This spring will be unlike any other that UNI Athletics has experienced. We will see spring football and volleyball along with basketball, wrestling and every other sporting event UNI offers our student-athletes. While this jam-packed slate of sports might seem overwhelming, we as a UNI student-body should do our best to support our fellow students in the midst of everything going on. Our campus and greater community are looking for any sort of return to semblance, and coming together in the form of sporting events is one of the best ways to put our stresses of the current world aside.

Next semester will have no shortage of UNI sporting events for us to attend. Despite the likelihood of reduced capacity at the UNI-Dome and McLeod Center, students will still have free admission to sporting events with a scan of a student ID. The student body is the most critical supporter of UNI Athletics, as our fellow peers will be playing to represent our colors and university to bring an overall sense of pride to the Cedar Valley.

Despite the tough times with everything going on in the world, our student-athletes will need our support and having something to cheer for will be refreshing given the nature of everything going on. Spending a few hours at the UNI-Dome or McLeod Center will be a stress reliever for many and will provide a source of fun and excitement that live sporting events bring that we’ve been missing for the past several months.

Finally, our UNI teams are supposed to be among the best in the Missouri Valley this season. Our football team is ranked third in the entire Division 1AA and will look to contend for not only a conference title, but potentially a national championship. Our men’s basketball team was picked to finish in first place in the conference for the first time since 2009, and will look to return to March Madness for the first time since 2016. They will surely have one of the most exciting teams in the Missouri Valley season. The women’s basketball team was picked to finish third in the MVC as well, bringing back one of the strongest women’s teams in recent years. Along with that, our volleyball and wrestling teams are bringing back strong squads as well. If our teams are going to succeed this coming season, we as a student body are going to do our part in showing support for their home games and giving them a true home-field advantage. We as Panthers should help each other out whenever possible, and supporting our student-athletes is one of the best ways we can do this.

As members of the campus community, we should do what we can to show support for our fellow students. Our athletics teams will be some of the best in the conference this season, and the unconventional times require now more than ever a strong showing of support for our classmates and student-athletes. Of course, take necessary COVID-19 precautions when attending a UNI sporting event and only attend if you feel safe doing so. But next spring, set aside a few hours per week to support our fellow Panthers.