It’s 12:30 p.m. on a Monday. The PLNU women’s soccer team has just finished warming up on the field below as the hot August sun shines down on nearly empty bleachers.
The women have posted winning records for the past decade but their stadium doesn’t have lights so they often have to play games in the middle of the day when most of their fanbase is in class.
The game starts and a raucous “Let’s go, Loma!” breaks out over the pitch
Later that evening the women’s basketball team warms up for a 7 p.m. game. They don’t play a rival tonight so the team expects a low turnout. Warm up concludes and just as the game gets going, a small group of students decked out in green and gold enter Golden Gym already cheering the Sea Lions on.
These are the members of Loma’s student section also known as the Green Sea Hooligans. And they wouldn’t miss an awkwardly timed game for anything.
“They have such an impact,” said Brian Thornton, senior associate athletic director, who works with the Green Sea on a regular basis. “And when you talk to the student-athletes, they say it makes a difference because they can count on the Green Sea to be there.”
Even though it’s a fairly young organization (the original Hooligans were established in 2011) the Green Sea has already created a legacy that runs deep at Loma.
“We channel energy for athletics and create hype. But we’re also committed to making all students feel wanted and welcome."
“We channel energy for athletics and create hype,” said Ryland Lofto (21), who led the Green Sea as the Associated Student Body Director for School Spirit during his time at PLNU. “But we’re also committed to making all students feel wanted and welcome.”
Smaller universities like Loma often have fewer sports than their Division I or larger Division II counterparts. That means school spirit and fan energy are sometimes harder to come by. But if you ask the Loma athletes, the Green Sea more than makes up for the smaller student population.
“The Green Sea does really give you a feeling of being at a big university,” said women’s basketball alum Isabel Turk (21). “They don’t have the same numbers but they show up with the same energy. Plus you know it’s gonna be your friends cheering you on and getting your faculty to come to games and it creates a really fun, unique environment.”
And even at a small school, it’s still a tradition to show out for big rival games. Lofto and Thornton would work together on the schedule for the upcoming season to make sure that the Green Sea comes out in full force for games and matches where a little extra energy is needed.
“It’s a fun commitment,” said Thornton. “The average Green Sea member probably goes to 10-15 games per year; you know, they don’t have to make it to all 110 events. They go to 10 or 12 and have fun and make noise and get people engaged.”
And while their goal is to support athletics and create positive energy for Loma’s official teams, the Hooligans are also a sort of “team” themselves. They provide a place of belonging for students who love athletics but aren’t student-athletes.
“It’s a small community,” said Turk, referring to the close feel among students, faculty, and staff at Loma. “You actually know the people in the crowd cheering for you and they always focus on cheering us on rather than putting the other team down.”
“In general we’re a group of crazy, energetic, goofy people,” said Lofto, “but we’re also a family. We go to dinners together and spend a lot of time together. We love hanging out.”
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Beyond creating a positive space for students and student-athletes alike, the Green Sea also occupies an elusive middle ground that’s valuable to both the athletics department and the student body.
“There’s a natural divide between student-athletes and their non-athlete peers due to schedules,” said Thornton. “We use groups like the Green Sea to intentionally bridge that gap.”
Whether it’s standing out on Caf Lane with chances to win Chick-Fil-A gift cards or hosting an annual dodgeball tournament in partnership with ASB, Lofto knows that the Green Sea exists to create connections between students and athletes and also between students and other areas of campus.
“One thing that separates us from other student sections is that we don’t just cheer on athletes,” said Lofto.
In recent years, the Green Sea has worked to be present at a variety of events from theatre productions to concerts. They’ve also made it their goal to encourage student-athlete attendance at these events.
“We don’t want it to be a one-way street,” said Thornton, “where athletes are like ‘Come to our games, but we don’t care about your event,’ so we’re working to change that and show them that athletes do care about those things.”
That care is what makes Loma’s Green Sea Hooligans different from average student sections. Their commitment to Loma extends beyond the wins and losses.
“We want to bring hype and energy to everything we do,” said Lofto. “Everything about the community here and time we have on campus is special so we want to pour all this energy and love into it. We all love Loma.”