it's not a simple fix. It's a culture problem that goes well beyond how many wins and losses this team has. These kids don't know the cheers. Fixing this problem needs to start with build backup the culture and tradition of students going to games.

I'm literally dumbfounded and incredibly disappointed with the student bodies support of THEIR Team! Seeing that type of lack of support on national television is an embarrassment to the University and all it's Alums. Most importantly this team deserves better.

[M]

We had more then Evansville so there's that. Fix the problem or ditch the student section. Nothing worse then a ugly empty section of seats right behind the hoop.

[VUBBFan]

I watched the replay of the game and  the network never even tried to show the student section, just the crusaderettes. I don't think they wanted to embarrass us.

[VUGrad1314]

Maybe they can make it an alumni section or a student\alumni section. We could teach the cheers to the students that way and then maybe the students would be able to carry on what they've learned and rebuild the culture.

[VULB#62]

It's apparent the Greek Life support has fallen off a cliff the last 2 seasons, which is pretty disturbing because Smits & Jay are in two different fraternities and one of the basketball managers is the president of a fraternity. How can they not support their brothers? I've noticed a group of Phi Delts at a couple games (it may have been a recruitment event).

We have big issues and it's not a simple fix. It's a culture problem that goes well beyond how many wins and losses this team has. These kids don't know the cheers. Fixing this problem needs to start with build backup the culture and tradition of students going to games.

I'm literally dumbfounded and incredibly disappointed with the student bodies support of THEIR Team! Seeing that type of lack of support on national television is an embarrassment to the University and all it's Alums. Most importantly this team deserves better.

I completely  agree.

Back in the day (yeah, the late 60s) Greeks drove the attendance in the student section — Fraternities, mainly, but also Sororities. It was expected.  It was the Valpo culture at the time. How was that lost?   ValpoPal posted a more recent Valparaizone photo. How did that also disappear so quickly?  Answer: the failure to recognize that culture needs to be passed on. We, as a university, cannot assume it will just happen. Great effort must be put into it EVERY year. And, I'm sorry, but college students seldom know what the heck is going on. They may eventually get it later as maybe juniors or seniors, and some don't even get it until well after graduation and then regret that they didn't take advantage of the opportunity. So they cannot be expected to do the job.

Valpo culture must  emminate from the top. Top of the Athletic Department. Top of the administration. They must be the keepers of the fame and lead the way year after year, class after class. Part of my memories of being a student at Valpo was the academic experience. It was eye-opening. But emotionally, my love of the school really came from the social atmosphere I experienced for 4 too short years. And both participating as well as supporting fellow athletes took that experience over the top. But I had tons of non-athlete friends who were right there with me. All of that was fostered by the Valpo administration, i.e., President O.P. Kretzman.

Our coaches have been super in attracting great D-I athletes to Valpo despite less than optimum budgets, scholarships and facilities. How have they done that?  IMO, they have created a family atmosphere in just about all sports, and athletes gravitate to it. Is that the same atmosphere that is promoted to the general student body in not only marketing blurbs but practice and followthrough? Or is it in reality more sterile and, once on campus, the family aspect kind of disappears? Again IMO, the university has to do more to emphasize a family culture and family obligations within all students as a part of the campus experience, and that needs to include getting them to participate as fans in Valpo family events: athletics, obviously, but also in  theater, music, worship, etc. I am not on campus so my thoughts are pure speculation based on limited data points, but it is a feeling I have. I hope I am mistaken.

[VUGrad1314]

By the way the so called student leaders were NOT at the game today. I would not call that leadership. No Valpo Crusader either. Even giving away prizes and sandwiches today to students didn't get them out of their Dorms. This school does not show any spirit for their own sports team.

I tried not to come down too hard on this point, thinking maybe there's a valid reason, but that concerned me as well. If there's no valid reason then shame on them for the poor example of leadership they are setting.  As I wrote before, what's a student section without its leaders? This team has fought hard through a ton of adversity this year and it's just now starting to bear fruit. They deserve the support of their friends and classmates especially. As the fight song says: "Valpraiso, we're here to back you. Our cheers like thunder roar. "And let's fight for the brown and gold." Students especially section leaders need to live up to the ideals expressed in the school song.

[VU2014]

One of them was at home in Maryland this weekend. It sounds like his flight got delayed and he couldn't make the game. I'm not sure about the other 2.

https://twitter.com/happeninghoops/status/962735931928334336