Tropical Thursday is upon us, and with the latest shift in Victorian weather it’s not a moment too soon.
Attempting to generate support for the Camosun Chargers men’s and women’s volleyball teams, students in the sports management program at Interurban are organizing the first of several events over the 2011-2012 school year.
Caleigh Hunter, a first-year student in sports management, says the intent of Tropical Thursday is to get students to attend who aren’t necessarily volleyball or even sports fans.
“That’s kind of our goal,” says Hunter, “to get people to support the students in a sport that maybe they don’t know a lot about.”
Hunter says it’s difficult to generate support for the school’s sports teams because Camosun is such a small college and the campuses and students are so spread apart.
So when she and her fellow students were brainstorming ways to get people in the door, they agreed that prizes were the way to do it.
Tropical Thursday will feature all manner of prizes, from small sports items, to golf packages, to prizes awarded for best tropical costume. There will even be a 50/50 raffle—the proceeds of which will be going to local grassroots charity organization Kidsport BC.
“It was kind of a collective decision,” says Hunter. “We wanted something that was true to us, so we decided that that was the best route to go for our charity. Kidsport is awesome with all the work that they do.”
With the growing awareness of global issues, Hunter believes that charity will be a major component of any sports manager’s job.
“We’re seeing that now in lots of businesses,” says Hunter. “They’re collaborating with charities or doing fundraisers for charity groups. Touching base with that at an early stage in our education is a good idea.”
Tropical Thursday
Pacific Institute for Sport Excellence (at Interurban campus)
6 pm (women), 7:45 pm (men), October 13
$6 for adults
$4 for youth 13-17
free for students and children under 12