Both attending more games and arriving early to events will earn students prizes from Athletics and from the Undergraduate Government of BC. These rewards are already materializing: Students who arrive early to the men's hockey game against Merrimack will have the chance to win a flight, ticket, and accommodations for the upcoming football match against Clemson.
Though the new rewards program is just now coming to fruition, research for the project began more than eight months ago.
From the very beginning, the developers of the program knew that students had to be involved in the process.
"We realized immediately that this had to be for the students and by the students," Di Loreto said.
For this reason, a variety of student groups were involved in offering their opinions and feedback on how the system should work.
"We started partnering with UGBC trying to find ways to get students to come to games, and the reward system started to fit right in," Di Loreto said. "We're meeting as a committee every Monday and reviewing our information. Representatives from the student government, BCRC, the band, and The Heights are involved to help us get the bigger picture, and we're going to continue to have priorities based on game atmosphere and traditions."
Officials from Athletics and the Alumni Association were also consulted, resulting in a wealth of valuable feedback.
BC Athletics has no intention, however, of leaving the system as is; the program is only in the first phase of a three- to five- year plan.
"This is a test year for us; we didn't want to overextend ourselves. For year one, we wanted to work out the kinks and make sure it works. We want to give students the opportunity to go to two-thirds of the games and for seniors, if they go to all their games, the chance of getting season tickets after graduation as a way to carry that over," Di Loreto said.
Athletics also intends to extend the system's reach into the realm of Olympic sports in an attempt to increase the attendance and enthusiasm at games with smaller turnouts. Eventually, the rewards system may encompass a wider range of sports, with attendance at soccer games and swim meets counting toward students' accumulated points.
"We also need to continue to look into technology such as card scanners," Di Loreto said.
With the current system, students that give their tickets away will still be rewarded points for attendance. A scanning system that incorporates students' Eagle cards will allow individuals, rather than package-holders, to be rewarded for the games they attend.
Regardless of how the reward system develops in the future, student feedback will always be welcome.
Di Loreto said, "I'd like it to be seen as something from the students, by the students, and that the students are satisfied that the system is fair."
Spring Break
