Responding to the need to get students excited about Georgetown’s sports teams, Hoya Blue, a student booster organization, was founded five years ago. Hoya Blue was originally formed to support and raise enthusiasm for the Georgetown men’s basketball team, but has since expanded its support to all Georgetown athletic teams.
“The mission was to get people aware of basketball, to get people to games,” John Dionisio (NHS ‘05) Chair of Hoya Blue said. “Over the past four years, with increased popularity, the athletic department has looked at us more to support all sports.”
At Midnight Madness this year, Coach John Thompson called for increased student enthusiasm and attendance at basketball games. Hoya Blue has worked to answer his call. This season, all season ticket holders will receive a t-shirt when they pick up their tickets with Thompson’s recognizable mantra: “We are Georgetown” plastered on the front. The hope is to increase fan uniformity at home games and make the MCI Center feel like a more traditional college arena, as opposed to the cavernous mega-arena that it is. In addition, Hoya Blue and the athletic department has worked with the MCI Center to make some changes to the venue. Starting this season, tickets to upper-level seats will no longer be sold, concentrating fans in the lower levels. After long standing demand for “cheer sheets,” Hoya Blue has made plans to develop game specific sheets that include songs and cheers mocking Georgetown opponents .
Also new for this year’s basketball season is a raffle for a trip for two people to watch the Hoyas in action over winter break at the Rainbow Classic in Hawaii. All fans who attend the first five home games will be eligible to enter.
Hoya Blue will also be sponsoring reduced ticket prices to Georgetown clubs and groups that bring a crowd of at least 20 to home games. The group will be given seats together and be recognized during the game over the public address system.
Hoya Blue’s initiatives are not just limited to home games either. The club will continue to sponsor two overnight road trips. The venues under consideration include Villanova, Boston College and Rutgers.
“It is not too late to get involved in the club and take an active leadership role,” Dionisio said. “We always need help at events and Georgetown’s teams always need support for the fans. It’s a significant part of the campus community.”
