Hoosier Army garners nationwide support after Facebook origins

These soccer fans showed up hours before the game. They brought signs of all sorts, along with a cardboard cutout of the coach’s face, and waved it through the air in support all night.

They never sat down. They booed bad calls, and they seemed to pulsate when their team scored a game-winning goal. Rowdy European soccer fans?

No, the IU men’s soccer team’s new Hoosier Army.

Utilizing both Facebook and Twitter, the men’s soccer team’s newly founded student fan section has blossomed from a simple idea early last summer into a nationwide movement with almost 1,000 members spanning across the country.

“Back in the summer, we had a meeting with the coaches and marketing just to throw out ideas,” said Melanie Schneider, assistant director of media relations for IU Athletics. “Having worked at schools that have had supporter groups or student groups, I thought, ‘Why not have one have one here (for) this large fan base? Why not bring it together and make it soccer specific?’”

What first started as a simple Facebook group, though, has turned into what seems to the players and coaches as almost another man on the field.

“We haven’t had an atmosphere like that in a long time,” IU Coach Todd Yeagley said after the game against Penn State. “It wasn’t the biggest crowd we’ve had, but that was a loud, festive, fun environment for our players to play in.”

To the players, the Hoosier Army’s presence certainly hasn’t gone unnoticed.

“I’ve always said we have the best fans in the country,” senior captain Alec Purdie said. “They travel with us, whether it’s California or the East Coast. We always have fans wherever we go.”

Purdie said the Hoosier Army deserves credit for IU’s 3-0 home record.

“They do a good job getting into the other teams’ heads,” Purdie said. “I have guys that play against us who say (the Hoosier Army is) starting to affect them a bit. This is such a difficult place to come to and play with this fortress we have back here. It’s the way it always used to be and a very difficult place to come in and get a result.”

Since its inception, Schneider has been flooded with emails requesting the group’s T-shirts, scarves or membership, not only in Bloomington, but around the country, she said.

“Even people who can’t necessarily attend, we’ve had people sign up from all over the country that just think it’s a great idea and want to be a part of the Hoosier Army,” Schneider said. “We thought the initial year might be small, but it’s gone way beyond what we expected.”

One benefit the Hoosier Army has is Bill Armstrong Stadium. Because of the track that surrounds the soccer field, the Hoosier Army has been placed right on the track, running right to the edge of the field.

“It gives you some extra confidence,” Yeagley said. “You love it when they make it difficult for an opponent, and when you make a great play and you hear them hootin’ and hollerin’ a bit, it just gives you a lift.”

Though the Hoosier Army bleachers seemed close to capacity during IU’s last home game, Yeagley said as long as students attend, the staff will find room for them.

“We’d like to expand as much as we can,” Yeagley said. “The administration has said as long as more keep coming, we’ll figure out where to put them. I want to have some issues on where to put the fans because they can certainly affect the game.”