When University of Hawai'i students begin arriving on campus next month they will be met by a series of athletic department initiatives aimed at increasing their presence at school sports events, officials said.

"We want to ramp up our attempts to get them more involved," said John McNamara, associate athletic director.

UH-Manoa has an undergraduate enrollment of approximately 11,000, among the highest in the nine-school Western Athletic Conference. In recent years only about 3 to 6 percent of Aloha Stadium crowds have been composed of students, according to athletic department estimates.

"We struggle with that year in and year out," said athletic director Herman Frazier. "We've been able to get some higher numbers the last couple of years through the Manoa Maniacs and some things in marketing and we will continue to try and do more things."

Along with the Manoa Maniacs, a student-rooter section, the school will offer special student season tickets and all-sports cards that may be used for a variety of events. UH will also offer a plan whereby student groups that sell season-ticket packages will receive $5 per sale.

"Some of the feedback we got from the students was that many of them wanted to go to games but, because of schedules, work and other things, season tickets didn't work that well for some of them," McNamara said.

The all-sports card, priced at $40, allows admission to 10 events, chosen from among the sports UH charges admission to and confers other benefits and discounts.

Frazier said he will encourage the new Manoa chancellor, Virginia Hinshaw, to continue operating the so-called spirit buses that run from campus to Aloha Stadium and return. Under Denise Konan, Hinshaw's predecessor, the chancellor's office paid for the buses.

Along with getting more students in the seats, the athletic department also hopes to eventually work out an arrangement whereby students who pay an annual athletic fee receive special seating considerations. Similar policies are in place at many other schools but haven't been seen at UH since the early 1980s.

Grant Teichman, out-going president of the Associated Students of UH, pushed student involvement in athletics and was part of a student government initiative to try and get a vote on an athletics fee. Teichman said he didn't know if incoming leaders would follow a similar agenda. Calls seeking comment from current ASUH leadership were not returned.

Student season tickets for football and women's volleyball go on sale Aug. 20. Student individual match tickets for women's volleyball will be sold starting Aug. 23. Individual student football tickets will be available beginning Aug. 27.

FOOTBALL, VOLLEYBALL TICKET SALES

Advertiser Staff
Season tickets for the 2007 University of Hawai‘i football and women’s volleyball seasons go on sale tomorrow.
Fans can purchase season tickets online via www.HawaiiAthletics.com, by calling 944-2697, or by visiting the Stan Sheriff Center Box Office (Monday through Friday, starting at 8 a.m.)
Key dates:
July 16 — season-ticket sales begin for football and women's volleyball;
Aug. 6 — women's volleyball individual match tickets on sale;
Aug. 13 — football individual game tickets on sale;
Aug. 20 — student season tickets for football & volleyball on sale;
Aug. 23 — student individual match tickets for volleyball on sale;
Aug. 27 — student individual game tickets for football on sale.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com.