Looking beyond the roster
“I believe that we will win!”
To visiting teams, the sound of this chant coming from the HURD signals the beginning of a long couple of hours in Logan, Utah under constant pressure from the Aggie faithful.
Utah State has a rich history of athletics including conference championships, national rankings and professional athletes. Of those, one of the richest traditions looks beyond the roster and is the overall involvement of the students.
The HURD is a nationally recognized student section and is an opportunity for students to be a part of athletics without being a Division I athlete.
Tyler Creer is a junior from Spanish Fork studying recreation management with an emphasis in sports management. Creer is a self-proclaimed “Aggie super fan” and can be found on the front row of most home games.
“I get involved with the HURD and I go and participate at the games, so I go front row. I’m camping out for games, we’re waiting out in the freezing cold to get into the Spectrum or Maverick stadium and when we go we just become so engaged with the match that it feels like we help decide the outcomes,” Creer said.
Creer has been an Aggie his whole life and had been waiting since he was little to bring the energy and magic to USU athletics.
“I just knew that when I came to Utah State I wanted to be front row, I wanted to be going crazy, I wanted to help contribute to the Spectrum Magic to bring in the energy and the enthusiasm at Maverick stadium and even now in Club Estes with volleyball, it’s just something that I’ve always wanted to do,” Creer said. “Athletes and stuff, they start to remember you. They remember the real ones.”
The HURD is run and managed by a committee of students from the university and is headed by a member of the USUSA. Tate Bennett is a senior from Tennessee studying tech systems and is the current representative of USUSA and the vice president of athletics and campus recreation.
“I just love the HURD. I like the people. I’ve met a lot of my good friends just from being in the student section,” Bennett said. “Come to the games, feel the environment and get familiar with the sports.”
Bennett first got involved during his freshman year, becoming an official member of the HURD committee; he has stayed with the organization since.
“I came to USU and learned about the HURD being like a nationally recognized student section. I wanted to be a part of the leadership, so that’s why I got involved,” he said. “I went my freshman year to the Aggie Blue Leadership Conference and (they) selected me to join the HURD committee that year and I have stuck with it for all four years of my college career now.”
Being a part of the student section is only one of the ways people can get involved in athletics. There are jobs, committees and internships students can be involved in as well. Some jobs include tutors, mentors, videographers and more.
Creer currently works for Athletics as a mentor for student-athletes.
“I work as an academic mentor. I meet with my student-athletes and we talk about their academic progress. We talk about upcoming assignments, tests and quizzes,” Creer said. “I just make sure that they are on the right path to get good grades to stay eligible within the NCAA guidelines and make sure that they’re doing well, that they’re feeling good and that they’re not having any kind of issues.”
There are also opportunities for people to join teams and build connections through club sports and intramurals. USU has 23 different club sports ranging from esports, hockey, jump rope and many others.
There are also different intramural leagues and tournaments throughout the school year.
Kayla Irlbeck is the graduate assistant of competitive sports for campus recreation and works with the club and intramural sports programs. These programs are a great way for people to be involved with athletics and teams without the commitment to an official university sport.
“Within Campus Recreation, we offer sports at different levels. Club sports is typically for students who want to perform at that higher level. A lot of them played at that high level in high school and want to continue on with that play. They’re able to pay dues and be part of a team and they get to travel competitively. They get to try out and get to be part of that atmosphere that a lot of them crave and want to carry on. And you get to make that team connection and play at that level,” Irlbeck said.
For those who are looking to still be a part of a team but are looking for a different level of competition than club sports, intramurals is an option. Irlbeck spoke of the different advantages that come with intramural play.
“Intramurals is for competitive athletes, but it’s also for people who just want to be involved in sports, whether it’s their first time or they played it their whole lives. It’s still a good spot for them to come and make friends and hang out. It’s a pretty low commitment. It’s financially pretty affordable for most students. And it’s a great way to just get out and see campus in a different way,” Irlbeck said.
Whether you are playing on Merlin Olsen Field or Legacy Fields, there are many different ways for students at USU to be a part of athletics, regardless if you are an official student-athlete or not.
To get involved visit the HURD or campus websites at usu.edu/involvement/hurd.