PNW athletics unveiled the newly formed Champions Club, an athletic sponsored booster club, on Aug. 24.

The Champions Club has five levels of membership based on the monetary donation received from the individual or group. The five levels are the Black & Gold, All-American, Champion, All-star and MVP membership level.

Brandon Swanson, development officer, said the Champions Club was designed and created in order to provide a simple and impactful way for people to donate and support the athletic department.

“Sometimes people want to give and don’t necessarily know how,” Swanson said. “I think the Champions Club is a clear way that allows them to do that.”

To become a member of the Champions Club, one must donate $25-99 for the Black & Gold membership level, $100-499 for All- American, $500-999 for Champion, $1000-4,999 for All-star and $5000 or above for the MVP membership level. In addition to the increasing monetary value for the membership levels, the incentives also increase. For the MVP membership level, the individual donating will receive a 5 percent PNW bookstore discount, a label pin, a PNW T-shirt and sweatshirt, a pair of season tickets for all PNW sports, a meal with the chancellor and a PNW athletics head coach and autographed PNW athletics memorabilia.

Swanson said that the membership levels were made with different possible candidates in mind. The lowest membership level, the Black & Gold level, was designed to include those who cannot afford large donations such as some students.

“We don’t want to exclude anybody,” Swanson said. “We want people to be a part of this group that is helping give back to athletics.”

Rick Costello, athletic director, said the Champions Club will act as a mechanism to raise funds for scholarships, athletic facilities and special projects or trips that coaches have planned for their teams.

PNW’s athletic budget increased to 2.6 million dollars with a 5 percent increase in the athletics travel budget for the 2017-18 athletic season. The increase was made in order to compensate for the increased distance PNW athletic teams will travel to compete in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, a NCAA
DII conference.
Costello said one of his main priorities is to increase resources available to PNW athletes.

“To me it is an opportunity to go as broad and wide as possible and get as many people involved in the athletics program as possible.”