Students now have more motivation than ever to attend games. The athletic department, under the leadership of Athletic Director, Brian Wickstrom, has installed a reward system for students called Ace’s Army.

A rowdy student section at any home venue in college sports is a definite advantage. Wickstrom hopes this will encourage students to not only show up, but also to get involved in the game.

“With the home court advantage you can get at baseball, basketball, and football games, we want to do something to get a really good student turnout,” Wickstrom said.

Most games will be worth one point, while some special events will be worth two. Games over holidays will be worth two. Prizes will be given when students’ point totals range from five to 50. Free tuition for a semester is the highest prize awarded.

Wickstrom says that the athletic department will send out weekly emails with a list of the top point getters.

“We get good student attendance, but a lot of students once they leave campus don’t come back. We wanted to make it a good enough reward to encourage them to come back to games at night,” he said.

The spring schedule for Ace’s Army kicked off on January 11 and will run through a softball game on April 27.

“I think it’ll be good for attendance for our teams, especially for our soccer and softball teams,” said senior criminal justice major, Roy Brown.

“Seeing more people support will push the athletes to push harder for success. It’ll also create a better atmosphere for the games. And who wouldn’t want to win free tuition,” he said.

ULM joins LSU as the only schools in the state that have rewards programs specifically in place for students. The system will also be one of the few in place in the Sunbelt Conference.