Muleskinner

Issue date: 2/28/08 Section: Features

Media Credit: Drew Woolery: Muleskinner [Click to enlarge]

Fans at Mules and Jennies basketball games may have noticed a group of excited students wearing red shirts. Those are members of the new UCM Roaring Red Student Booster Club, recently founded by Campus Activities intern Megan Wyett.

The club's $10 membership gets students a Roaring Red T-shirt to wear at games, seating in the Roaring Red reserved section, discounts at the concession stand and a prize package full of goodies from the University Store, worth about $23, at every game.

"If you come to just six games, you'll get your money back just from the concession stand discounts," Wyett said, illustrating the value of the club's perks.

Club members receive Roaring Red points when they swipe their student IDs at home athletic events. At the end of the year, members with the most points will receive big prizes, such as a book scholarship, which can be used at the UCM bookstore, or $200 of Sodexho points on their student IDs.

The Roaring Red Club will also have at least one social event each semester that will allow members to mingle with UCM athletes. The first such event will be a tailgate and hot dog roast before the baseball game against Rockhurst April 29.

Dinners with athletes and coaches and a social at the end of the semester, where they will hand out prizes and invite athletes as guests, are also in the works.

The Roaring Red Club made its debut at a pep rally Jan. 18, and about 60 students have joined so far. Wyett said her goal is to have 100 members by the end of the year.

"We're getting to a point where we can have our own section at games," said associate athletic director Shawn Jones. Jones plans to reserve two or three rows of general admission seats for upcoming basketball games.

"The athletic department is ecstatic with what [the club] has done to increase student participation at games," Jones said. "These are the students' teams, and this gives students a chance to be directly involved."

Jones pointed out that the booster club is beneficial for athletes, too.

"It adds to home court advantage - it makes a difference in the outcome of the games - having noise and support in the stands," he said.

Continued...

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