Maroon Platoon promotes participation
Shane Allen
Issue date: 9/26/07 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
UW-L students are promoting a new form of athletic support on campus. The goal is to get more students excited about UW-L athletic events and get more students to attend home games on campus. This is the vision of the Maroon Platoon, a new approach towards generating student interest at athletic events at UW-L.
"Our goal is to get all the students to athletic events, come out and support our student athletes as they compete on campus," says Matthew Roberts, a student dedicated towards forming the Maroon Platoon into an active club here on campus.
Roberts is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Physical Education at UW-L. He has taken the role to lead the Platoon. Keeping tabs on its growth, brainstorming new ideas and seeing how far the group will go are a few of the many tasks Roberts handles.
Through the support and idea of UW-L football Coach Larry Terry, Roberts received the opportunity to organize and lead the Maroon Platoon from ideas on paper into an actual club.
Roberts works with Dean Paula Kundtson and Athletic Directors Joe Baker and Kim Bloom to help keep the Platoon under La Crosse's philosophy of excellence. In turn they help with the managing and budgeting of the club.
The Platoon is now pushing 2000 members which is larger than Roberts anticipated this early since the club's arrival on campus.
One demonstration of the Platoon could have been witnessed at the La Crosse/Azusa Pacific football game two weeks ago. Many students in the crowd dressed in maroon shirts with 'Maroon Platoon' in white print. This showed UW-L school unity.
Participation at the home game brought incentives as well. Names were drawn from the active members attending the game giving them a chance to win prizes for supporting the Platoon. As a result, three women had a chance at either a free pizza from Kwik Trip or a 12 pack of Pepsi.
Roberts has high hopes for his Maroon Platoon as it blooms across campus. "The two expectations we ask our members is to have fun and be willing to get to know other people." He is welcoming anyone interested in participating and realizes that some students may not have time.
"We don't expect people to sacrifice their academics to be at every athletic event, but just to gain support for their friends and fellow student athletes out there."
Roberts eventually hopes to bring all future members together for a potluck to celebrate the growth of the program. Through his promotion of supporting athletics and coming together on campus, the program looks to be on a road of success.
"Our goal is to get all the students to athletic events, come out and support our student athletes as they compete on campus," says Matthew Roberts, a student dedicated towards forming the Maroon Platoon into an active club here on campus.
Roberts is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Physical Education at UW-L. He has taken the role to lead the Platoon. Keeping tabs on its growth, brainstorming new ideas and seeing how far the group will go are a few of the many tasks Roberts handles.
Through the support and idea of UW-L football Coach Larry Terry, Roberts received the opportunity to organize and lead the Maroon Platoon from ideas on paper into an actual club.
Roberts works with Dean Paula Kundtson and Athletic Directors Joe Baker and Kim Bloom to help keep the Platoon under La Crosse's philosophy of excellence. In turn they help with the managing and budgeting of the club.
The Platoon is now pushing 2000 members which is larger than Roberts anticipated this early since the club's arrival on campus.
One demonstration of the Platoon could have been witnessed at the La Crosse/Azusa Pacific football game two weeks ago. Many students in the crowd dressed in maroon shirts with 'Maroon Platoon' in white print. This showed UW-L school unity.
Participation at the home game brought incentives as well. Names were drawn from the active members attending the game giving them a chance to win prizes for supporting the Platoon. As a result, three women had a chance at either a free pizza from Kwik Trip or a 12 pack of Pepsi.
Roberts has high hopes for his Maroon Platoon as it blooms across campus. "The two expectations we ask our members is to have fun and be willing to get to know other people." He is welcoming anyone interested in participating and realizes that some students may not have time.
"We don't expect people to sacrifice their academics to be at every athletic event, but just to gain support for their friends and fellow student athletes out there."
Roberts eventually hopes to bring all future members together for a potluck to celebrate the growth of the program. Through his promotion of supporting athletics and coming together on campus, the program looks to be on a road of success.
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