After a successful first year of recruiting students to attend ACU athletic events, Wildcat Reign is now looking to become even more of an on campus presence.
With new plans and events, the student-led organization is looking to get as many students involved with ACU sports as it can. The organization’s first major event is the Watch Party for the ACU football game against Georgia State which will air at 6 p.m. Aug. 27 on ESPNU. The event will begin at 5 p.m. in Gym D of the Recreation and Wellness Center.
Students are welcome to mingle and eat food provided by Buffalo Wild Wings as they watch the football team start their season.
Bryan Maier, sophomore mathematics education major from St. Louis, is one of the founders of Wildcat Reign. He and other members have spent most of the summer planning events for students to get involved in ACU athletics.
“We are working on making the game experience better from beginning to end,” Maier said. “Tailgates, working on getting better music, more giveaways and actively going out and recruiting people who want to change the culture here.”
Wildcat Reign is looking to start these changes primarily with the incoming freshman class since they have yet to be a part of the student section at ACU. After talking to returning students, members of the organization agreed on the importance of starting with the younger class.
To add to their efforts for the new year, Wildcat Reign will be a visible part of the athletic program for the first time. They will sell shirts that will be adopted as the student-section shirt. The shirt design can be found on their Twitter account (@ACUWildcatReign) and will be available to the public in time for football season.
Wildcat Reign has had a brief existence at ACU but has already had a positive effect on athletics. The organization has helped bring students to more athletic events, including the men’s and women’s basketball games that were aired on ESPN3. For sophomore Trey Jackson, getting involved with Wildcat Reign was a no-brainer.
“I got involved in Wildcat Reign after the football game in Frisco last year when ACU played Tarleton State,” said Jackson, sophomore graphic design major from North Richland Hills. “Bryan Maier and I had already been thinking of some ways to make the athletic atmosphere better for students, so after the game, Bryan asked me if I wanted to get on board officially.”
In an effort to bring athletic pride back to the student body, Wildcat Reign has collaborated with several individuals, including different coaches on campus, Director of Broadcast and Sales Grant Boone and Associate Director of Athletics of Operations Cory Driskill. Wildcat Reign plans on turning more students into fans of Wildcat Nation by recruiting new members in seek of change.
“We want ACU to have the best student section in the Southland Conference, and, as Julie Goodenough said at the Welcome Week pep rally, ‘we want a Division I student section,'” Jackson said.
