Thursday, January 10, 2019
INDIANAPOLIS – Thanks to their efforts to build community engagement around the school’s fall athletics programs, Simon Fraser University has been selected as one of 20 finalists for the NCAA Division II Award of Excellence.
The annual award honors Division II members for conducting events that exemplify any of the six Division II attributes: learning, balance, resourcefulness, sportsmanship, passion and service. A committee of athletics administrators determined this year’s finalists and the national Division II Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) will select the winner, which will be announced at the Division II business session at the NCAA Convention on Jan. 26 in Orlando, Florida.
Simon Fraser was selected for its Red Night Carnival, which was conducted around the Clan’s volleyball match against cross-border rival Western Washington on Sept. 25. Developed around the theme of “Rep The Leaf,” the athletic department’s 2018-19 hashtag, the event drew 684 fans to West Gym. It proved to be the second-most ever to watch a Simon Fraser volleyball match on Burnaby Mountain.
The event included carnival games set up around the West Gym concourse, a barbeque cooked by department coaches and athletics staff and giveaways of Rep The Leaf t-shirts and red doughnuts to attendees. Tessa May, volleyball captain and SFU SAAC member, welcomed and thanked fans for attending and a member of the volleyball team sang the Canadian national anthem. There was also a “Serve From Your Seats” contest during the break between the second and third sets in which a lucky fan won a $250 gift card.
The Simon Fraser SAAC used the event to announce its goals for the upcoming year and sold necklaces that raised $900 in support of Make A Wish BC/Yukon.
For being named a finalist, Simon Fraser will receive $500 to use towards future community engagement events. The winner of the Award of Excellence will receive $1,500 and a football game or basketball doubleheader that will be featured in the 2019-20 Division II regular-season media agreement. The runner-up will receive $1,250 and the second runner-up will receive $1,000.