Sports people are generally divided into two groups: players and fans. At every game, there are those who are on the field or court making plays, and those who are in the stands cheering them on.
Traditionally, the athletes themselves are seen as the heroes of the game, while the fans are merely spectators, but ask a member of the Mustang Maniacs or Manglers, the two sports fan groups at Cal Poly, and they’ll say the fans in the stands play almost as big a role as the players in the game.
Without these student fans, the atmosphere of a sporting event would be missing, said Shaun Russell, assistant athletic director in charge of spirit groups such as the Mustang Maniacs, band and the dance team.
“They really create that environment that everybody wants and everyone enjoys at a sporting event,” Russell said.
The Mustang Maniacs was created more than 10 years ago by a student and was originally called Rolling Thunder, Russell said. Since that time, it has grown as a Cal Poly Athletics-affiliated spirit group, with approximately 400 members every year.
Maniacs pay $10 to join each year and get a t-shirt as well as seating in the Maniacs section (the front center) at sporting events. In return, Russell said, Mustang Maniacs pump up the crowd and the team.
“You act like a Mustang: be spirited and have that sportsmanship,” Russell said.
Russell credits the Maniacs, particularly those involved with Week of Welcome, for the high attendance at some of the first sporting events at Cal Poly this season. The first football home game on Sept. 17 sold all 3,600 tickets reserved for the student body, Russell said, and the volleyball match the next day had a student attendance of approximately 1,000.
The players on the field in turn appreciate this attendance, Russell said.
“Any time the student body shows up, our athletes notice, our coaches notice,” Russell said.
The next step for the Maniacs, Russell said, is to get more of them out of the stands and in the field helping to lead spirit in bigger ways. This year, Russell hopes to encourage more students to participate by dressing as Musty, the Mascot, or pumping up the crowd with giveaways.
“The key is getting interested students to be more involved,” Russell said. “Do they want to take the opportunity and run the flags at a game? Do they want to shoot a t-shirt gun?”
But the Maniacs aren’t the only group of spirited students at Cal Poly. The Mustang Manglers are another group of Cal Poly sports fans with a single focus: men’s soccer.
The Manglers started approximately five years ago, when soccer player Christian Freitas was benched by a pre-season injury, said Manglers member and economics and statistics senior Craig Keller.
“He said, ‘What can I do to help out the team since I can’t play?’” Keller said.
The answer to Freitas’ question was to start inviting friends to games, until he had approximately 20 other students in the stands cheering Freitas’ teammates on.
The Manglers live on today as an unofficial fan club, with nothing but t-shirts and a shared passion to unite them. Any one is welcome to join the Manglers, Keller said, provided they’re serious about supporting the soccer team.
“It’s the unsaid contract,” Keller said. “The moment you want to be one of the Manglers, you’ve got to wear that shirt and be proud of it and go to, you know, go to the 1 o’clock games on Sundays.”
That commitment is taken seriously by the Manglers, according to member and construction management senior Dave Brehmer, who has not missed a single game since he joined, except for the occasional game beyond his control.
Brehmer’s brand of soccer fever is the essential ingredient for a Mangler, Brehmer said.
“We know soccer, the player’s names, the opponents player’s by names,” Brehmer said. “And everyone watches every second of the game.”
And like the Maniacs are noticed by the players at other Cal Poly games, the Manglers are always noticed by the soccer team, Brehmer said.
“I’m personal friends with a lot of them and I can tell you they appreciate it,” Brehmer said.