In preparation for the football game on Sept. 16, SGA Vice President Juan Adames Jr. announced at the Sept. 10 SGA forum that Salisbury University would be attempting to bring back the student section. Attendees were told to spread the word of the "gold out" and encourage students to pack the stands.
Signs could be found around campus advertising for the football game and student section theme. In light of the University's ban on tailgating, a pre-game kick off party was offered instead.
A small amount of students showed up to the kickoff party located discreetly behind Henson Hall on the lawn. Those that did attend created signs and decorations to take with them to the student section, affectionately known as "The Nest."
The walk to the stadium through the tunnel was a bright one, hundreds of student decked in gold-colored clothing making their way to the game. Students took this opportunity to customize pieces they already had, many of them being SU T-shirts and apparel that they cut, sewn and adjusted to fit their style and the theme.
For those students and community supporters who didn't have festive attire, the SU Swim Team could be found outside the stadium handing out T-shirts with the slogan "Sea Gulls wear Gold" on them for attendees to grab.
Packed to the top row with students from all classes and serving as the temporary home to the SU Poms team, the stands were a sea of school colors. Students were left standing near the front of the bleachers as there was hardly room to sit once the game began.
Chants and cheers could be heard all through out the first and second quarter with taunts of "my grandma can do better" and "you'll never experience Warehouse on a Tuesday" being issued from deep within the crowd.
"They're loud, I like it" said freshman Daunte Painter about the student section. "Right now I'm good with this but if we could get more people then that would be amazing"
Many people feel the student section made a statement with its appearance this year.
"I think its like we can grow and we can do more things when people come out, which they will if they advertise it more, it really shows that we can grow and pave a new way." said senior Amelia Nail. "I honestly didn't think there would be that many people, but looking up right now there's a ton of people and I don't even see an open seat"
Even after an invigorating performance by the Poms team that won the crowd over, there was a massive energy drop off going into the third Quarter when the seagulls failed to even the score. Despite attempts to revive the crowd from passionate crowd members and the cheerleaders, the once packed stands started rapidly thinning out. After an announcement of another touchdown for Johns Hopkins, the student section lost almost a quarter of its remaining volume within minutes.
'The Nest' had an undeniably strong start for its first game back defying many peoples expectations and setting the standard high based on the initial turn out. Some fans and students held it out to the very end with community members helping to bolster the team.
Looking at the season ahead it is unclear if this trend will continue, but in the words of senior Madison Cuthbert, "Get up it's football."
By MEGHAN BEAN
News Editor
Featured images courtesy of Meghan Bean