A Colonial Army proposal outlines new membership incentives including pre-game tailgate parties and discounts at Juice Zone.
Tim Miller, the student pep group’s adviser and director of the Student Activities Center, said all aspects of the new membership plan are not finalized.
The Army hopes to charge its members $10 for a slew of new perks that include giveaways, food and sports memorabilia. The spirit department provided money for T-shirt production and the Student Association allocated $1,000 for other costs.
Frank Dale, the president of the Colonial Army, said he was worried about the future of the 3-year-old organization when the Athletic department announced that the group would no longer enjoy early entrance into the Smith Center, a privilege it enjoyed since it began.
Dale said the funding from the spirit department and the SA’s allocation will help the group’s prolonged existence.
“We have some money in the bank,” Dale said of the allocation. “It’s important, because then we can order things without having to wait for membership fee money. We can stay ahead of the curve.”
The group plans to begin selling memberships Oct. 17 to Oct. 19 in the Columbian Square portion of J Street.
“You’re truly paying for things that will unify the crowd and cool little perks for being members of Colonial Army,” Dale said. “You’re not paying to be a fan, which is a lot different than last year.”
In years past, the Army’s main draw was its ability to enter the Smith Center 15 minutes before the general public, which allowed members premier front section seats.
The proposal includes a series of tailgate barbecues before the BB&T Classic (Dec. 3), and home games against Charlotte (Jan. 20), Xavier (Feb. 10) and Temple (Feb. 17). The Army hopes to provide bus transportation to the Verizon Center for the Dec. 3 game against Virginia Tech.
The tailgate may include unlimited food and may offer beer to students older than 21, Dale said. The ability to offer beer is not definite, Dale said.
The proposal says that Colonial Army members will receive a free smoothie from Juice Zone with the purchase of their membership. Members will also receive 20 percent off the entire menu on game day while wearing the organization’s t-shirt. The t-shirt and member identification will come in a Colonial Army drawstring backpack, which would be a new gift this year.
Similar to last year, Army memberships may include transportation to away games. The Athletic department will charter a bus to La Salle and offer a discounted road trip and tickets to the Atlantic 10 men’s basketball tournament in Atlantic City, N.J.
Each week, Dale said, the Army hopes to hold a raffle to auction autographed GW basketball memorabilia. Continuing with previous policies to induce attendance at women’s basketball games, the group will offer five entries into the raffle for each women’s game attended and two tickets for each men’s game. Prizes will include autographed basketball memorabilia, jerseys and tickets to Washington Wizards games. A grand prize will be offered on Senior Day, which will be March 3 against Duquesne.
Dale said he would have liked to have the membership details nailed down earlier, but ticketing changes prevented that. The University had been mulling the admissions process for basketball games last month with plans to eventually transition to a season ticket system. Officials decided to allow students to enter games on a first-come first-serve basis without tickets after getting their GWorlds verified to prevent alumni from entering games for free.
“Problem is we are so late in the game finding out what is going to happen that we have to scramble now to get this stuff done,” Dale said.”
