The Art of Being a Gators Lacrosse Fan
It echoes across the field and into the stands at every Florida lacrosse home game, cutting through the usual pregame noise. While others settle into their seats, Bob Ross is already making sure he’s heard.
“Yee haw! Let’s go, Gators!”
At 71, Ross watches every home game from the same spot, rarely moving from his seat but never quiet for long. From the opening draw to the final whistle, his chants carry throughout Dizney Stadium, shouting “Gooo Gators” and player names before the ball is even in play.
His presence is now as much a part of the experience as the game itself.
“I think the fans’ support is just so crucial for us,” UF coach Amanda O’Leary said. “Our sideline tries to give as much energy as they can, but when the fans are into it, I just think that’s such a momentum boost.”
Lacrosse wasn’t a sport Ross ever expected to follow. When the program first arrived in Gainesville in 2010, he didn’t know the sport at all. He remembers watching the facility being built, seeing the groundwork laid before the structure seemed to rise almost overnight. Eventually, curiosity brought him through the gates.
“I’ve been screaming since day one,” Ross said. “I didn’t know lacrosse from anything before I came here. Love the game.”
Despite starting as a casual fan, not knowing all the rules didn’t keep him from coming back. To this day Ross admits there are calls he doesn’t fully grasp, but that’s never taken away from what he enjoys most.
“You don’t really have to understand all the rules,” Ross said. “There’s a goal at either end, and somebody just put it in.”
What has kept him coming back is the people around the sport.
He attends the tailgates before and after games, talks with families, congratulates players after matches and has become a familiar face within the program.
“I really wait for this throughout the year,” Ross said.
Moments like that are part of what keep him coming back, but so are the small traditions he’s built along the way.
Each season, Ross carries a Sharpie with him, determined to collect every player’s signature on a new hat.
“I try to get a complete set of signatures on a hat every season,” he said.
And then there’s his voice, chanting “Hold ’em, Gators!”, “Looking good, Gators!” and “Way to go, Gators!”
Some chants are steady and familiar, repeated throughout every game. Others, like his signature “Yee haw,” stand out as uniquely as him.
Whether the score is close or out of reach, Ross never changes. He doesn’t move much, but he doesn’t need to. His energy is constant.
“Every game has to be won,” Ross said. “It’s never going to just be given to you.”
That kind of presence doesn’t go unnoticed inside the program.
O’Leary pointed out how the atmosphere can shift throughout the flow of a game — how consistent noise and engagement can help keep the energy steady even in difficult moments.
“Somebody just made a bad play but there are still those fans that are screaming and cheering and then it’s like a boost,” O’Leary said.
For Ross, though, that impact isn’t something he thinks about while sitting in the stands. He’s not measuring momentum or studying outcomes. He’s just doing what he has done since the beginning — showing up and making noise.
“I push it to everybody who will listen,” he said.
And that’s exactly what he has done for years, going to games on his own, but often finding himself in conversation with strangers who become familiar faces along the way.
From his seat in the Diz, Ross watches another home game unfold the same way he always has — loudly.
“I think it’s the greatest entertainment opportunity on campus,” Ross said.
The No. 4 Gators (14-2, 5-0 Big 12), the Big 12 regular-season champs, enter the conference tournament as the No. 1 seed and take on No. 4 seed UC Davis (7-8, 2-3) on at 4 p.m. Thursday at Dizney Stadium.
Category: Feature Sports News, Gator Sports, Gators Lacrosse
