Directly behind the hedges of Sanford Stadium, a row of students streaked with red and black paint resembling dogs, demons, skeletons and more cheer as football players take the field.
The University of Georgia Spike Squad was founded in 2010 by Travis Fetchko as a student-based group designed to pump up the student section of UGA football games. Named after the spiked shoulder pads they wear, the group was founded by Fetchk to rally fans before the 2010 season’s game against undefeated Auburn University. After a few years the club started to gain traction, and has since become a staple of UGA football games in Section 109 with colorful costumes and unrelenting energy.
Why It’s Newsworthy: The Spike Squad has become an immensely popular and recognizable feature of UGA football games, but few know what participating students look like underneath the blazing black and red paint and spiked shoulder pads.
Applications for Spike Squad membership have skyrocketed in the past few years, but typically only a few dozens students participate in any given season. Those that make the cut, however, have a chance to hype up their beloved school’s football team, and to be seen by millions of fans live and on-air.
The 2018 Rose Bowl, which included a nail-biting double-overtime between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Oklahoma Sooners, was reportedly the fifth-most watched cable program of all time, garnering around 26.8 million viewers. And each of those football fans saw, in addition to players running the field and tackling their opponents, a line of loyal, painted students cheering on the Bulldogs.
Holly Roberts is a senior majoring in journalism in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia.
Langston Leake, 21, a history and political science major at the University of Georgia, participates as a member of the Spike Squad during the Georgia vs. Tennessee football game at Sanford Stadium, on September 29, 2018. Leake waits outside the stadium in normal clothes before sitting in the student section and donning paint, spiked shoulder pads and other costume pieces to support the Georgia Bulldogs.
Langston Leake, 21, a history and political science major at the University of Georgia, participates as a member of the Spike Squad during the Georgia vs. Tennessee football game at Sanford Stadium, on September 29, 2018. Sitting field-level at Sanford Stadium, Leake chants and shouts aggressively and dons themed paint, spiked shoulder pads and other costume pieces to cheer for the dogs.
Katie Bates, 19, a biochemistry and molecular biology major at the University of Georgia, participates as a member of the Spike Squad during the Georgia vs. Tennessee football game at Sanford Stadium, on September 29, 2018. Bates waits outside the stadium in normal clothes before sitting in the student section and donning paint, spiked shoulder pads and other costume pieces to support the Georgia Bulldogs.
Katie Bates, 19, a biochemistry and molecular biology major at the University of Georgia, participates as a member of the Spike Squad during the Georgia vs. Tennessee football game at Sanford Stadium, on September 29, 2018. Sitting field-level at Sanford Stadium, Bates cheers in front of the Hedges in her paint and shoulder pads. Bates says joining Spike Squad was important to her because “I live for opportunities to be a hype man.”
Brooks Patterson, 20, a biological science major at the University of Georgia, participates as a member of the Spike Squad during the Georgia vs. Tennessee football game at Sanford Stadium, on September 29, 2018. Patterson waits outside the stadium in normal clothes before sitting in the student section and donning paint, spiked shoulder pads and other costume pieces to support the Georgia Bulldogs.
Brooks Patterson, 20, a biological science major at the University of Georgia, participates as a member of the Spike Squad during the Georgia vs. Tennessee football game at Sanford Stadium, on September 29, 2018. Sitting field-level at Sanford Stadium, Patterson wears a Phantom of the Opera mask painted onto his face and cheers for the dogs. Patterson joined the Spike Squad because he says that he loves the Bulldogs and ,”I love being with a group of people who love the dawgs as much as I do.”
Sydney Guion, 18, a public relations major at the University of Georgia, participates as a member of the Spike Squad during the Georgia vs. Tennessee football game at Sanford Stadium, on September 29, 2018. Guion waits outside the stadium in normal clothes before sitting in the student section and donning paint, spiked shoulder pads and other costume pieces to support the Georgia Bulldogs.
Sydney Guion, 18, a public relations major at the University of Georgia, participates as a member of the Spike Squad during the Georgia vs. Tennessee football game at Sanford Stadium, on September 29, 2018. Sitting field-level at Sanford Stadium, Guion yells for the dogs and dons canine themed paint and spiked shoulder pads to cheer for the dogs. Guion says she joined Spike Squad because she “loves school spirit and supporting the Dawgs!”
Parker Wohl, 18, a business management major at the University of Georiga, participates as a member of the Spike Squad during the Georgia vs. Tennessee football game at Sanford Stadium, on September 29, 2018. Wohl waits outside the stadium in normal clothes before sitting in the student section and donning paint, spiked shoulder pads and other costume pieces to support the Georgia Bulldogs.
Parker Wohl, 18, a business management major at the University of Georgia, participates as a member of the Spike Squad during the Georgia vs. Tennessee football game at Sanford Stadium, on September 29, 2018. Sitting field-level at Sanford Stadium, Wohl snarls aggressively and dons themed paint, spiked shoulder pads and other costume pieces to cheer for the dogs. Coming from a “UGA family,” Wohl joined Spike Squad because he wanted to be around people as passionate about the Bulldogs as he was.
Abbey Swearngin, 18, a genetics major at the University of Georgia, participates as a member of the Spike Squad during the Georgia vs. Tennessee football game at Sanford Stadium, on September 29, 2018. Swearngin waits outside the stadium in normal clothes before sitting in the student section and donning paint, spiked shoulder pads and other costume pieces to support the Georgia Bulldogs.
Abbey Swearngin, 18, a genetics major, at the University of Georgia, participates as a member of the Spike Squad during the Georgia vs. Tennessee football game at Sanford Stadium, on September 29, 2018. Sitting field-level at Sanford Stadium, Swearngin dons themed red paint that mimics David Bowie’s famous lightning bolt symbol. Swearngin says that she joined the Spike Squad to make new friends and that “it’s the best way to spend a football game!”
Members of the Spike Squad, a University of Georgia student group that wears paint and costumes to cheer on the Georgia Bulldogs football team, raise their arms to celebrate the team coming onto the field during the Georgia vs. Tennessee football game on September 29, 2018. The Spike Squad sits on the front row of the student section and pumps their arms up and down in a celebratory manner.
Langston Leake, 21, a history and political major at the University of Georgia, participates as a member of the Spike Squad during the Georgia vs. Tennessee football game at Sanford Stadium, on September 29, 2018. Inside Sanford Stadium, Leake paints his face to resemble a skull as part of his Spike Squad persona as his peers don their costumes and paint.
Several pairs of spiked shoulder pads sit on a hedge as members of the Spike Squad, a University of Georgia student group that cheers on the Georgia Bulldogs football team, apply paint during the Georgia vs. Tennessee football game on Sept. 29, 2018. The Spike Squad is named for the red and black shoulder pads adorned with spikes that they wear during each game.
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Behind the Paint of UGA Spike Squad
by Grady Capstone Journalist, Grady Newsource October 6, 2018
