On April 12, with an hour remaining before game two between the Iowa and Nebraska baseball teams, fans and students gathered around the walkways of Duane Banks Field in Iowa City, anxiously waiting.
The Hawks Nest Tailgate, in preparation for the afternoon’s contest, was about to start. Outside of free items and opportunities to engage in the game day experience, it was a chance to meet Iowa baseball head coach Rick Heller and newly appointed men’s basketball head coach Ben McCollum.
“I’m just glad they are bringing Ben over here to the ballpark,” Heller said. “I know all of us are really happy for Ben and excited for what he’s going to bring to our athletic department.”
The event itself was created by a handful of University of Iowa students with the pursuit of an event management certificate.
One part of the certificate is taking the event management workshop class — an opportunity for students to work with clients in planning, scheduling, and executing different events. This particular group was in the works with the Iowa Athletic Department that wanted to plan a tailgate environment to bring more students in to participate.
Choosing baseball to play host, both parties saw this as a perfect opportunity to introduce McCollum to the fans while simultaneously encouraging fans to come watch Heller’s team in action.
Both coaches took time to take pictures, sign autographs, and talk with some of the Hawkeye faithful.
Overall, it was an event that promoted not just the respective programs but Iowa athletics as a whole.
“It just boosts them,” Daniel Rosengarten, a student at the UI, said. “I think more awareness is great.”
The game itself filled the stadium with 2,654 roaring fans — the most Duane Banks Field has seen since Heller joined the coaching staff in 2014.
The bigger picture in the pursuit to increase student participation was the increased promotion of the Hawks Nest, a student organization with the sole goal of producing energetic student crowds to all Iowa athletic events.
“It is a student organization that not many students know about,” Kaitlyn Hooker, member of the organizing group, said. “It is a student organization just for attending sports games. It is completely free to be in, and they want to build up a fanbase for all the games.” Hooker and the rest of her group hope events like this can inspire more projects promoting other sports at the university and highlight all the unique athletic talent found in Iowa City.
If the athletic department is willing to organize unique experiences like this, student turnout and participation will continue to rise. The Hawks Nest will fulfill its mission of having the most energetic and passionate students in the country.
“I think it can get students to attend baseball games and other sports not as common as football,” Hooker said.