A REAL Aggie fan
Odds are, if you have attended a Utah State women’s basketball game since the program’s return to varsity status two years ago, you have probably seen and most definitely heard student super fan Atlee Zipf.
Contrary to popular belief, Zipf has not made it to every women’s basketball game – only about 90 percent of them, he said.
“I missed a couple due to trips back [home] to California,” Zipf admitted. “I went to every Aggie game except for over the Christmas break last year. And the year before, I went to maybe 80 percent of the games.”
Being an Aggie fanatic isn’t all that uncommon here.
The men’s basketball team regularly fills the Spectrum on game night and the football team – even though Romney Stadium may have looked barren this year – still pulled in an average of more than 10,000.
But the women’s sports don’t seem to get the same love from the spectators as the men’s sports, Zipf said and he doesn’t see why.
“They’re Division-I athletes, just like the guys,” Zipf said. “They work out just as hard. They do all the same stuff. They’re fun to watch. I love the game, which is I why I go to basketball so much.
“I can honestly never remember an incident where they didn’t give an effort. They were trying their hardest whether or not they won or whether or not the score was close.”
Zipf explained that over the last two seasons, the women’s basketball team was exciting because they would over-achieve.
In their first year in the Big West, with mostly freshmen players, the Aggies finished eighth in their league. The following year, the Aggies improved to a fifth-place finish.
“I especially like to watch the improvement of the team,” Zipf said.
This year the Stockton, Calif., native will be at all the home games, but he’ll be sitting a little closer to the court. Zipf joined the team as a volunteer student manager.
“The ad came up in the paper this year about them needing student managers and so I went and applied,” Zipf said. “From there, I got hired.”
Atlee applied for the manager’s position not only to be closer to the game, but also to gain experience that will help him in his efforts of coaching at the college level in the future.
“It’s good experience – for coaching – to be at practice every day and being around the game,” Zipf said. “You pick up on things you wouldn’t think about, so many small nuances you overlook.”
Atlee has been involved in coaching since he was 10, helping his dad coach his little brother’s baseball team.
“My dad was always the coach and I was always the assistant coach,” Zipf said.
Throughout his life, it was sports that always took Atlee’s attention.
Being named after All-Star Major League Baseball player Atlee Hammaker, Zipf feels that he was destined to be involved in sports.
He said he realizes he may not have the physical ability to play at a higher level, so to fit into sports as an occupation, Zipf figured his options were to either commentate or coach – and he would rather coach.
Outside of sports, Zipf is technically a junior studying composite mathematics statistics education, although he admits that he still has another four years before graduating.
When he does receive that degree, Zipf said he wants to be a high school math teacher while coaching basketball or soccer.
“I want to teach Algebra I,” Zipf said. “Just basic Algebra I-B – that’s what it’s called out in California. I’m not sure what it’s called here, Math 9 or something.”
He said he liked algebra because it’s practical math you can use in every day life.
“Where I come from, very few kids went to college,” Zipf said. “A handful of kids from my high school went. Coming from that environment, I realized that not everybody’s going to go to college; not everyone’s got the smarts.
“But everyone needs to be able to function in reality using math because it’s a huge part.”
Whether as a coach, a fan or a teacher, Zipf’s main goal is to simply make a difference in other people’s lives.
“My aspiration is to be a college basketball coach somewhere.
“But, if I end up being on the high school level and being a math teacher, as long as I change lives for the better, I’m OK with that,” he said.
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