MORGANTOWN –Sara Bishop’s phone rang Saturday afternoon while she was outside Milan Puskar Stadium. It was a fan needing a lift to one of the gates to see the Mountaineers square off against James Madison in the home opener.
The Goodwill City Ambassadors (GCA) started their courtesy shuttle service last year, driving golf carts and getting injured or elderly fans to their seats before and after the game.
In a sea of gold and blue, Bishop and her colleagues were wearing orange. Goodwill City Ambassadors started in 2011 in an effort to help the community combat image problems following some bad behavior at previous games. Bishop and husband Clif wore the colors of the opposing team to see what visiting fans were experiencing.
“We got lots of hugs and welcomes, pepperoni rolls and beer offers,” said Bishop.
Into his eighth year, Charlie Sims was behind the wheel of the golf cart, ready to take fans where they needed to go. He is one of the original ambassadors.
“Even the spring game, what was interesting was a lot of the people we drove in the carts during the last year, they were waiting for us at the spring game … they depended on us to get them in between places,” Bishop said.
When they put on their orange shirts before a busy game day, Sims said it’s about loving Morgantown and wanting people to have a good time and come back again next year.
“I’m glad to be part of a great community. I want other people to be able to experience it,” Sims said.
As far as WVU football goes, Bishop and Sims are excited to see what the season brings with new coach Neal Brown.
“I think everyone’s very excited about the new coach. The kind of family atmosphere he brings to the team and to the whole program, and I’m seeing that carry over throughout what athletics is doing,” Bishop said.
Sims said in years past people have always stopped ambassadors to let them know they’re doing a good job and many emulate their behavior toward opposing team fans.
“It’s contagious. People realize it doesn’t cost you anything to be nice,” Bishop said.
Bishop said at the end of the day, it feels like ambassadors are helping the community.
“We are one small piece of a big puzzle for helping make game day a positive experience for all the fans,” she said.
All the groups involved — WVU Athletics, Alumni, Gold and Blue — work together to make sure people have a good time and come back to Morgantown.
“We’ve heard from other fans saying this is the best place to come for how we treat them,” Bishop said.
Sean Frisbee, director of the WVU Alumni Association, recently shared with the the Bishops positive comments he heard at the Alumni Director National Conference. That event included Michigan, Alabama and other Big 5 conference members. Frisbee relayed that Jeffrey Johnson, alumni director at Iowa State, said no school compares with WVU for the positive and welcoming way it treats visiting fans and that is largely due to the ambassador program that no other school has.
Friday evening, Bishop visited with James Madison alumni and let them know to look for the people in orange shirts.
“We already know Texas is going to tailgate in the green lot and we’ll be there. We do try to go and see them,” said Bishop.
“Theirs is a burnt orange, though, so, slightly different. So we’ll see,” she said.
