More than a game

At Campbellsville University, student athletes play a big role in making campus what it is, so it’s important to show them how much they’re supported, according to CU Athletic Director Adam Preston. One of the steps Preston has taken to complete this mission is encouraging all coaches from each sport to motivate their teams to attend a sporting event for another team. The goal is to get every team comfortable being around one another and interacting with each other.

“What I really wanted to happen was for everybody to start showing up for each other,” he said. “To create a culture where we’re connected, where we have deep roots. Very often, football players will be with football teammates, and that’s all they ever see. So, these are opportunities, and really, it’s not about the soccer game or the football game. It’s much more about the kids in the crowd seeing each other.”

Not only does this help teams that may not have had a good atmosphere to begin with, it also builds deeper connections with students at CU. Some students may have never thought about attending a soccer game or football game. Whether that is because they don’t know much about the sport or may have thought they would not enjoy it, this helps them gain an experience that might teach them a lesson or piqued an interest they never thought they had.

“Some people have loved it,” Preston said. “You look up, and the stands are full of people that are chanting. That has been a great thing for them.”

Preston doesn’t want students to feel mandated to attend these events. It’s a suggestion he gave to coaches to tell their teams. There are no consequences for not attending the events, but he does think it would be a very positive experience for the people that do.

“There’s been a little pushback. Students will say why should I be mandated to go to an event? And I really don’t want that,” he said. “I tell them, you don’t have to go to this event, explaining to them that this is merely a choice rather than an obligation. This is about you building a fantastic experience here at Campbellsville University. I think if you allow yourself to be vulnerable and connect to the other piece of the university, you get this really special experience.”

This can present challenges for sports that are not spectator sports and are not played in a stadium or gymnasium. Preston is currently working on ways to combat this and garnering attention to those sports.

“How do we support these teams in the right way?” Preston said. “Bass fishing is one. (CU) Bass fishing is a top five team in the country, not just NAIA, but all colleges. I think it’s meeting with those coaches and finding solutions. How do we get together and lift them up? Maybe we do a sendoff. I think for wrestling, you can move them into Powell. It’s finding a solution that makes sense for the coach and for the players.”

Not only has the response from the students been positive, but the coaching response has been positive, as well.  Head Football Coach Jacob Russell believes it’s a way to bring the community together.

“I think it’s great for two reasons,” Russell said. “One, I think it’s good for the team. Obviously, we’re kind of spoiled as the football team. We get great crowds, and we play on Saturdays, which is an advantage considering that other sports play in the middle of the week, and sometimes its 5 o’clock or 8 o’clock, so sometimes it’s a little tougher for people to get there.”

CU is home to many international student-athletes, and this effort is another way to show them support.

“Some of those teams also have a lot of international kids, so obviously their families can’t come to every game,” Russell said. “So, I love it, I think it’s great for our guys to be able to get out of their rooms and do something. Maybe do something they don’t normally do.”

With this being helpful to the teams playing, Russell says it’s also beneficial to attendees and can be a learning experience, even for the coaches.

“I was talking with the other coaches and asking them, how do you think they run plays compared to how we run them?” Russell said.  “How do you think of this strategy? And so, probably without realizing, I’m learning something from that. It’s also cool to see the different moving parts to a soccer game where it’s more of a free-flowing sport compared to like a football game where it’s way more structured and organized.

Sophomore Gyslain Ngongo,  a soccer player at CU, is directly affected by Preston’s idea.

 “It felt like the support helped us get the win,” he said. “And if everybody can help each other by doing that, then we should do that every single game.”

Ngongo said it’s made a huge difference in the feeling of playing in the games.

“There is a huge difference compared to last year,” he said. “Not a lot of people came to our games, but if people start watching the game they’ll probably enjoy it. So, I encourage them to come back… So, they can be there to support, and if they like it, keep coming, and we will be there to support them, as well.”

Victoria Walker, a sophomore on the Campbellsville Lady Tiger Flag Football team, who’s season doesn’t begin until the spring, is curious to see what the turn out will be like for those games.

“I will say that in the past years, we have had empty stadiums. It’s just been full of parents and the other players of the teams that we play,” she said. “I think it will be interesting to see what an atmosphere for a flag football game will be like. I’m also interested in how that will benefit us mindset wise. But overall, I think it will be a great thing for the program.”