The lack of a school spirit and unity is apparent to most Tritons. RIMAC Arena is usually as full for any sporting event as the campus dorms are on a long weekend. Despite this, the A.S. Commissioner of Athletics, Jordan Cross, elected in May, is continuing the efforts of the former officer, Robin Shelton, in trying to change the attitude toward sports and improve the school spirit in most of the UCSD student body.
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“”The time to change UCSD athletics is now,”” Cross said. “”I’m going to try to make it more visible.””
During Cross’ one-year term, he will focus much of his time on “”changing the ambiance”” of Triton home games. He has been working with Assistant Athletic Director Charles Guthrie and Director of Sports Facilities Don Chadwick to make the environment of a Triton sporting event more intriguing to everyone on campus.
In just a few weeks of work, Cross has organized a UCSD cheerleading squad that will begin to attend home games in the fall. There was a team of cheerleaders on campus, but the group only performed in competitions and wouldn’t be seen at RIMAC.
The new A.S. officer will also try to make the Triton pep band, which already plays at many UCSD games, become more in-tune with the crowd. Cross said the band, which usually sits on the southern sideline at RIMAC, has not had enough responsibility for keeping the Triton fans enthused, and he wants to change that.
Another idea Cross has for changing the environment of UCSD athletics is organizing the seating at RIMAC Arena. Cross, also a junior resident advisor at Pepper Canyon Apartments, would like to see a student section to aid in concentrating the UCSD supporters. He also wants to separate the visiting and home crowd so that each group has a specific region of the arena in which to sit.
However, in trying to raise the level of spirit on campus, one obstacle that Cross will face is to gather a foundation of supporters to relay his messages.
“”He’s going to have to get a large base of people,”” said Associate Athletic Director Ken Grosse. “”He’s got to get out to the masses … to get the word out.””
One way Cross will try to build a large group of Triton faithful is by opening Triton Tide meetings to the entire campus. The meetings, which have been restricted to just members of the organization in the past, will help get everyone rallied together, Cross said.
“”I want to get 50 people or so at these meetings,”” Cross said. “”The different colleges have their own spirit groups going, but that doesn’t do it. We need everyone on the same page.””
Cross will try to attract people through other student organizations as well. He has created the A.S. Spirit award, which will be distributed at the end of each quarter. The commissioner will get organizations to sponsor UCSD home dates on the schedule and decorate RIMAC. The new award will go to the group that did the best job in enhancing the game environment and attracting people.
“”This will ensure that people — who aren’t always there — will feel welcome and get excited,”” Cross said.
During his term as commissioner, Cross said Shelton put UCSD moving in the right direction. He made significant contributions in the athletics department by bringing the UCSD student-athletes’ voices onto the A.S. Council, in addition to accomplishing smaller deeds like setting up blue and gold awnings in Price Center.
Cross, who worked closely with Shelton, intends to make the Tritons more visible all over the campus community, not just on Library Walk.
