Imagine yourself a year from now. You’re in the UW Field House, standing in the upper deck, watching a top-tier volleyball team take on the Michigan Wolverines. You and more than 9,000 volleyball fanatics are waiting to erupt while watching match point.
Suddenly, junior setter Lauren Carlini sets the perfect ball to sophomore outside hitter Kelli Bates as she hammers home a kill to secure the Badger victory. You and the rest of crowd explode as Wisconsin continues a season of ascension.
The best part of this future image is it’s in your control whether or not it happens.
When the No. 4 Badgers (12-1 Big Ten, 22-2 overall) take on Michigan (6-8, 11-3) Wednesday at the Field House, there will be no upper deck, and there will not be 9,000 people.
The Field House currently holds around 6,000 people, but 3,000 more seats would be added with the addition of the upper deck. As of now, the upper deck is not up to code and cannot be used. According to UW-Madison Associate Athletic Director for Capital Projects and Operations Jason King, there are a couple things that need to be fixed in the hypothetical project that could cost between $315,000 and $330,000.
The two areas that are not up to code are the kick plates in the seats and the railings, according to King. The current kick plates are too far removed from the seat, which poses the threat of a small infant or child falling through the gap.
The railings currently have similar problems, as they are not high enough and also have too large of a gap between them.
As is the normal process with the athletic department’s financial discussions, nothing will be discussed until after the season, but King did suggest that certain trends could make him consider voting in favor of making the renovations.
“Speaking for myself,” King said, “sustained attendance over a long period of time would definitely make me consider being in favor of making the renovations.”
This is where the fans come in. Before this season, the Field House only reached 6,000 fans 12 times since 2000, according to King. This season, however, the Field House has reached 6,000 fans in four out of seven Big Ten home games. If this trend continues, the athletic department will have no choice but to make renovations.
The athletic department is not the only one taking notice of the larger crowds this year as the team has felt an impact from them as well.
“It changes the atmosphere especially for the players knowing everybody is here to watch the five players on the court,” senior outside hitter Courtney Thomas said.
Not only have players felt the energy during the game but they have also felt it around campus.
“When I’m walking to or in class people are like ‘Whoa your volleyball game was awesome. We’re watching you on TV now,’” sophomore setter Lauren Carlini said. “There’s just so much more excitement towards the volleyball world and us, it’s exciting.”
Players have loved the overall energy and have been noticing specific fans more and more.
Redshirt senior middle blocker Dominique Thompson has one fan that she has deemed as her favorite fan.
She knows where he normally sits, section T, and always gives him a fist bump before the games start. Even though he’s not a student or a teacher, he never misses their games.
“I’ve seen him a couple times around campus and I always run up to him and make sure he knows he’s my favorite fan,” Thompson said, smiling.
This interaction is emblematic of a larger trend. The volleyball team has started to make an impactful connection with the greater Madison community.
I remember talking to head coach Sheffield last spring when he said one of his goals for the program was to have little girls in the stands to look up at his players and think to themselves, “I want to be like her one day.”
For Thomas, this has happened. When asked about her favorite fan, she immediately had an answer.
“After every game there’s a little girl that runs up to me that’s four or five years old,” Thomas said. “She runs up to me in my arms and she wears a shirt with my number on it.”
Head coach Kelly Sheffield has tried to put an emphasis on interactions with community in his time with the Badgers.
“We’re all granted an awful lot … you know people [are] giving their time and money to watch us play,” Sheffield said. “There is a responsibility that you connect and you let them know that ‘Hey we appreciate all of this.’”
Sheffield knows having a strong relationship with the community is extremely beneficial to his program.
“A big goal of mine has been ownership of the program,” Sheffield said. “When you walk through town or across campus I want people to say, ‘Man we were great last night rather than you.”
This expansion of fan ownership this season has not only been seen within the Madison community but also within the UW community as the student section continues to grow.
Carlini specifically remembers the impact the student section had on the team during the Nebraska game a couple weeks ago.
“I remember walking into timeouts the crowd going nuts and turning to my teammates and going, ‘This is awesome guys. This feels amazing.’” Carlini said.
The players have also noticed the improvement of the student section’s cheers and organization.
For Thomas, this is exactly what she wanted to accomplish in her college career.
“This is exactly what I wanted to do at Wisconsin,” Thomas said. “Bring this crowd back and bring back the love that people used to have for the sport, because it’s here, it just went away for a little bit.”
Fans have another opportunity Wednesday to show the athletic department the crowds aren’t going anywhere. If they can continue the trend for the rest of the Badger’s home games, the athletic department will not be able to say no.
