Students at UVU share insights on rooting for their school.
Tim Castaneda | Sports Writer | @xTIMBOxSLICEx
With many major universities involved in NCAA Division I athletics having strong fan bases such as BYU, Utah, and Utah State, the competition for fans remains an on-going battle for UVU.
In spite of the school’s recent success in the Western Athletic Conference in softball and basketball among other sports, sometimes athletics at UVU takes a back seat to the teams in power conferences. More then occasionally on the campus of UVU you can find many sports fans decked out in other school’s apparel.
Although fewer students show support for UVU sports in comparison to other schools in the state, it doesn’t mean some students among the 30,000 plus attending school at UVU don’t show their Wolverine green inside and out.
Micah Jensen, a public relations student at UVU, offers insight on being one of the few students who truly bleed Wolverine green as a die-hard UVU fan. “These days it can be hard to be a UVU fan. This isn’t because of bad sports programs or athletes though,” said Jensen. “It can be hard because you can be on the sidelines cheering, screaming and showing support for your school. But you are the only one standing there it feels like.”
Ryan Butler, another public relations student at UVU, also weighs in on the frustration of being part of a smaller group of fans supporting a school with a student body as large as UVU’s. “It’s frustrating as well because we have so many people that go to this school. But they don’t come out to the games,” said Butler. “It’s frustrating to see the stands that aren’t full, when they should be full.”
However frustrating it may be, it can also be a rewarding experience to cheer on the school as you build life-long memories by attending UVU sporting events as a student.
“When we beat New Mexico State in basketball (last year) that was fun,” said Butler when talking about his favorite UVU sports moments. “And our very first (men’s) soccer game was packed, there was a lot of energy. It was just fun seeing everyone in the school come out. So I’ll probably never forget that.”
Jensen also shares a couple of reasons that make cheering on the Wolverines such a rewarding experience in itself. “I have loved watching the UVU soccer games. Rushing the field after a good game is always a highlight,” he said. “There isn’t a better feeling than giving a piece of who you are to your team. Being at the games, smelling the food, and feeling the energy in the air is a huge rush for me.”
UVU sports even provide such an experience that can carry over into creating life-long fans once a student moves on into the real world after graduation. “This is my school and they are my teams,” said Jensen about rooting for UVU once he graduates. “Some people lose spirit after school. Or only talk about their teams when they are in the spotlight of success. They are not real fans. I will always follow Wolverine sports.”
Students that don’t cheer on the school risk missing out on building life-long memories and the overall exhilarating experience of attending their own school’s NCAA Division I sporting events.
