For a Saturday afternoon in the summer, FAU had quite the turn out of family members at FanFest, but most of the people who came out were either over 35 or under 10 years old.
FanFest is an annual free event open to the community and students to come out and meet some of the football, volleyball and soccer players here at FAU. Fans also have the opportunity to get autographs from some of their favorite players and even take a swing at the dunk tank.
Not only was the student population missing, but advertisement for the event was also lacking. Many students didn’t even know what FanFest was, let alone when or where it would be held.
“The only way I heard about it was through Facebook,” said Kristin Kerrigan, a senior graphic design major. “FAU should have promoted it better.”
FAU Athletics was in charge and they did have a little brief on the event on their Web site. But, if they wanted the student fans to come out, they have to advertise the event a little better around campus and on FAU’s e-mail or main Web site.
Although there were many adults and children on site for autographs from the players and for the many kiddy activities, many of the adults were there only because they worked at FAU or knew someone who was affiliated with the university.
“I heard about FanFest through my husband, Dale Williams, who is the defensive line coach,” said Wendy Williams. “But I did see a small advertisement in the Palm Beach Post.”
Other questions that came up regarding FanFest was the date and time of the event.
“If they wanted more people to come out to support the football players, why did FAU schedule this event a week before school started? They should have done it next Saturday [Aug. 23],” said Desiree Williams, a senior communications major and member of FAU’s Resident Student Association.
One reason why FanFest was held the Saturday before school started was because head coach Howard Schnellenberger didn’t want the players to be too worn out, since this was the last hard scrimmage before their first game against the Texas Longhorns on Saturday, Aug. 30.
Assistant Athletic Director Dexter LaMont said that last year’s FanFest had a larger turnout.
“Last year there seemed to be more students, but we still had a good turnout of people in general this year,” said LaMont.
Next year’s plans for FanFest will still include a meet and greet with the players, activities for the kids, memorabilia and food – but there won’t be a scrimmage and it will be a week later so that more students and other fans will attend.
