Story by Ernest Brewer | Photos by David Foster

The stands are practically empty on this Monday afternoon as the women’s softball team warms up, getting ready to take on the Buffalo Bulls.

But then a small, 31-year old woman, not much taller than 5 feet, walks to the stands. Her arms are shaking with excitement as she walks toward the bleachers. She hikes up the stairs, struggling beneath the weight of her light blue book bag, which is almost as big as she is.

The announcer begins the starting line-up.

The fan yells out the name of each Kent State player, and she seems to get louder, cheering and smiling in her navy Kent State windbreaker, which is autographed by each member of the football team. The bleachers are no longer silent: The super fan is here.

Heading toward Kent State on state Route 43, there is a sign that reads, “Winning is Contagious.” With the exception of the women’s golf team, which has won every MAC title since their first season in 1998, this has not been the case for the athletic department over the past few years. The closest any team has come to a national championship was in 2002, when the men’s and women’s basketball teams won Mid-American Conference tournament titles, and the men advanced to the elite eight. But there is one super fan, Heather Strittmatter, who sticks by the teams and inspires the athletic department, attending almost every game.

“I go to everything,” says Strittmatter, an art major.

She then goes on to list all of the sporting events she attends, not missing a single Kent State sport. A pitcher from Buffalo throws the first pitch. “Come on, Flashes. Let’s go! Let’s go!” Strittmatter yells. “Let’s get a home run!”

Strittmatter was not always a Kent State fan. Growing up in Kent, she attended Roosevelt High School and cheered on the Rough Riders. As she got older, she decided to move on. “I had to get rid of Roosevelt, and now it’s time to help Kent State out.”