The Collegian
Friday, March 29, 2024

Spider fans head to Durham for football opener

University of Richmond head football coach Mike London said he was looking forward to increased fan support when his team starts its season on Saturday at Duke.

"For us to have the support of the students at UR is tremendous," London said at a press conference Wednesday afternoon. "I'd like to say I appreciate that. I look forward to seeing it."

Five buses of Richmond students--275 fans--will travel to Durham to watch the Spiders play against Duke Saturday night. Senior Kate Dochelli, vice president of events for The Richmond Rowdies, a student fan group, organized the trip. The Rowdies and the Campus Activities Board are each funding two of the student buses, and the Student Government Associations will pay for the fifth.

"I was kind of shocked and surprised but excited at the same time," junior linebacker Eric McBride said about student attendance. "We never had really had a student fan base really travel...That just shows the atmosphere around here has really changed...I know the whole team really appreciates that."

The student fans will be joined by another Richmond group--the Office of Alumni has sold 288 tickets and sponsored two more fan buses--and will meet even more Spider supporters at Duke.

Jana Ross, assistant athletic director for marketing and fan development, said that the university had received an allotment of 1,000 tickets from Duke. Three hundred of those tickets were given to players' families and guests, and 700 went on sale to the public. All but 30 of those tickets have been sold.

An e-mail from Mike DeGeorge, assistant director of athletic public relations, explained that the student tickets were sold from the university's allotment, but that the Alumni Association had sold its tickets separately. In total, DeGeorge wrote, at least 1,220 tickets have been sold. Ross said she had also directed some Richmond fans to Duke's ticket office to purchase tickets, and that it was impossible to determine how many Richmond fans had purchased tickets directly from Duke.

Matt Dreyfuss, a senior and Rowdies board member, said he was surprised by how well tickets had sold.

"Excepting the National Championship, this is by far the most fans I've seen at a road game in my four years," Dreyfuss said. "I definitely didn't anticipate our section coming that close to selling out."

Dochelli also said she was surprised that there was so much student interest in the trip, because even bus trips to playoff games at Appalachian State University during the 2007 and 2008 seasons each drew only two buses of student fans.

She said the Rowdies had planned to sponsor just two buses, the same number the group chartered for the Spiders' game at the University of Virginia last fall. The Campus Activities Board offered a third bus to Duke during the summer, but by the second day of class it was clear that even that wouldn't be enough.

"I sat down at my computer to put in sign-ups and thought, 'Uh-oh, there are more sign-ups than seats,'" Dochelli said.

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CAB offered to pay for another bus, and the student senates stepped up to pay for the fifth at the Rowdies' request. A waitlist for the trip is still growing, Dochelli said, and much of the interest has come from freshmen women.

The student buses will leave the university Saturday afternoon and arrive at Duke an hour before the scheduled 7 p.m. kickoff.

Sarah Shear, assistant director for regional initiatives for the Office of Alumni Relations, wrote in an e-mail that 366 guests would attend an alumni tailgate. Those guests will include university President Edward L. Ayers, Provost Steve Allred, Athletic Director Jim Miller, Dean of Admission Gil Villanueva and other university administrators.

Dochelli and Dreyfuss said they were excited to see fan support at the Duke game and throughout the coming season. Dochelli said she thought promotions for the final season at UR stadium would draw fans, and Dreyfuss said a high ranking and increased season ticket sales would further increase fan support at home games.

Dochelli said the first home game, Sept. 19 against Hofstra University, would be especially exciting. First-year students will be bused to that game and have been invited to form a human tunnel for the team to run through at the beginning of the game.

Senior quarterback Eric Ward compared the news about fan attendance to the support the team received during last season's championship game in Chattanooga, Tenn.

"I think a lot of the players say it really gave us an extra boost, knowing we had everybody behind us, rallying behind us," Ward said. "I think it's going to do the same thing in this game and hopefully the rest of the year."

Contact staff writer Barrett Neale at barrett.neale@richmond.edu and staff writer Emily Baltz at emily.baltz@richmond.edu

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