Nate Clark might not be the loudest fan Brandywine has ever had, but he is certainly one of the most devoted.

For the past 23 years, the 53-year-old Niles native has attended every one of Brandywine’s varsity home football games.

Although he hasn’t kept an exact tally, Clark estimates he’s been to 90 percent of the school’s home games and 75 percent of its away games since 1989.

That’s not just for football — that’s for all varsity sports.

If Clark isn’t the Bobcats’ No. 1 fan, he is certainly one of a few challenging for the title.

“I don’t have a passion for anything but this,” said Clark. “Where it came from and how it happened, I don’t know.”

Vance Stratton, the school’s athletic director, described Clark as his “go-to guy” when it comes to Brandywine sports history.

“He does an absolute phenomenal job of research, just phenomenal,” Stratton said. “He’s not like a fan you would typically see on TV. He just comes to games and watches and supports our teams. He is not real vocal, but he just is one of those people you love to have around a program.”

The love of the game

Clark wasn’t heavily involved in athletics while he was a student at Brandywine.

Prior to graduating in 1980, Clark said he attended only four or five sporting events, while joining just one team — the track team — as a sophomore.

“I think I was the only one on the team that didn’t score a point,” he said.

Clark fell in love with sports while serving with the U.S. Navy from 1981-85. While stationed in Philadelphia on the USS Saratoga, Clark said he and his Navy buddies would go to Phillies games and other professional sporting events on their breaks.

“I got to see Pete Rose play while he was with the Phillies. It was exciting,” Clark said. “I think that’s when I got caught up in sports.”

Clark returned home in time to catch the fever surrounding Brandywine’s state championship baseball team in 1987.

“I didn’t watch that one, but I remember when they came back for the parade. I recognized they were good,” he said.

After that, Clark began attending games and has been hooked ever since.

“I don’t know how I got addicted to it. I think it was just a big bang and it happened,” he said.

Unless you are a coach, athletic director or longtime fan, you might not notice Clark, who describes himself as shy and reserved.

“I’ll throw my fist in the air when something big happens, but I’m not that boisterous,” he said.

Clark recently bought a spirit rag with the intent of waving it around his head at games. He took it to the first football game in the fall of 2013, but it never left his pocket.

“I thought, ‘I just can’t do it,’” he said. “I wish I was yelling and screaming more. I wish I was more fun to watch, but it’s just not me.”

 

Speak softly

Lacking a strong voice, Clark has found other ways to make an impact on Brandywine athletics.

About 10 years ago, he began compiling a history of all school sports by combing through microfilm records at the library and scanning local papers. He keeps the statistics from every game he can find in a few binders labeled by sport.

“Everyone who has ever scored a basket at Brandywine is in here,” said Clark, pointing to his boys basketball binder. “I keep updating them too. Every game. If the box score doesn’t show up in the paper, I’ll have a fit.”

Clark is also notorious for paying too much at games for concessions or tickets.

“I’ve been known to pay $20 for a pop and a hot dog, but it’s my way of donating,” he said. “Brandywine doesn’t have a lot of money for athletics, so I like to help out where I can.”

Stratton said Clark is quick to volunteer whether he is asked or not, from working the team gate during football season to pulling weeds around the track in the offseason.

“There are so many things he does that most people don’t know about,” he said. “He’s just a Brandywine supporter through and through. You couldn’t ask any more of a person than he does.”

One of Clark’s biggest projects involved him making by hand miniature replicas of each Brandywine football helmet design. They are currently decorating a wall at his home on Fulkerson Road — the same home he has lived in since he was a child.

“Vance thought that was so cool. They put them in the showcase for like six months,” he said. “If they have a reunion there they will call me up and borrow them.”

 

Beyond the

scoreboard

While Clark can’t pinpoint the reason he got hooked on Brandywine athletics, he knows why he keeps coming back — the stories behind the scores.

For instance, one of Clark’s favorite moments happened during the championship game of the 2007 Matt Kurtis Memorial softball tournament, named after a former team manager who died of cancer in 2006.

The game was played between Dowagiac and Brandywine and featured a Brandywine pitcher named Kendra Zache, who was a good friend of Kurtis.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, with the game tied at 5, Zache hit a solo home run to win the game.

Clark was there to see the whole thing.

“You could see when she was coming off the field she was fighting back tears,” Clark said. “You knew what that game meant to her friendship with Matt.

“Those are the best moments — when there are other things going on besides the score. There’s always things happening within a game.”

Clark’s favorite team is the 2000 Brandywine girls basketball team that made it to the state semifinals, despite a regular season record that was barely over .500.

“That team all of a sudden got hot for some reason. I just think it was unexpected — they were overachievers,” he said. “From 2000 on, the girls sports have just exploded. I think that 2000 girls basketball team may have been the igniter that got things going.”

Clark plans on attending games as long as he can. He said his passion for Brandywine sports continues to grow every year.

“What makes Brandywine special is the community. We don’t have a lot of money. You won’t drive around my neighborhood and mistake us for Beverly Hills,” he said. “It’s amazing what Brandywine has done over the years, especially the girls sports, winning all the time with so little. It makes them easy to root for.”