No matter what the average Wahoo remembers from last year of the men's basketball student fan group, students should now expect a revamped Team Cavalier.
"Last year it was basically just a men's basketball student group," said Derik Diver, the newly hired Athletic Department liaison for Team Cavalier. "This year it's going to be an all-athletic group."
Bright orange Team Cavalier T-shirts littered the student section of University Hall last year in support of the men's basketball team. This year's focus is to increase attendance at all sporting events and expand fan enthusiasm and school spirit beyond the scope of just men's basketball.
"Students can look forward to more excitement at typically lesser attended sports events," said Sarah Jobe, Student Council Chief of Staff. "We have a lot of teams doing great things that don't necessarily get the same recognition. We're trying to build a lot of excitement around those games."
Team Cavalier was conceived last year as an offshoot of the recently formed Athletic Affairs Committee, a new Council subcommittee. Its goal, according to Brigitte Hoyer, the head of this year's committee, is to address issues involving student athletes and fans.
In its first year of existence, Team Cavalier boasted frequent giveaways of free food and merchandise to all its members, but failed to deliver much more than a T-shirt and a six-pack of soda. It suffered from smaller-than-anticipated membership numbers and an undefined role.
This year, new sponsors, a new direction and new excitement about the group's expansion promise to make the group live up to its hype.
"People will see if they join Team Cavalier that they'll get their money back," said Lee Martin, student co-head of Team Cavalier. "We are implementing a 'Game of the Week' program where members will receive prizes for the numbers of games they attend."
This multi-sport approach with the centerpiece "Game of the Week" reward system is the biggest change for the fan group -- all members will receive a membership card that, when shown at designated sporting events, will accumulate points. Each week, members will receive an e-mail notifying them of that week's special game and will receive points for attendance. When members attain certain levels of points, they win prizes -- things such as gift certificates to local restaurants and discounts at athletic stores such as T.J.'s Locker.
For the $20 membership fee, all members will receive a Team Cavalier T-shirt, a membership card, and, as a special bonus, a video entitled "A Century of Moments," detailing 100 years of Virginia sports.
In addition to the structured "Game of the Week" program, Team Cavalier also plans to hold spontaneous giveaways, beginning with a tailgate prior to the home football game versus Clemson on Oct. 12. New members will be encouraged to sign up at the event and join the current members in a newly established Fan Fest area, where there will be free food and prizes leading up to the game.
Other plans include increased hype and more activities surrounding Homecoming Weekend and the creation of a Team Cavalier Week with a different event for each day of the week.
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