Carolina Fever faces fund shortage

Carolina Fever membership skyrocketed to 10,000 students this year when the club eliminated dues — but this change has led to a shortage of funds.

In past years, members were required to pay a $20 fee, and membership was much lower.

“A good year for us was to have 2,800 people involved,” Carolina Fever co-chairman David Wood said.

Wood said the increased membership has led to increased attendance at games.

“We’ve definitely seen an increase in the number of people coming out to events,” Wood said. “We’re reaching a bigger audience with our publicity.”

But Carolina Fever co-chairman Jack Frost said eliminating the membership fee has also led to financial difficulties for the organization.

“It’s tough to get the same kind of cash flow that we did,” Frost said.

The organization is relying on its members to voluntarily buy $10 T-shirts for finances rather than the membership fee.

Frost said the shirt sales are going well, but that the organization hopes to sell more, especially T-shirts for this Saturday’s white-out football game against Virginia Tech.

Frost said Carolina Fever is receiving financial assistance from the athletic department — something that hasn’t been necessary in past years.

Frost and Wood declined to say how much financial assistance the organization is receiving.

They said there is no set amount, and the athletics department helps on an event-by-event basis to maintain the club’s services.

“We’re going to be able to do a lot of the fun things we did in the past, like go to away games and plan viewing parties,” Frost said.

The organization has also changed procedures for counting attendance at football games. Now, members are given Carolina Fever points — which go toward prizes such as basketball tickets — for swiping in with their OneCards, and they do not have to sign out with organizers.

Wood said this change has led to increased attendance, but some members are abusing the system to receive points without staying until the end of the game.

“There is no accountability for staying the entire game,” he said.

Senior Kiley Pontrelli, a member of Carolina Fever, said she is happy with the rule changes.

“I think it’s awesome that everyone can just be a part of it if they want to be,” she said. “It doesn’t limit anyone from being part of it for monetary reasons.”

Wood said the organization is satisfied with the results of the rule changes.

He said the turnout for a volleyball game against Clemson that appeared on ESPNU last week was impressive.

“It was amazing,” he said. “We’re optimistic it will keep up for the rest of the year.”

Contact the desk editor at university@dailytarheel.com.