Navy Fan Fest a success

If the turn out for the 2012 Fan Fest which was held at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium is anything to go by then expect Navy to have a successful season.

Hundreds of football fans decked out in the Academy’s blue and gold flocked to the stadium for a meet and greet with players and coaches, plus a number of fun activities for the entire family. "It's a small token of our appreciation," head football coach Ken Niumatalolo remarked. "Just a little thing we can do to pay back the fans and the community that is so supportive of our team."

With fans of all ages on the field Niumatalolo joined players in signing autographs and posing for photographs. As with any event such as this, questions were flying. One of the most common being about the coaches expectations for the fall. His most common answer is “hopefully a good one!”

The Navy players are some of the biggest proponents of the Fan Fest as it allows them to get up close and personal with the fans who cheer them on each and every Saturday during the fall. Center Bradyn Heap picked up on this when he pointed out that, "It's good to interact with the fans on a personal basis. We get to see who is coming to watch our games."

Though the hot summer heat was expected to lower numbers a little, it seemed like on the day everyone was enjoying the attractions that the Athletic Department provided. Though older fans were obviously most interested in the players, some of the younger guests seemed much more enamored with the bouncy castles and balloon animals. After all, how can a football player ever hope to compete with a balloon Elmo in the heart of a three year old fan?

For the rest of the week the Midshipmen go behind closed doors again for a full week of practices. The next time that the general public will be able to see the 2012 Mids is the annual Blue & Gold BBQ scrimmage on Saturday August 11th at noon.