Athletic Department Extremely Grateful for Support
Eighty-one percent of season-ticket partners pledged contributions
Mike Brohard
The list is long.
Changes in our lives created by the COVID-19 pandemic has limited our opportunities to spend time with people, no matter where they used to gather. For Colorado State Director of Athletics Joe Parker, many of those greetings took place at Moby Arena or Canvas Stadium. The handshakes and conversations were conducted at games and other athletics-related functions.
They even happened around the community – at a restaurant or the store.
Parker misses those moments with the Rams’ biggest supporters.
He’d really like to see them now, to express his heartfelt gratitude, as 81 percent of the athletic department’s season-ticket partners continued their association by donating money or keeping their season-ticket stakes within the department. It was an enormous show of support the athletic department is extremely grateful to have received.
“In many ways it reaffirms what I’ve known about our fan base and those people who have been the most engaged with Colorado State athletics – they care, they have a passion for the place and they understand the value that we create for student-athletes,” Parker said. “Even when we can’t deliver on the things that make them a part of the experience, they still want to participate at the levels that they have through the customized account management program.
“Everyone is facing the same levels of uncertainty, and some people question their livelihood and income stream, will they be affected by this? When you’re faced with that concern and uncertainty, to make a decision to continue to support CSU athletics, again, it just feels really good to everyone in the department.”
Colorado State has not hidden the fact the pandemic has hit the department hard, leading to budget concessions throughout. The university also understands it is not alone, knowing many of the people who fill the seats on game days are experiencing the same hardships, some to a much greater degree.
Asking your supporters to continue their support at such a time does not come without a grand measure of empathy, which is why 24 members of the athletic department reached out to nearly 2,500 season-ticket partners to have personal conversations and explain options available to them, which did include a full refund.
This is something that’s in our blood. It’s important. We need to move forward. The more support we can give the better.Ross Thompson, season-ticket holder
For Ross Thompson, a 1978 graduate and a former president of the Ram Club, this was no time to back away. In fact, it was the opposite for his family.
“Right now is when CSU really needs us to step up. We love CSU. We’re there for them each and every year,” said Thompson, who has missed just two home football games since becoming a season-ticket holder in 1992. “We’d already committed to this year, and we’re going through some tough times with the pandemic, and we just felt it was the right thing to do. I wish more of our fans and more of our supporters would do it.
“This is something that’s in our blood. It’s important. We need to move forward. The more support we can give the better.”
The Thompsons also have season tickets for both basketball programs and volleyball. They fund a Legacy Scholarship for a volleyball player and decided to pledge more money to the program as an added bonus.
The concept of what is taking place is not lost on the group which is most directly aided by the support, the student-athletes. Senior swimmer Jennae Frederick, a three-event placer at the 2020 Mountain West Championships and an At-Large Academic All-District 7 honoree with her perfect 4.0 GPA, understands her dreams are on hold without contributions from the fans.
“Having that support has been very comforting, knowing I’m secure and I can finish this year out strong and be with everybody as much as I can,” she said. “It also helps me find opportunities after school. I think the biggest thing is with how much uncertainty COVID has created, having the certainty your scholarship and your education is for certain, it gives me and a lot of people a level of security and comfort that then allows us to continue on and pursue what we want to pursue, be a part of our teams and go to classes.”
One of the first orders of business for men’s basketball coach Niko Medved after being hired two seasons ago was to make himself visible. He took time at football scrimmages to attend, not so much to watch and support that team, but to say hello and shake hands with the fans who would be at his basketball games.
He’s made it a point of his program being inviting, and in times like this, it is demonstrated to him the approach will always be the best avenue. Knowing the support the fans have shown his program in particular and the department as a whole made it easy for him to accept so many of them were still there in heart, even when they couldn’t be in person.
Being appreciative doesn’t hit the full measure of what he’s feeling right now, with his season soon to take flight.
“I think it’s great. You always sit there and you look, and I talk about connection and having that investment in each other. We need this community behind us to have the program that we want to have, and when you see that, these are our most loyal supporters, and through the toughest times, the fact they’re willing to stick by us and find a way to support us is really what it’s all about,” Medved said. “That’s the whole Team Together mindset. To get through this thing, we need everybody to do it together. It’s really cool to see people sticking with us when we need them the most.”
For Thompson, it wasn’t a hard decision. His first priority was to the student-athletes, their health and their experience. Like everybody else, he can’t wait to see them compete again, which he hopes happens soon.
He also hopes he can be there, when the time is right. If fans are not allowed immediately, he will be watching, somewhere. When the doors open, he’ll be in line to be there in person.
Parker will be, too. He’ll be on the lookout for the Thompsons and every other supporter of CSU athletics. It’s been a long time, and there’s so much for them to talk about.
Starting with a thank you, just sans the handshake. At least for now.