Tailgating honors safety first

Hundreds of students, Greeley community members and sports fans flocked to the parking lots of Nottingham Field parking lots Saturday morning to pre-celebrate the kick off of UNC's first football game of the year with the tradition of tailgating.

In the early hours of Saturday in the parking lot of Butler-Hancock, people arrived to set up their booths, barbecue grills and chairs to be full and happy before cheering on the Bears to victory.

As spectators to filled up the seats, Pride of the Rockies marching band could be heard practicing, which served as a coincidental tool to raise the school spirit at the tailgate party.

The University of Northern Colorado cheerleaders performed in the uniformed colors Blue and Gold, while tailgaters played a lot of family backyard games.

"Tailgating is a good experience for people to get to know each other, and is a good opportunity to get to know other students at UNC," said Angelica Balderas, a junior business major Terry Anderson, UNC Athletics associate director of sales and marketing, is one of the many people who organize, coordinate, set-up, monitor and eventually dismantle the tailgate party every home game.

"The set up usually begins at 8 a.m," Anderson said. "The spots are marked off, the entrance barriers are put into place; the official tailgating start time is three hours before the event begins — tailgating begins at 10:35 a.m."

Anyone interested in participating in tailgating can to do so; however, the guidelines to set up a designated location must be met.

Those who are interested must fill out a tailgating permit application, which is available at the UNC ticket office website, www.unco.edu/tickets, and fax it to the athletic department for Terry Anderson at 970-351-2018.

The deadline for applications is at noon the Friday before a home game. In addition to setup and logistics, security is the primary concern of the university to ensure safety. Security is provided by the UNC police department, but individuals and organizations can volunteer too.

Because the athletic department rents the Butler-Hancock parking lot, there are three main security enforcements.

UNCPD monitors the area during the time allotted to the Athletic Department, the entrance to the game by parking lot is always monitored, and an alcohol consumption security group monitor who is drinking and how much.

For more information about tailgating, parking and related activities during sporting events, visit www.uncbears.com.