Club brings red and fans to athletic games
 Ryan Tubongbanua / The Collegian
Frustrated by the lack of student fans at athletic games, the Redzone started as a club to encourage student attendance. They began with basketball games, and hope to gather fans for other sports. |
By Karlotta D. Richardson
The Collegian
Those looking to become more involved in sports without actually having to be an athlete can join a new student booster club formed in November 2005.
Known as the Redzone, the club gives Fresno State students a chance to support the university’s athletic teams.
“The goal is to increase student involvement,” said Brent Hansen, the marketing coordinator and one of the founders of Redzone, said.
Hansen, along with other founders Stephen Trembley, John Migliazzo and Luke Moritz, were disappointed that Fresno State never made an effort to support the athletic teams.
Migliazzo, president of the club, said he wanted to do something to boost attendance at basketball games.
One of the benefits of being a member of Redzone is students are able to interact with others.
“Being a member gives students the opportunity to network with other students in a safe and fun environment,” Migliazzo said.
Trembley, vice president of Redzone, said that being a part of the student section and supporting fellow students are other benefits to being a member.
With a little more than 1,000 members on their mailing list, Redzone is quickly gaining steam and has become a university-recognized booster club on campus.
Redzone hopes to become involved in more sporting events, both men and women’s sports, other that just basketball.
When the basketball season ends at the end of February, they hope to be seen at softball, baseball and tennis matches, This idea is still in the planning stages, according to Hansen.
There are 2,000 free tickets for home sporting events, except football, available to Fresno State students. According to Hansen, 75 percent of those tickets go to waste because not enough students know about it.
Trembley said he hopes Redzone will make sporting events something that every student will want to attend. Another goal is for all 2,000 free tickets to be used by students.
The club hopes to attract all students.
“You don’t have to necessarily be an athletics fan,” Migliazzo said.
The Redzone has group pages on both myspace.com and facebook.com. The best way to get information, according to Hansen, is to come to the basketball games and put your name on the Redzone mailing list to receive weekly updates.
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