Cheering and chanting from the bleachers, a sea of purple-clad NYU Abu Dhabi students marked the first pep rally at the university this past Wednesday evening.

Although it was not the first time sports tournaments have been met with painted faces and “Go Falcons!” chants, the Oct. 28 pep rally was the first university-organized event to create spectator support at this tenor.

“Last spring saw a record number of students coming out to cheer [at matches] and we wanted to bring everyone back together to kick off the 2015 to 2016 ADISL season,” wrote Lindsay Smith, NYUAD sports communication coordinator.

In the past, students have mentioned the difficulty of finding time to attend matches among homework and other commitments. In the last couple of semesters as the student population has grown, however, there has been a visible increase in turnout at sporting events.

“It was great to see so many people cheering for the teams and showing some school spirit, it means a lot to us when students other than our teammates are there to support,” said senior Dóri Pálfi, a member of both the women’s football and women’s basketball teams. “In general, intercollegiate athletics has grown a lot over the past years: from practicing at an elementary school to having our own stadium and fans coming out to the games, I can’t wait to see us improve further.”

Two matches were played during the rally: NYUAD men’s Division II basketball versus Paris Sorbonne, and NYUAD men’s football versus Masdar Institute. NYUAD won both matches.

The pep rally launched with the basketball game in the indoor courts before moving to the outdoor fields for the football match, where the ADISL captains and teams were introduced during halftime.

Once all the players were on the field, the new NYUAD falcon mascot was unveiled. The identity of who wears the falcon costume still remains a secret.

“We had a surprise planned for the student body that's been in the works since last April – a Falcon mascot – that we needed to introduce to everyone,” said Smith.

“Even if some had suspected that our surprise was a mascot, nobody but a handful of people knew what it looked like and I think everyone was still surprised and excited," she added.

The next big sporting event at NYUAD is the Defend the Nest, a double-header basketball game on Tuesday, Nov. 17, which will include a contest to name the new Falcon mascot.