Georgia Gwinnett College has an Alma Mater, a mascot, and mission and vision statements. But it hasn't ever had a fight song.

That will change this Saturday, Oct. 20 when a song inspired by members of the GGC community debuts during Grizzlyfest, a GGC Homecoming, to add competitive spirit for the innovative and growing college.

Multi-talented Doug Court, assistant athletics director for facilities and operations, composed and conducted the new fight song. It was a challenge he embraced with gusto and pride. After all, Court earned a music education degree, spent eight years supervising music programs for Salvation Army operations throughout Florida, and had 15 years composing special music arrangements for high school bands and orchestras.

"The key to any successful fight song is making it easy to learn, pleasing to sing and something that can be repetitive in nature," says Court. "For GGC, I also wanted to develop a fight song that captured the school's mission and the athletic program's spirit."

The project is a collaboration from ideas submitted by students, faculty, staff and alumni to GGC's Intercollegiate Athletics Committee. It pays tribute to the college's intrepid spirit and steadfastness in competition, in hopes of inspiring Grizzlies of all kind toward achieving greatness.

It still took seven years for the song's original notes to go from paper to being performed and recorded.  

Court joined GGC's new athletic department as a volunteer, after noticing the college's athletic facilities being built in 2011 near his home in Lawrenceville. The fight song's vision came from his inaugural meeting with Associate Vice President of Athletics Dr. Darin S. Wilson.

"After that first meeting I thought it would be a really cool idea to write a fight song for this expanding college and its new athletic department," says Court. "I started sketching out some words that were suggested by others and tied them to a nice tune. It happened quickly."

The final composition was finished in 2018, in anticipation of homecoming festivities on campus. From there, Court conducted a band of 25 volunteer musicians in recording the instrumental part of the fight song this fall at Johns Creek United Methodist Church in Johns Creek, Ga.

"Really, I never thought it would get to this point. It was very exciting to hear it come to life with brass, woodwinds and percussion instruments all coming together," says the former trumpet musician.

"I feel like this school is on a mission to serve the Gwinnett County community," Court says. "This song rolls everything into one common theme: uniting our spirit and moving everyone in the same direction behind the school's leadership. That's definitely true within my view from the athletic program over the past seven years."

The song will debut on stage the afternoon of Oct. 20 on campus, complete with instruction from Court and a host of Grizzlies. After that ceremonial unveiling, there is no telling how many times it will be played in the years ahead to mark the accomplishments of the GGC community.

To see the full schedule of Grizzlyfest activities this week, visit here.