KEVIN KLAUS/Arizona Daily Wildcat Spectators in McKale Center watch the Arizona men's basketball team play a game earlier this season. Starting today, student's can join the UA ÎZona Zoo' by purchasing a $35 pass, good for entry into more than 100 UA sporting events.

Two years ago, Arizona women's basketball head coach Joan Bonvicini, along with the sports marketers, publicized a student section experience for the Wildcats game with Arizona State.

Bonvicini wanted to expose students to women's basketball by selling the student section experience. T-shirts were handed out and students were herded together on the ASU side of the court.

With the new implementation and plans for the Zona Zoo, Bonvicini and other coaches of lower attended games might not have to self-promote much longer öö and they like it.

Bonvicini said she is a fan of the steps taken by the athletics department and ASUA to boost fan support for all teams.

"I think it's great," Bonvicini said of selling season sports passes to UA students. "When you put a value on the game, I think it creates a lot of excitement."

Freshman volleyball star Kim Glass said she is happy with the prospect of a more filled McKale Center for the volleyball games.

"I think it's really good step to get more people at more games," Glass said. "Everyone hears so much about the big sports. Once they see some of the games, they will want to come more."

While promotion of Arizona athletics will increase with the extension of Zona Zoo, this leaves a potential problem for the sports other than basketball and football öö the two most attended sports on campus.

Women's basketball, along with baseball, softball and volleyball, were already free for students prior to the implementation of the sports pass, and non-pass holders will now have to pay $4 to attend.

"I know a lot of people that probably wouldn't come (if it cost $4)," Glass said. "We are college students, every penny counts. Not everyone is an athlete and at times it's really tough to make it by. I know it will be really tough, but I think it will be good for the people that do decide to come."

Despite the new charge for those without the sports pass, baseball head coach Andy Lopez said fans of athletics will continue to show up and that he likes the initiative that is being taken to increase fan support.

"Obviously anything that helps the students participate is good," Lopez said. "My general feeling is that people that like athletics attend athletic events."

Lopez, who won a national championship with Pepperdine in 1992 before becoming the head coach at Florida, said sometimes there is only so much you can do to promote a sport, and ultimately it comes down to performance of the team and amount of other options the fan base has to spend its money on. He also said in terms of promoting, UA and UF were similar.

"I have been on both ends," Lopez said. "The year we won the national championship (at Pepperdine) we didn't get many to the games. Then in Gainesville we had thousands at every game. The things we do here are similar to the things we did in Gainesville."

Lopez said the fan support in Gainesville was so much greater because Pepperdine students were torn between the vast amounts of leisure options the Los Angeles area offered. As for his current squad, the product is the key.

"You would like to have a good crowd every game," Lopez said. "We have to put out a good product. If we do that, I am sure people will come."