The Sacramento State Green Army has reached a new height by having more than 3,000 members.

Despite several attempts in the past, the Green Army has now grown past expectations and made a name for itself.

“When we got here, none of us thought that we would be at 3,000 members by the end of the semester,” said freshman business marketing major Kyle McGee. “We did not think that we would reach 3,000 members until next year or in two to three years.”

The Green Army was started in 2009 during the football season to increase student involvement with athletics. The only requirement to be part of the Green Army is to be a Sac State student.

Over the years, similar groups like the Green Sting and the Green Thunder were not as influential, said Adam Primas, director of marketing. At last count, the Green Army had about 3,171 members. Membership skyrocketed over the last year due to word-of-mouth around campus, said Green Army member William Nesbit, undeclared junior.

Nesbit said football and basketball events are the army’s most successful events for recruiting.

“When we attend a sporting event and spread the word, people hear about the Green Army and say ‘What is that?’” Nesbit said. “They check out the Green Army website and then at the next sporting event we can get about 40 new members.”

On average, a football event can bring in a couple hundred members, and a basketball or volleyball game can bring in up to 50 members. Baseball, softball and soccer bring in a good amount of new members, but baseball and softball are a little more difficult due to time conflicts.

McGee said the amount of new members they receive at a game depends on the type of event, as different sports bring in different numbers.

“We are getting recognized on campus, before there was no recognition because no one knew what it was – but people are noticing it,” said senior communication studies major Katy Richardson. “The way the army has grown, I feel like I can leave here feeling like I accomplished something other than getting my degree and was a part of something that is going to be here at Sac State for the next 50 years.”

The Green Army is getting the word out to students by being out in the Library Quad and attending the sporting events. Primas said the summer orientation was huge for Green Army recruitment  because they were able to get a lot of transfer and freshman students on board.

This is the first year the Green Army has branched out from just football events, and it tries to attend at least one home event for each sport, Nesbit said. They even attend events that are not sponsored by the Green Army to support the teams. Richardson said the Green Army attends all home football events and all games that are against rival UC Davis.

“Sometimes they are conflicts like a volleyball game at the same time as a football game,” McGee said. “But we try to go to majority of the home games for pretty much every sport.”

Of the events attended by the Green Army, more of them have resulted in victories for the sports teams, Richardson said.

“If we can get even half of our student body at a (sporting event), I cannot even imagine what that will do to our home record,” Richardson said.

All three members said they are happy to offer support to the athletes.

“We are the sixth man in the stands,” Richardson said. “We call ourselves the sixth man because we are behind the wins as well as the losses.”

McGee, Nesbit and Richardson all said they hope to reach every Sac State student and get them involved in the Green Army. The next goal is to get 3,000 more members and get Greek Life involved in the cause because the more people in the stands, the more support the athletes have, Richardson said.

“At one football game that the Green Army attended, it was 30 to nothing at halftime,” Nesbit said. “Majority of the fans left but we stayed to support the team.  We brought the team back and lost by only one point in overtime. The final score was 60-61. People honestly said it was because the Green Army was there and supporting the team.”

 

You can reach Stacey Adams at [email protected]