Otters Cheer with the Blue Crue

Evan FitGerald, Staff Reporter

Evan_FitzGerald@csumb.edu

Feb. 28, 2008

Many athletic events on campus have a

less than stellar attendance record. In fact, the

amount of people coming out to cheer on the

Otters is far less then one tenth of the school’s

undergraduate population. For most of the

events, the students represent only about half

of the total crowd size. The rest is made up

of family members and students from the

opposing university. All of that is about to

change at CSU Monterey Bay, because of the

new student cheering section, the Blue Crue.

Founded by students Randall Rigali, a

Human Communications sophomore and

Kendra Miller, a Kinestheology senior, they

aim to support the Otters to the fullest.

“It’s organized to promote spirit at all

athletic events at our school,” said Miller.

“[More fans] make it more fun to play.”

Both Miller and Rigali know this well, as

Miller played volleyball during her athletic

tenure at CSUMB and while Rigali currently

plays soccer for the men’s team. Both know

that poor fan turnout can affect the game, and

in the past that has been a problem that has

plagued athletics at CSUMB. The attendance

for certain teams, particularly women’s soccer

and basketball has been embarrassingly low

despite the excess of available seating. It is the

aim of the Blue Crue to bring students out to

these events and they hope to give the home

team the spark they need to gain a victory.

“The overall goal is to be 100 percent

participant at all athletic events,” said Rigali.

“Blue Crue is all about getting the fans

enthusiastic about athletics.”

There has been much to cheer about at

CSUMB, as many of the athletic teams are

picking up their level of play in the California

Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA). The

men’s soccer team made it to the playoffs in

its first year of eligibility, the softball team

is posting a winning record for the first

time in the program’s history and the men’s

basketball team has defeated the best schools

in the conference and is close to obtaining

a playoff bid. The women’s and men’s golf

teams have both had a phenomenal year and

the water polo team currently has a winning

record.

Five percent of the 4,080 undergraduates

enrolled at CSUMB are athletes, producing

a large amount of support from CSUMB

athletes at the games, and the Blue Crue

plans to increase that number and draw in

non-student athletes to home games. The

large turnout at the men’s basketball games

has called for a section of the stands has been

sectioned off only for Blue Crue members, but

the perks do not stop there. $10 gets students

an exclusive Blue Crue membership card and

tee shirt to sport at home games.

“Membership cards give you half off at

the concessions stand at games,” said Kirby

Garry, the administrative representative of the

Blue Crue as well as marketing and sports

camps coordinator for Otter athletics. “We

want this to grow into the student body. It is a

way for our fans to support our teams.”

It is the hope for the future that the Blue

Crue membership card will not only get

students a discount at basketball games, but

also a mark off at stores around the area. The

Blue Crue currently has over 150 members,

many of who get excited at the Otter home

games. Where once it was uncommon to see

students jumping out of their seats after a

basketball dunk, it has now become a tradition

at CSUMB, and one the founders of the

cheering section hope will continue.

For more information about the Blue

Crue visit their Facebook page or, www.

otterathletics.com/sports/2008/1/30/bluecrue.

aspx?.