Berg Pride: Excitement in the air

There they were, in the right corner of Seiberling Gymnasium. You couldn’t miss them. They were loud – and this night, they were dressed in black spandex and old volleyball uniforms, supporting the Heidelberg volleyball team. The Heidelberg wrestling team is just one example of Berg Pride, a new initiative set in motion this year by Interim Athletic Director Duane Sheldon and Interim Associate AD Matt Palm.

Berg Pride has gained quite a groundswell of momentum across campus. The sounds of students cheering from the stands at volleyball, soccer and football games this fall have been thunderous. The student body has been coming out in full force to support their Fighting Student Princes.

It began with a pep rally early in the fall to get students excited about the upcoming football season, which included a new coaching staff and new attitude, and has exploded into a campus-wide movement. Not only has the student section at the football games nearly tripled in size, students have taken to banging drums and creating banners for soccer games and a whole section of the gym is set aside at volleyball games for their zealous fans.

At volleyball games, student interest is especially high. They regularly have supporters dressing up in ’Berg Pride T-shirts, Spartan costumes, and old volleyball uniforms – spandex included.

The support has not gone unnoticed. The football team has won three games so far this season, the volleyball team recently triumphed for the first time in the postseason after 15 disappointing appearances beforehand, and the men’s soccer team has made the OAC tournament as the second seed, its first appearance at the event since 2002.

Visit the Berg Pride webpage for more details.

 
Posted 11-1-2007