While many of the 16,000 students that attend NKU don’t even know what sports are offered, there is one group that is doing there best to try and spread school spirit throughout campus. This group is comprised of students that are dedicated to supporting our student athletes, and they are known as the Norse Force.

The Norse Force is the official spirit club at NKU. The goal of the Norse Force is to give student athletes as much support as possible by attending as many sporting events as possible. There were at least four members at every home contest last season, according to Kirti Sapra, a junior computer science major and the president of the Norse Force.

“We drive to go to every single game and support NKU athletics as much as we can.” Sapra said.

While the members of the Norse Force are usually visible at home games, that’s only a small part of what goes on behind the scenes. The leadership is made up of four committees and an e-board. The e-board is made up of the heads of the committees and the group administration. Each committee specializes in a certain area of the organization. There is a finance committee, an events committee, a public relations committee and an involvement committee. Each committee meets at separate times, and then all the committee heads meet on Thursdays to discuss the state of the organization.

“There are not many members, so there are leadership positions available,” Sapra said. “It looks great on your resume because you are a part of something greater than you are because it’s a university organization. The University is right behind you.”

For the 2010-2011 NKU seasons, the Norse Force will be reintroducing the Thunderbucks program, according to Sapra. This is a program meant to encourage students to attend home sporting events. At each home game, there will be a member of the Norse Force with a card reader. The student attending the game will have their All Card swiped, and will receive a certain amount of thunderbucks for attending the sporting event. At the end of the year, there will be a silent auction held by the Norse Force where you can bid on items with the thunderbucks you have accumulated, and the highest bid wins. Sapra says some of the items may include a flat screen TV or a $1,000 scholarship donated by the athletic department.

While Sapra says it’s easy to get people to join the Norse Force, having people follow through on their commitment is the hard part. He continues saying many people view the Norse Force as an easy organization to join, but few truly follow through and become truly active with the organization.

“We really have a lot of behind the scenes work, and it’s a tough part for people to get through” Sapra said. “ We have around 70 members, but only 15 to 20 active ones. It’s not about joining, its about following through to your commitment.”

Some student athletes are really appreciative of the work the Norse Force is doing around campus.

“I think it’s a great step in getting student support for our athletes,” said junior tennis player Jenny Hand. “Every athlete loves seeing students at their events. We have amazing student athletes and there is no reason why every student shouldn’t take pride in the individuals who are representing our school.”

Story by Nick Jones