Shelby Bradley | Sports Co-Editor

The Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) hosted its first annual kick-off event for all athletes on Thursday, Sept 15. SAAC, led by President Jasmine Demers, had various fun activities for each of the teams and their coaches to do. Activities consisted of Rock Paper Scissors Entourage, Tug of War, and a Coaches Pie Eating Contest.

The Rock, Paper, Scissors Entourage consisted of individual athletes facing off in a head-to-head challenge of Rock, Paper, Scissors. The winners advanced while the loser then became a cheerleader for the person they just lost to. As athletes continued to win, they continued to build a crowd cheering them on. By the end of the event, there were two athletes facing off with the entire crowd split in half cheering each of them on.

Junior baseball player, Tyler Vorrie, was the winner of this challenge.

For the Tug of War activity, each team selected 10 of its athletes to compete against another sports team. The softball team was the winner of this activity and received a Tug of War trophy along with bragging rights.

In the pie eating contest one coach from each team competed against each other to see who could eat a full pie the fastest. The assistant women’s soccer coach, Kyle King, was the winner of this challenge.

“As the teams were competing, it was cool to see everyone else cheering them on. I think this was a good step towards our goal of integrating all sports teams to support each other and become one,” Demers said.

Demers also noted that SAAC will continue to host the annual kick-off event in hopes of it becoming a tradition for athletes and coaches to look forward to each fall.

“We thought it was a great event to get a majority of the athletes on campus together and have some fun. We were extremely excited about the turnout and hopefully it continues to grow while also growing our SAAC group on campus,” Vice President Tanner Heckt said.

Photo courtesy: Kelsey Ackerman