On Tuesday, Feb. 11, the Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) will team up with the Eastern Michigan University Athletic Department to host Jock Jamz at 7 p.m., inside Pease Auditorium.
The doors will open at 6:30 p.m., where attendees will have the opportunity to sign up for raffles featuring prizes from sponsors Tim Horton’s, Buffalo Wild Wings and ShopEMUEagles.com.
Tickets for students cost $3 with a valid EMU identification card and $5 for non-students.
Every team with the exception of men’s golf (Competing at the Mid-American Conference Match Play that day) will be represented at the competition.
Each sport will have 4-7 minutes to dance to a pre-determined song of their choice and the goal is to gain as much applause as possible from the audience.
The participants will be judged on creativity, costume and overall excitement.
SAAC President and EMU swimmer Dan Proctor is looking forward to being a part of organizing Jock Jamz after not having one last year due to lack of motivation.
“The reason for not having the event last year because poor planning and initiative from past SAAC leadership,“ Proctor said. “I am looking forward to bringing the event back this year.”
The football team comes into this year as the defending champions from the event held on Feb. 2, 2012 inside the Convocation Center.
EMU baseball player Nick Rotola sees the event as a way for the athletes to simply have fun.
“It’s not really about impressing people with your dancing, but as much about embarrassing yourself,” Rotola said. “It’s going to be really embarrassing, but funny to watch.”
Rotola also talked how the Jock Jamz concept is similar to the “Eagles Unite” campaign that was launched this season, where athletes from all sports would converge to one event to cheer on fellow student-athletes.
“We really want to express togetherness amongst all of the athletes on campus,” Rotola said. “It is also an opportunity to bring all of the students at Eastern Michigan University closer with this event and show that we are one.”
Proceeds from the event will go to the Ypsilanti Community Schools Foundation, which aims to advance the promise of success for all students through the generation and distribution of resources to be used to enrich teaching, inspire learning, promote excellence in education and reward dedication to these tenets through grants and scholarships.
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