This football season, there have been celebrations on and off the field, especially with the TCU Dutchmen.
Ten years ago, a group of TCU students started the Dutchmen. They were a group of friends who were big fans of TCU sports and wanted to show that TCU spirit. Ten years later, it is still well known at sporting games.
They are seen in the first row of the student section in Amon G. Carter Stadium hyping up the crowd at every home game.
“They didn’t have any sort of athletic support, they weren’t in an organization, it was just a group of friends,” said Lucas Turner, a senior nursing major. “They were originally called the ‘Amp-It-Upers’ who amped up the crowd and wasn’t anything TCU related.”
The Dutchmen were later named after former TCU head coach Dutch Meyer. Meyer played tight end on the football team from 1916-1917 and then 1920-1921. He coached TCU football from 1934 to 1952.
“He gave a great quote, which is ‘we’ll fight ’em till hell freezes over and then fight them on the ice.’ That’s kind of what we are in the student section,” Turner said. “We need to be able to fight through the whole game.”
The cheers and traditions are a big thing with the Dutchmen. They want to get everyone hyped up and excited for the game.
“We do the Frog Walk, so every two to three hours before the game starts, all the players come on buses and then walk through up to the stadium,” Andrew Meier, a senior musical theater major, said. “We have lots of parents, students and alumni all lined up with the band, cheerleaders, showgirls and rangers. We just get super hyped and hand out stickers before the game. You can’t also forget the iconic ‘Riff Ram’ during touchdowns.”
Besides being well-known for their spirit at the games, they are also well-known for the outfits they wear: overalls with white and purple stripes. The white stripes represent the knowledge that TCU seeks to instill in the students and their time at college and the purple stripes represent the rich traditions that TCU has.
“You can just go to GameBibs and order purple overalls but ours are a little special,” Turner said, “They say TCU on them and the brand name, and on the back, they say ‘Dutchman’ with our names on them and this was something that was gifted to us, we didn’t have to purchase them or anything. It’s the main staple of the uniform.”
TCU is the only school in Texas and in the Big 12 conference to have the student section facing the opponent team. That’s why the Dutchmen play a big part in getting the students hyped.
“The student section is so important in all sporting events, especially football. And TCU being the only school in the Big 12 to have the student section sit right behind the opposing team bench, we have an important job to do more than other students,” Turner said, “The name Dutchmen comes from a TCU coach from a while back so there’s historical excellence in there.”
Meier said that one of his favorite memories from being a Dutchman was the historic 2022 season of TCU’s incredible run to the Fiesta Bowl and national championship game against Georgia.
“It was my first year being a Dutchman and to be able to lead the team in the student section in a season that was so historic for our university was a huge blessing,” Meier said.
Turner and Meier encourage students who are big fans of sports and want to help lead the student section in cheers to join the Dutchmen.
“If you’ve got some hype in you if you bleed purple, and love the frogs, as well as enjoy dancing on the big screen, you should consider joining the TCU Dutchmen,” Meier said. “It’s a very small organization, very select. We usually take about five to six Dutchmen, depending on how many graduating students we have.”
For those interested in becoming part of this spirited tradition, Dutchmen applications open during the spring semester. Students can find more details about the application process on their Instagram.
