For years, the Illinois State Varsity I Club served as a common bond between all former Redbird student-athletes and made them a part of the Athletic Department for their entire lives. With that idea in mind, the Illinois State Athletics Department recently rebranded the exclusive club the Redbird For Life Club or RB4L Club.
At this year’s ISU Credit Union Senior Student-Athlete Banquet, the program was renamed and explained to the graduating seniors and newest members of the club. The group’s mission is to foster a closer association among all former athletes who represented ISU in intercollegiate athletics and provide opportunities for fellowship for RB4L members through a variety of activities. The club will also seek to keep members connected with former teammates and coaches and with the current programs and student-athletes.
“The RB4L Club is extremely important, as our student-athletes move out of their collegiate playing days and are welcomed into the club that signifies a lifelong association with Redbird Athletics,” ISU director of Development and the RB4L Club Mike Murray said. “We want them to maintain an active and ongoing connection to the program and department. We hope all RB4L members will come back to on-campus games and activities, attend road games when we come to their area, and find ways to impact and support the programs they feel connected to.”
The club was originally called the Varsity N Club when the University was named Illinois State Normal University. It later became the Varsity I Club (as the University dropped the “Normal” tag) and now in an attempt to better communicate the relationship with the athletic alumni, the RB4L moniker and logo was created to reflect the group’s mission to involve Redbird student-athletes in the program for the rest of their lives.
As part of the new direction of the program, new members will receive a RB4L Membership Card at their Senior Awards Banquet and existing members will receive their cards as information is updated and confirmed. Personalized cards will have the member’s name on the front and the words to the ISU fight song on the back and can be carried in a wallet or purse to indicate membership for years to come.
“We hope to increase the targeted contacts from the Athletics Department to help our former athletes feel like they are still in the loop of information and create easy ways for them to follow the Redbirds regardless of their location,” Murray stated. “We want all of our former student-athletes to feel like they are still a part of our athletics program and that’s why we are developing the cards and in the process of retrieving information for our current RB4L members.”
For more information on the RB4L Club or to update contact information, click on the RB4L page under the Inside Athletics tab on GoRedbirds.com or call Murray at (309) 438-5455.
