The Stony Brook Athletics Department launched a new, free mobile application on Jan. 15 called “Stony Brook Seawolves,” aiming to make the SB Athletics website more accessible to students via their smartphones.
The app, available for iPhones and Android, combines information from GoSeawolves.org
—game schedules, statistics, rosters and player bios—with social media feeds to create an interface where fans can follow their favorite Stony Brook Division I teams.
Other features include a “News” tab with information on game results and updates and a “Shop SB” tab that connects users to Stony Brook merchandise. Users can also select a team by season and connect to each one’s latest news and team information.
The app uses an aggregator called Tagboard to compile posts from various social media platforms—Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google+ and Vine—that use the hashtag #seawolves. Photos, text and videos on the Tagboard can range in subject from Stony Brook sports games, club events or even selfies. Anything Stony Brook related that is #seawolves makes the cut.
“We love that stuff. We’re all about school pride. It’s not just about athletics, it’s about our campus community,” Tom Chen, the assistant athletics director for communications at SBU, said.
Chen said that the Athletics Department has been talking about developing an app since he was hired in 2010. In February 2013, a partnership began to grow with the YinzCam Company, which creates apps for a number of professional sports teams, including the Broncos, the Steelers, the Jets and the Patriots.
“They are a phenomenal company,” Chen explained, “We provided our input, they provided their design, and the feedback so far is good!”
The Athletics Department is focusing on promoting the mobile app and getting feedback from its users to improve it. He says they have promoted the app on GoSeawolves.org, radio and at basketball games this semester.
Richie Moylan, captain of the Stony Brook Athletic Bands’ Drumline, said he thinks the app is “clean, well organized and definitely [has] a lot of information.” He added that having the schedule on hand will be extremely helpful, especially with his role in the band.
Derek D’Ambra and Ben Koert, members of the Stony Brook Swimming and Diving team, said they felt that the app was clear, attractive and well-made, although they also acknowledged the reality of its market: Stony Brook students.
“It’s a step in the right direction,” D’Ambra, a junior economics major, said. “To try to get people involved, they’re going to have to market the hell out of it.”
Because developing mobile applications is expensive, D’Ambra believes that it needs to bring more people to games to be considered a success.
The new Athletics app is one of a few Stony Brook mobile apps like SB Campus Card, SBU Smart Transit and Blackboard Mobile.
“As of today, the Stony Brook Campus Card app has been installed on 2,783 iPads/iPhones and on 1,499 Android phones,” Angela Agnello, director of Marketing & Communications for the Faculty Student Association, said.
The Campus Card app allows students to track their meal plan and Wolfie’s Wallet balance/transaction, add money to it and report their Stony Brook ID as lost or stolen. According to Agnello, a SB vegetarian app is in the works to help students locate vegetarian meals and dining menus right on their smartphones.
On the Stony Brook campus, the first listing in the “Popular Near Me” section of the Apple app store is SBU Smart Transit. Smart Transit allows students to track Stony Brook buses in real time and view the different stops on each bus route.
Blackboard Mobile, maintained by Blackboard Inc., allows students to view their classes, homework assignments and announcements on the Stony Brook Blackboard website.
