Hamilton Athletics has partnered with students to create a new app to help increase attendance at athletic events. The app, called FanStand, is a points system in which students who download the app and attend games earn points that can be redeemed for official Hamilton merchandise at various redemption points later in the year. The merchandise is not finalized but according to founder Joe Simeone ’26 is set to include items like “student athletics branded shirts, water bottles and other items.”
These items will not replace traditional giveaways, like Citrus Bowl shirts but are additional chances for free merchandise. Currently, the app focuses on Hamilton College Athletic events, as Student Athletics funds the app, so club sports such as water polo and rugby are not included in the program.
The creators made clear this was not just a redemption service but a new way to interact with athletics on campus. “It shows all games on campus, with location, time and opponent” something Simeone points out is difficult to find on Hamiton’s own Athletics website. The hope is to make games more accessible to students. “As athletes we never know what other games are going on around campus” explained Ben Ingram ’25, something the creators hope to fix with these new features.
The idea started late last year in a SAAC (Student-Athlete Advisory Committee) meeting and grew from there. A team of five heads the project, all being track and field student-athletes working on this app. The app will continue to make improvements as the season continues. “We aim to focus on Hamilton,” says Simeone as he emphasized that “[Fanstand] is not like one of the big tech companies in California, we are on campus listening to feedback.” Features in the works include in-app roosters and guides explaining how the sport is played, however the team is open and ready for all feedback and suggestions.
The app is not just for free stuff, it is about bringing together a Hamilton community. The support the app has received has been incredible but “not surprising” since “that’s what Hamilton does” explained Simeone. The current developers are aware of their impending graduation- as such they have begun to train the new students to keep the app alive. The group has started recruiting the next generation, “no previous experience necessary” Alex Badami ’26, the lead iOS Developer explained. “Most of us were inexperienced when we started,” Badami said of the group, and because of this, they didn’t want this to be an obstacle for others. This training and community is what the developers are most proud of. Not the app itself but what it stands for, an idea being made real and the relationship and growth it has caused along the way.
At the end of the day, a group of friends came together with an idea to make Hamilton athletics better and stuck with it. Early data suggests that this may be increasing turnout but Simeone warned that “it’s too early to tell, especially since most of our data has been from in person marketing.”
No matter the outcome, the app has already had positives within the Hamilton community. It has strengthened friendships, allowed new ways for students to learn and improve coding and other skills and may even make student athletics campus hotspots again.
