Fan of the week: David Newberry

Mercer Alumnus David Newberry has been a huge fan of Mercer’s athletic teams since his arrival in Macon as a freshmen in fall of 2008. Newberry, even after his graduation from Mercer, has continued to be a dedicated Mercer fan.

From an early age, Newberry has been involved in athletics and participated in sports. His love for sports began early in his life and has continued. From playing sports, to leading cheer sections of fans watching the games, sports have been a huge part of Newberry’s life.

During his time at Mercer, he supported various sports teams, participated in Mercer Maniac activities and even managed the Women’s Soccer team. During his time as a Mercer fan, many sports teams have had their most successful seasons, and Newberry has been a part of it all.

After his graduation in May of 2013, Newberry did not want to leave Macon due to his love for the city, Mercer and Mercer Athletics. Fortunately, he landed a job with a local church, so he has been able to stay involved as an alumnus.

Two years of Newberry’s time at Mercer were spent managing the Mercer Women’s Soccer Team. “My role as manager included practice and game laundry. I also got to help set up practice drills, help the girls do drills, and film the games,” Newberry said.

He loves all Mercer sports teams, but he admitted that he has a favorite team on campus.

“My favorite sports team at Mercer, honestly, is the women’s soccer team,” said Newberry. “I worked with them for two years while I was here, and I try to keep up with and continue to support to them.”

When asked what his favorite memory as a fan of the Mercer Bears is, Newberry had many to choose from. “That’s a toughie. I guess my favorite memory as a Mercer fan was coming back as an alumni for that first football game,” said Newberry. “Getting back in the student section, painting up, and yelling as hard as I could at the Reinhardt players and storming the field after we won on that last second field goal.”

Newberry was involved and invested in Mercer athletics at a time when things were changing for the better. “It has been really cool to see the evolution of Mercer’s sports and fans,” he said. “My freshmen year, there was hardly any participation among students at any sporting events. Now, there is a rowdy student section that was completely full at a brand new sport.”

When he first came to Mercer, there was no organized support team for athletics, and the student body was not as invested in sports.

“I was a freshmen in fall of 2008, and there was no on-campus recruitment for anything. There were signs posted, but there were no players actively going around encouraging other students to come to their games. The athletes just sort of stuck to their own corner of campus,” said Newberry. “Then, Coach Hoffman and the basketball team really stepped out to encourage students to come. As that happened, other sports programs started doing better and getting more recognition. This all lead to the creation of the student lead group the Mercer Maniacs.”

 

When the Mercer Maniacs came into existence, Newberry was every bit a part of it. “I actively participated in the Maniacs; I encouraged and recruited other students and I painted up with the best of them,” he said.

Newberry says he is most looking forward to basketball, volleyball and soccer. He hopes to see both men’s and women’s soccer teams end their seasons with the same success they have had so far this season.

Newberry claims that he will continue to support Mercer Athletics, and while he is in Macon, he will continue to support all the teams.

“Whenever I have a friend on a sporting team I really want to support them and by watching I become more and more interested in the game,” said Newberry. “I have gotten to the point where I can watch and get really into almost any sport.”