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FEATURE STORY — March/April 2005

Student cheer groups provide UI teams a distinct home court advantage

By Laura Weisskopf Bleill

Student fan groups rock the UI campus, including members of the Orange Krush who support men's basketball.

They bob up and down incessantly, bang pots and pans, and don caps akin to volleyballs.

They ring cowbells, paint their chests and faces orange and wear mini "Weber" grills on their heads.

They belt out "Illinois Loyalty," while behind the scenes they raise funds for charity.

They are the 2,000-plus students who populate Illini Pride, the University of Illinois' official student athletics support group and the largest extracurricular student organization on campus. As the fiercest and most steadfast of Illinois fans, their rabid enthusiasm irritates opponents while inspiring the home team.

For the last 27 years, members of Illini Pride have stuck to their mission of spreading excitement for Illinois athletics. They've also had a great time, sporting wild costumes, shouting creative cheers and waving a sea of orange and blue on playing fields across campus.

The organization encompasses almost every UI student cheer group, including the Orange Krush (men's basketball), Grounds Crew (baseball), Spike Squad (volleyball), Ballers (softball), Block I (football), Hot Shots (soccer), Blue Crew (women's basketball), Wrestle Heads (wrestling) and Aces (women's tennis).

"I love hooking people on sports outside of the mainstream," said Illini Pride president Shannon O'Brien, a junior political science major. "It used to be that (Orange Krush) was the reason for joining Illini Pride, but I think we've evolved enough that we have other organizations that are just as important to students."

Something old, something new

Illini Pride may be the official student support group of the University but only recently did it obtain control of one of the school's most established traditions.

Block I merged into Illini Pride in 2004 and expects to be fully integrated this fall. Formed in 1910 as a pep club, Block I initiated its trademark card stunts at football games in 1926. In the last few years, however, the once-popular group fell on hard times and struggled to keep the block filled.

In its most recent incarnation, the Block is combining old traditions with new ones. This year, the group orchestrated a Thursday evening pep rally that brought members in contact with football players and coaches. Every Thursday before home games, members of Block I cheered on the coaches and players at practice and hung out with them afterward.

While Block I remains steeped in history, the new kid on the fan block is the Net Nuts, the one cheering section not governed by Illini Pride. The Net Nuts, who support men's tennis, maintain a loose, mutually beneficial affiliation with Illini Pride, and much of the membership overlaps.

The group was the brainchild of men's tennis coach Craig Tiley, who wanted to create a circus-like atmosphere akin to what he had experienced at some international tennis events. Former player Mike Kosta '02 LAS and Alex Voss '02 BUS formed the group in 1998, thinking it might interest a couple of dozen students. But 150 showed up at the first meeting.

"We were looking to build support for our program," Tiley said.

What Tiley built is the largest student support group in men's collegiate tennis, one used as a model for the rest of the nation. Just weeks into the winter semester, the group numbered more than 500 registered members. They have been featured on national television and print, in outlets such as ESPN, CBS, sportsillustrated.com, Tennis Magazine and Ace Magazine.

"We want to continue to create an attraction and an exciting match experience that you don't see anywhere else," said Voss, now a graduate student who still supervises the program.

And the Net Nuts succeed at that. The group has challenged the stereotype that tennis is a sit-on-your-hands spectator sport, as people assume from watching sedate professional tournaments on television. The students have been known to clang pots and pans, scream and shout, ring cowbells, use air horns and otherwise create a raucous atmosphere. Opposing teams coming into the Atkins Tennis Center don't know quite what they're in for, and it's not unusual for opponents to complain about the noise.

But in the collegiate game, which features as many as six matches on the court concurrently, quiet isn't practical. Said Voss: "The Net Nuts make Illinois probably the most difficult place to play college tennis. We've created something that they're not used to seeing, and that's beneficial for the game of college tennis."

And they've had an impact. Voss and Tiley contend that the Net Nuts have been a critical component of the tennis team's success, both on the court and at the turnstiles. Many matches are standing-room-only.

"I like to see that we've set the standard," Tiley said.

In more ways than one.

Photo by: The News-Gazette