As the West Virginia University Mountaineer football team opened their 2019-2020 season on August 31 against FCS powerhouse James Madison, fans could feel the excitement in the air. However, even before kick-off, fans were treated to Gold and Blue-style entertainment, with a focus on family fun.
The College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences partnered with WVU Athletics and USA Football to host Youth Sports and Spirit Day during pre-game activities held at the Caperton Indoor Facility, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. The festivities took place during the Chick-fil-A Kids Zone event and were organized by Kristen Dieffenbach, athletic coaching education associate professor, with the help of graduate assistants Christina Villalon and Maggie Roberts. They estimate that 150-200 kids took part in event’s first year.
The WVU ticketing office partnered with IMG Learfield Ticket Solutions to develop family-friendly entertainment to offset slowly declining attendance at college football games. Their goal was to get the community and fans involved to improve the overall quality of the game experience.
Lee Harris, WVU’s general manager, IMG Learfield ticket solutions, played an instrumental role in the initial setup of the program. “By building out and facilitating events like this, our goal is to make the fan experience bigger than simply attending a football game,” Harris said.
CPASS faculty and student volunteers connected with WVU Athletics to provide program planning strategy. Approximately 15 students from the PETE, ACE and SEP programs participated representing undergraduate, masters and doctoral programs, respectively.
CPASS students who helped include Sofia Espana Perez, JH Han, Ryan Joerger, Kyle Davison, Brian Houk, Katie McGahagan, Connor Olsen, Jake Krellin, Bailey Prewitt, Stephanie Rexroad, Mariia Dmitrieva, Nicholas Hulton, Quintin Thompson, Hunter Armstrong and Zackary Windsor.
The two second-year doctoral students, Roberts and Villalon, were responsible for program activity planning, oversaw set up and tear down and worked with the various student coaches at each station to provide teaching feedback throughout the event. Their leadership ensured success.
“Helping to organize this program was a little difficult to plan initially because we were not sure what the overall environment was going to look like, but it ended up going very well. We received a lot of compliments. The student volunteers were phenomenal in their ability to engage the children and adapt as we adjusted throughout the day to better serve the needs of the participants and the space,” Villalon said.
According to Villalon, the group held a post-event debriefing, reflecting on their efforts. “We look forward to making some minor adjustments to further improve the experience for both the children and our CPASS students for the next time,” she added.
From a programmatic standpoint, Roberts says the students’ involvement was a worthwhile opportunity to get real-life, hands-on experience. “CPASS students worked with kids in a community setting. They shared what they are learning about practice sport training activities that are age appropriate, designed to support skill development and promote physical activity and, most importantly, physical literacy. This was a great opportunity to connect with parents and the community. It was an exhilarating experience for everyone involved,” Roberts said.
Youth Sports Day featured physical activities such as an obstacle course, agility ladders, baby hurdles, quarterback toss, various drills, wide receiver route tree and flag tag. The activities were based on USA Football’s youth-focused First Down program. USA Football provided a program kit in support of the event.
The Chick-Fil-A Kids Zone pre-game interactive fan entertainment included inflatable interactive games and balloon animals. There were appearances by the WVU spirit squads.
Roberts says the Youth Sports Day exceeded expectations. “It was a fantastic experience for the community and those involved. We are looking forward to working with both WVU Athletics and USA Football for future events for a beneficial cause,” she added.