Unless you’ve been hiding out on the fourth floor of Collins Library, you’ve probably heard of the movement that is Logger Nation. Logger Nation, co-founded by junior Katy Appleby and senior Casey Coberly, is an all-inclusive fan group that supports both varsity and club sports. After a long period of unorganized cheering sections, Logger Nation is a breath of fresh air for Puget Sound’s athletic community.
Logger Nation has been in the works since this summer when ASUPS President Marcus Luther approached Appleby to talk about her idea for a united student cheering section. “Katy Appleby cornered me in the S.U.B. last spring after I was elected and started telling me about her vision of a Logger fan club on campus. She planted a seed in my head that kept growing all summer, and towards the end of July I reached out to her asking whether she was interested in making her idea a reality. Her exact response was: ‘I’m so down!’” Luther said. Together they have created a fully functioning club that has been very popular on campus. Logger Nation shirts, which pay for a Logger Nation membership fee of $10, flew off the ASUPS shelves when they came in.
“Student athletes, as cliché as it sounds, work really hard in the classroom and on their respective fields. I think that the athletes on campus deserve student support, no matter how good they are. School spirit has less to do with athletics and more to do with having pride in your school,” Appleby said.
Appleby is a fixture at sporting events. She travels to away volleyball games, watches live stats of football games, and will be the loudest voice in the crowd at soccer games. She has an appreciation for all sports on campus.
As a current varsity athlete himself, Coberly is a standout on the football field as team captain and also is very invested in making this club work “I think that a D3 athlete is the ultimate form of athlete and play because they love it, so I think that all of them deserve to be supported,” Coberly said.
As a former varsity athlete herself, Appleby knows what it is like to be both a student and an athlete and how much a supporting community makes all the difference, “It’s always really great to be able to show all your hard work and dedication off to your friends. Logger Nation wants to be able to provide this community to all athletes.” Appleby said.
Logger Nation has an exciting future. As Luther points out, it has already made a large impact on campus. “I believe that the experience of competing as an athlete is greatly enhanced by having a strong base of support from fans. Logger Nation has the potential to give our student-athletes the support that they are so deserving of, and for that I am relentlessly proud of the work that Katy and her group of leaders have already accomplished. And I cannot wait to see where it goes,” Luther said.