Over the past few months, the Vike Squad has been making some noise off and on the field. The Vike Squad made its debut during the Gold Rush football game against Carthage on Nov. 9. More recently, the Vike Squad held a white-out-themed student section for the men’s basketball game against rivals Illinois Wesleyan University, which resulted in an Augustana win.
Over the summer, the Office of Student Life (OSL) wanted to involve students and the community more in games and events to improve the game day experience for both the audience and athletes. Senior Ben Statz, who is a director of athletic engagement, came up with the idea over the past summer.
“We saw a lack of attendance and engagement in certain events and games,” Statz said. “Over the summer, Wes Brooks came to me and told me about it. So, I took that idea and formed the Vike Squad, and we kind of just looked at what we needed to do.”
The Vike Squad is a new organization, which means unfortunately it doesn’t have much funding yet. This lack of resources makes it harder for them to support their efforts to get more students involved in sporting events.
In addition, they aren’t able to pay the committee members who work hard to plan and run the group. Instead, these members volunteer their time and energy, showing their dedication to creating a great game day experience for the students.
“Over the summer, since we needed to get started quickly, I hired a quick committee of unpaid people. Next year, they will be paid as an OSL committee,” Statz said. “We do actually eat a lot of the cost. A lot of our T-shirts that we do make are with just the budget that we were given, and we give those out for free, but we have gotten some more funding, and we’ve charged for the Gold Rush shirts, and with that money, we keep it in our budget. We have a reserved amount for these competitions that we do at the games.”
Although the lack of funding has presented some challenges for the Vike Squad, it has not slowed them down in their mission to promote events and encourage students to attend games. Using Instagram to promote themes and halftime competitions for prizes at the football and basketball games, they have seen an increase in attendance at those events.
The Vike Squad promoted the men’s basketball game against Carroll University, which had an attendance of 607, doubling the average. One of the volunteers, junior Jack Ellis, saw the huge jump in attendance.
“I know basketball games are huge show out opportunities for the students, as everybody loves sitting in the student section, doing the chants, really bringing the students together as one school under one spirit,” Ellis said.
The student section also contributes to the team’s success, as the loud cheers from the Vike Squad affect the team’s shooting performance. On Saturday, Feb. 22, Illinois Wesleyan University shot 45 percent from the field and 60 percent on free throws, which are both below their average for the year.
With the help of the student section, the players and coaches are loving the effort the student section is putting into these games. Junior Noah Ehlenbach, has seen the love and support that the players and coaches give to the Vike Squad as a volunteer.
“I know the guys love playing in front of a big crowd. Who doesn’t?” Ehlenbach said. “I think that it shows because, for one reason, they always wear our shirts during warm-ups, and I know that Coach Delp on the basketball team has reached out to Ben and definitely appreciates what’s happening with their attendance at the games.”
The Vike Squad will continue to set up themes and events for upcoming sporting events this year and hopes to continue the tradition of getting a student section to support Augustana’s student-athletes and make a great game day experience.
