Welcome to the Family: Penn State Pride at Weekend Sporting Events
Congratulations on accepting your offer from Penn State University! Let me be one of the first to welcome you to the Penn State family.
In Happy Valley, and across the country, any person who has attended Penn State or bleeds blue and white is a part of the family. Of course, like most families, we have a formal way of greeting each other and making our PSU pride known: the WE ARE chant. If you had a chance to participate in a WE ARE chant yet, don’t worry, you will have ample opportunities.
It is traditions like the WE ARE chant that make the Penn State community unique, and there is no better place to experience Penn State culture than at a weekend sporting event. Throughout my time in State College, I have been to MANY weekend sporting events. In this post, I want to tell about ways you can prepare for a day of Penn State pride, what to wear and what to expect at a tailgate, and some of my favorite sporting events.
Bleeding Blue and White: What to Wear and How to Prepare
By the time you graduate, you will have more Penn State shirts than you know what to do with. If you want to start adding to your collection early, McLanahans on College Ave (the one across from South Halls) has all things PSU for a fair price. They have a variety of shirts, hoodies, face stickers, etc. Even if you don't plan on buying anything, it's a fun place to window shop. And they take LionCash!
If you do not want to buy a shirt, your class shirt that you received when you got accepted or a white out shirt (that you may have bought one with your season football tickets) will be great.
When getting ready for a game, the main thing I try to keep in mind is dressing comfortably. Whether you are going to be inside of Rec Hall for a volleyball match or braving the sleet and the rain for a winter football game at Beaver Stadium, dress for the environment you will be in. For the first few games of the football and soccer seasons, it will be very hot, especially in the stadium on the metal bleachers. Dressing in layers may be to your benefit. Check the weather before you leave your dorm.
Heads up for colder football games: rubber soled shoes like Converse and Sperry’s will get cold very quickly when you are standing on metal bleachers. I recommend layering (a lot) with warm socks or wearing winter boots #noshame.
Things to bring:
- Your Student ID- proves you are a Penn State student and your ticket (if you need one) is linked to your ID. This is how you will get into any sporting event. Also, all food and beverages purchased at the game can be paid for with meal points or LionCash on your ID.
- Room Key- sometimes it is easier to hook it onto a hair tie on your wrist.
- Cell phone- you may not have great service at Beaver Stadium and the Tailgating Fields just an fyi that it can be iffy at times
- Sunscreen- bleacher burn is a real thing
- Shades
- Penn State gear of some kind- show your pride!!
Things you CANNOT bring:
- BAGS!!!!!- I know, mildly frustrating, but it is for safety purposes. You are, however, allowed to bring a gallon sized clear bag. General rule of thumb: if it can fit in your back pocket, it will probably be allowed into the event. Things like ID holders and Vera Bradley change purses are typically fine. Just don't try to bring in a hipster purse or a backpack.
- Food and Drinks
- Umbrellas- invest in some nice rain boots and a good rain jacket.
Meet the Fam: Tailgating
Tailgating is a staple for almost any Penn State sporting event. The best games to tailgate are football games because of how many alumnae, students, and future students attend football games.
Tailgating is a great way to hangout, meet people, and make memories before a game. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND GOING!!! I became friends with my two best friends because we went to a tailgate together for our first football game.
How do I find a tailgate??? More likely than not, one of your friends will know someone who is having a tailgate. Clubs also have tailgates you can go to.
Just a heads up: there will be a lot of people around Beaver Stadium for a Penn State home game. Don't let that intimidate you though. All of those people are part of your PSU family, and they are here to cheer on your team with you. It is super cool!
Pro Tips:
- Always try to go with someone to a tailgate/game. It is always better to have a buddy when trying to navigate through the rows of tents and flags.
- If you are going to a tailgate with a group of friends, try to leave campus with that group to go to the tailgate. Don’t try to join them later because it can be very hard to find people in the sea of tents. Dropping a pin can be beneficial, but if you don't have service or cannot send your location to a friend, it is kind of useless. More than once, I have not been able to find a tailgate because I decided to come late.
Are You Ready for Penn State…
Women’s Volleyball!!!
You do not have to be a fan of or even understand volleyball to enjoy a women’s volleyball match. Penn State Women’s Volleyball ranked 6th in the nation last year. Ya. They are that awesome. They play in Rec Hall which is on the West side of campus, across from the Lion Shrine.
Women’s Volleyball matches are free to students, and they are a lot of fun to watch. The pep band is there cheering on the team with the student section, and they have mini competitions in between sets with members of the audience. Last year, Maria (our design lead for WEPO), was picked for the competition, and she had to catch volleyballs that were served over the net in a pair of oversized sweatpants. It was so much fun!
Volleyball games in Rec Hall are smaller and have a homier atmosphere than football games at Beaver Stadium. The space in Rec Hall is physically smaller and the student section is more personally engaged. You can sit right on the court and help lead the student section in some Penn State cheers!
I have found that inviting someone to a volleyball match is a great ice breaker and a fun way to make friends:
1) it is free
2) due to the smaller space, it is less noisy so you can talk to the people around you more easily
3) you already have a great conversation starter, “have you ever been to a volleyball match before?”
4) it is indoors, so you don’t need to worry about the weather
By the time you graduate from Penn State, I hope you attend a Women’s Volleyball match. These women are incredibly talented, and they deserve all the Penn State pride we can give them.
Football!!!
If you are like me, coming into my first year at Penn State, I knew at most three things about football:
If the people around you are rooting for the same team, and they are cheering or booing, you should probably join in because something just happened.
- A touchdown earns your team six points and an extra kick is worth one point. (I knew this because my friends in high school had explained it to me).
- NFL games are on Sundays and College Football games are on Saturdays.
Obviously, I was not very interested in sports coming into college, but Penn State sports, especially football, are more than just sitting down and watching a game.
A Penn State football game is like a family reunion, and as a student you are now a part of that family. Alumni, families, and friends come from all over the country to small town State College every home game to cheer on the Nittany Lions. It is an incredible experience.
Fun fact: on football weekends, the small town of State College, PA becomes the third largest city in Pennsylvania after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
Here are some Penn State football game traditions you will encounter:
- Drum Major Flip- Let me be the first to tell you that the Blue Band is awesome. Before each game and during the half-time show, the drum major will run out in front of the band and do a front flip into a split! It is super cool, and the crowd goes crazy. Keep an eye for it. (FUN FACT: This year’s drum major is a mechanical engineer)
- “We Are” chant - You will quickly become an expert at this infamous chant. It is a Penn State symbol! While I was in Germany, I passed a person with Penn State hat, and we did the chant in recognition of each other. A PSU family member I had never met before but had a quick family moment with in a country half-way around the world from Happy Valley! During a football game, the cheerleaders lead the student section in a few screaming choruses of it before the football players come out of the tunnel at the beginning of the game.
- Lion push-ups- Each time Penn State scores, the Nittany Lion will do ONE-ARMED push-ups to match the new score.
- Stand throws- When PSU scores, guys in the student section will toss the girls around them into the air the same number of times as the total number of points we have on the score board. THIS IS SO MUCH FUN! You have to try it at least once.
- Between Quarter shows- There will always be something happening on the field in front of the student section between quarters. My favorite is the Lionettes’ dance routine. They change each game, and they are so much fun to watch.
- The Lion goes crowd surfing- Every game, the Nittany Lion will allow himself to be lifted up by an area in the student section and he crowd surfs all the way to the top of the stadium.
- S-Zone- Every game, the Lion Ambassadors will turn a part of stands in the SE section of the student section into the S-Zone. It’s fun! Plus, you get a free t-shirt out of it! If you want to get into the S-Zone, I recommend getting into the stadium at least an hour before the game starts.
Alma Mater- At the end of every sporting event, every Penn Stater, young and old, sings the Alma Mater, but hearing the Alma Mater resonate through Beaver Stadium is special. The football team gathers in front of the student section, and everyone puts their arms around each other and sways with the Blue Band. This is my favorite part of the game because you can feel the comradery and the family that is Penn State as an arena of people cheer together. If we won the game, each member of the football team rings the victory bell after the Alma Mater has ended before heading to the lockers.
Soccer!!!
Soccer games at Penn State are awesome! Both men’s and women’s soccer games are played at Jeffrey Field which is next to East Halls in the IM fields. There is a home Men’s Soccer game on August 24th at 7pm. This will be the first night in your dorm after WEPO, and taking your new floormates to the match is a great way to meet friends!
Hockey!!!
There is a reason that when Hockey season comes around, Happy Valley becomes “Hockey Valley”. Our men’s hockey team is incredible! One my regrets as a fourth-year student, is that I have not been to game yet! Do not make the same mistake I did! Hockey games are not free to students, but tickets are affordable. Season tickets go on sale in mid-September and you can also buy or trade another student for an individual ticket.
The rink is in Pegula Ice Arena which is across the street from the Intramural Building on East Campus. During the school year, Pegula hosts community skating times where you can go, pick up a pair of skates, and enjoy a few hours of skating at your own speed.
I have friends who love attending PSU Hockey games so much that they have not missed a game since they came to Penn State. I am excited to see the fun first hand this year when I attend my first hockey game!
I hope this post answers some of your questions you may have had about weekend sporting events. Even if you are not the biggest sport fan, a PSU game has something for everyone (even if that means just taking a break from studying).
For the Glory,
Amanda Hildenbrand
Mechanical Engineer
Team B Mentor
WE ARE!!!
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