Following big victory, Thunder Crew, Athletic Department aim to increase spirit

When the final horn sounded in Georgia College’s thrilling, 73-69 upset victory over No. 7 Augusta State on Feb. 10, students swarmed the court and met the players at half court, turning the Centennial Center into a celebratory madhouse.

There may not have been anyone in the stands who was happier after the game than Pat Gamble, President of the Thunder Crew and student section. Gamble has been the leading voice in attempts to make the Centennial Center a wild game environment and the student section a reflection of bigger schools like Duke and Michigan State.

“(The game) was incredible. We haven’t really had a loud student section at all, but we had 300-plus students standing up and cheering that whole game, and we feel like we made a difference,” Gamble said. “We created a lot of energy, and I feel like that gave the players an extra spark.”

In the couple of weeks leading up to the game, it had been built up be the sports information department as a key rivalry game with the slogan “Beat ASU.”

The end result was a massive turnout of more than 1,800 people in attendance, by far the largest this season, even though it wasn’t a record.

“I’ve never seen that side closest to the press box that full,” said Sports Information Director Al Weston. “I had some reservations about making the game into a huge rivalry because I don’t think you can force rivalries. But the extra emphasis put on it really resonated with the student body.”

And while Weston expects a bigger crowd for the Homecoming game on Feb. 19, he doesn’t necessarily expect the same intensity level.

“There will probably be more bodies there, but you’ll see people texting and a million other things going on,” he said. “I don’t think there will be the same level of intent interest. Last Thursday was something else.”

Overall, basketball attendance is down so far this season.

Weston and his staff have been actively working to help increase interest and attendance at not just basketball games, but for all sporting events.

Schedules and cards have been made, and they have used Bobcat Vision to advertise games. Still, a lot of work has been put into the Centennial Center.

“We’re trying to figure out what works. We did some renovations to the sound system, and that’s helped make a sizeable difference and create a more enjoyable atmosphere,” Weston said. “We’ve had people talk about painting the seats school colors. We are also looking into the cost of extra lighting and spotlights and foggy smoke for player intros.”

Getting people to the games is the most important part of the process according to Weston.

“It’s a two-step thing. We have to get the fans to care, and then we have to

make sure they are influenced enough to where they keep coming back,” he said. “It’s not always an easy thing to do.”

Athletic Director Wendell Staton is also stepping up efforts to help improve school spirit.

“One of the things we’re in the process of doing is creating a student advisory committee. The main concept behind that is to have a sense of what’s out there,” Staton said. “I think that will be very beneficial. We have a game this Saturday, so hopefully we can build on last week with a strong showing this weekend.”

Gamble is aiming to keep student attendance high for the rest of his stay at Georgia College and beyond.

“We want to make sure the games stay packed out and make the Centennial Center a hard place to play,” Gamble said. “Our goal is to have the loudest and most fearsome student section in all of Division II. We want to keep promoting the games, giving away free stuff and getting the word and support out there.”

Posted by Scotty Thompson on Feb 17 2011. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.