University of New Hampshire Athletics
UNH's new Fan Advisory Board looks to enhance the game-day experience for those attending UNH games.
The Fab 15: All In On The Fan Advisory Board
10/11/2017 10:21:00 AM | General, UNH Insider
Group Aims to Enhance Game-Day Experience at UNH Athletic Events
DURHAM, N.H. – Alex Talcott and his wife, Kristin, met at Dartmouth College and when they decided they wanted to raise their young children in a college town, they looked around and chose Durham and moved here in 2012.
"Nothing against Keene or any other college town," Talcott said.
They did make a compromise: They named their son Hanover. He's three years old and two minutes younger than his sister, Miriam. Kara, five months, joined the gang this summer.
Alex, a lawyer and financial planner, loves his sports. He's already checked in with local parks and recreation officials to inquire about t-ball and coaching and he's already making plans to not only attend a Colorado College at New Hampshire men's hockey game at the Whittemore Center later this month, but is excited about celebrating his birthday at a Notre Dame at Virginia football game - in 2021.
Then there's this: He's one of the charter members of the newly founded UNH Fan Advisory Board.
Talcott was one of 15 candidates from a wide range of backgrounds chosen for the board from a field of almost 100 who applied. The board members were selected anonymously based on their answers to application questions.
The board met for the first time on a Thursday night in mid-September in the Victory Club in Wildcat Stadium and talked for a couple of hours about Wildcat athletics across the board, what has been and more importantly thoughts for improving the fan experience at UNH games and athletic events in the months and years to come.
The board was formed with the goal of fostering discussion among a variety of representatives of the Wildcat community with the intent of enhancing every element of the gameday fan experience at all of UNH's sporting events.
Talcott and fellow board members Austin Kolbert, Kelly McDonough and Natalie Noury liked what they saw and heard at the initial meeting.
"We ran late, over the scheduled time and I still stayed and talked one-on-one with people," Talcott said. "That's why I did it: To help make more enjoyable game experiences for my immediate family and neighbors and also to get to meet people who work at the university and other like-minded people. I'm willing to give up a few evenings with my family to help make this thing work better and want to get to know the other committee members."
Kolbert lives in Salem and saw his first UNH hockey game at Snively Arena in 1978, graduated from the school in 1998 and he has one daughter who is a senior and another who is a freshman.
"I thought the first meeting was very good," Kolbert said. "There was a pretty broad range of people and backgrounds, newer people and older people. I think the members of the athletics department were certainly open and up front. They wanted to hear the good, the bad and the ugly."
McDonough lives in Durham. She graduated from UNH in 1998, earned a masters degree in 2002 and is a professor of nursing at Great Bay Community College. She applied to the board with the goal of helping folks enjoy a similar relationship to UNH that her family of six has had. Two of her sons are UNH grads and Patrick is in the class of 2020.
"Our kids did all the summer camps, Oyster River High School uses the Whittemore Center for hockey practice and games," she said. "We were always involved with things on the University athletic fields and we were always going to UNH hockey games. I was amazed at the amount of community people that don't access all the things UNH offers. I wanted to get involved to sort of bridge between the town and UNH. Why go all the way to Boston and pay big money for tickets, especially when you have a young family?"
She found the first meeting informative.
"I thought it was great," McDonough said. "I learned a lot of background and what the university is looking at with attracting people like my older son, that age group in their twenties that has graduated and getting them to come back with their families."
Noury brings a younger perspective to the board.
The Gilford resident began attending UNH games when she was about 14 and the atmosphere and excitement surrounding the events helped convince her the school was the place for her.
Late last spring, while she was still a senior at Trinity High School in Manchester, Noury received an email encouraging folks to apply for the board and she promptly did.
"I decided I've had a great fan experience attending the games and I'd like to help facilitate others get that same experience," Noury said.
She enjoyed the first meeting in the Victory Club.
"The meeting was very cool," Noury said. "I was with a lot of UNH alumni who work for the school and have different roles in UNH athletics. Hearing their perspectives and their experiences really was kind of an eye-opener for me. . . . There were some people who were alumni who held season tickets for 30 years. I can't quite contribute to that. But I can be not only a youth perspective, but also a student perspective. I love the chance to be there and the opportunity to share my thoughts, try to improve things."
Noury is all in on being a UNH student and supporter of the school's athletic programs.
A communication major, she signed up to work with Wildcat Productions when she first got to campus and has already worked as a television reporter at several UNH games.
Members of the board were given homework assignments.
They were encouraged to attend UNH athletic events – particularly for sports they may not have followed or attended in the past – and document the experience from how they found about the events, to parking, to the game-day experience and more.
"I know it's a difficult job being an athletics director or coach or communicating and getting the word out," Kolbert said. "It's not easy. It's very easy for people to criticize and be a Monday morning quarterback. I've seen the ebbs and flows of UNH hockey over the years. You're not always going to be on top. Ask Boston College before Jerry York came back. You have to put everything out there and push the program. When you pack that Whittemore Center and everything is going gangbusters, it sells itself."
Most of all, the board members liked the chance to contribute.
"People love to be able to give input," Kolbert said. "I can't be naïve enough to think they'll implement everything I say. But it's one of those things where it's such a diverse group of people and backgrounds, it can't hurt. Even if they pick up two or three or four things, it's better than nothing."
Board members were asked to commit to three meetings a year. The next meeting is scheduled for Jan. 11 and the final one for the academic year is May 10.
Allen Lessels
@UNHInsider
Allen.Lessels@unh.edu
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