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Your feel-good news for Wednesday

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* SIU’s women’s basketball team is playing Tennessee State today at the Banterra Center. This morning’s game is being played in front of thousands of elementary school students…


Good morning from Banterra Center, where the SIU women will tip off with Tennessee State at 11 a.m. in front of about 3,000 or so elementary school kids who get the day off from classes to see a Division I game.
Salukis (2-5) coming off a 115-57 rout of Chicago State Thurs. nite.

— James (Bucky) Dent (@writingump) December 7, 2022

Student arrival is in full swing as we tip at 11 am against Tennessee State. pic.twitter.com/ozJTRxMLNg

— Saluki Women's Hoops (@SIU_WBasketball) December 7, 2022

We’re excited to welcome our local elementary schools to Banterra tomorrow as we take on Tennessee State at 11 am.

Get your 🎟️ now: https://t.co/wFLZPMwz9X pic.twitter.com/w6bu3wduNC

— Saluki Women's Hoops (@SIU_WBasketball) December 6, 2022

What a cool thing to do. Plus, it may be the first time that many of these kids have been on the campus. Not a bad recruiting idea. Also, a pal texted me this earlier…

I love the idea of universities being active parts of the regional community.

More like this, please.

You can watch the game here.

…Adding… The Salukis won the game, 100-72. Great experience for those kids!…


We're loving the signs made by our area elementary students!!! #Salukis pic.twitter.com/dllFvA72vi

— Saluki Women's Hoops (@SIU_WBasketball) December 7, 2022

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Dec 7, 22 @ 10:50 am

Comments

  1. Illinois did that recently for a women’s basketball game, free to all fans, brought in a bunch of local school kids. called Field Trip Day, had over 8000 fans.

    Comment by Andersonville Right Winger Wednesday, Dec 7, 22 @ 10:55 am

  2. Go Southern Go!

    Love it.
    After they cheer the women on to victory, I hope they bring their parents back for tonight’s men’s game.

    Go Southern Go

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4-hRmsu0JU

    Comment by Michelle Flaherty Wednesday, Dec 7, 22 @ 10:57 am

  3. Representation matters. It is cool to see kids being made aware at a young age that girls can play sports too.

    Comment by Homebody Wednesday, Dec 7, 22 @ 10:57 am

  4. What a great idea.

    Comment by OneMan Wednesday, Dec 7, 22 @ 10:57 am

  5. Thanks for the nice share. Kudos the the coaches and players

    Comment by Stormsw7706 Wednesday, Dec 7, 22 @ 11:01 am

  6. Great idea. The kids get to see a game and the local campus. Hope all the public universities in the state have this on the calendar.

    Comment by Curious citizen Wednesday, Dec 7, 22 @ 11:05 am

  7. What a blast for the kids and a brilliant idea by SIU Women’s BBall.

    Comment by JS Mill Wednesday, Dec 7, 22 @ 11:11 am

  8. NIU Women’s Basketball has been having education days for a number of years, most recently on Nov. 15. Always great to have a screaming horde of elementary students. Even the in game promos happen, so with students and others with teachers

    Comment by M Python Wednesday, Dec 7, 22 @ 11:20 am

  9. That’s my alma mater. Great job Salukis bringing in so many kids to watch the game.

    Comment by Steve Rogers Wednesday, Dec 7, 22 @ 11:20 am

  10. I can’t love this enough

    It’s everything that should bridge Title IX and kids seeing Title IX in action… and likely an awesome game experience too.

    This is a winner.

    Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Dec 7, 22 @ 11:22 am

  11. EIU has been doing this for years with both their men’s and women’s basketball teams, with the most recent game on Nov. 21 (https://eiupanthers.com/galleries/mens-basketball/mens-basketball-hosts-smwc-for-kids-day/mens-basketball-hosts-smwc-for/3401/69549). In addition, the men’s basketball team also partnered with Beautiful Lives Project to allow individuals with disabilities to take part in a practice in October (https://www.wcia.com/news/local-news/beautiful-lives-project-plays-basketball-with-eiu/).

    Comment by Cubs Win Wednesday, Dec 7, 22 @ 11:25 am

  12. Go Dawgs (banned punctuation)

    Comment by So_Ill Wednesday, Dec 7, 22 @ 11:26 am

  13. Kids from the district here got to go to a Women’s game at the U of I a few weeks ago. The kids loved every part of it. I bet the kids at the SIU game will also. It is a great thing to do.

    Comment by DTownResident Wednesday, Dec 7, 22 @ 11:39 am

  14. This is great stuff. Thanks for posting this, Rich. Every other school should do this.

    Comment by McGuppin Wednesday, Dec 7, 22 @ 11:40 am

  15. Cool and brilliant thing to do. Also necessary for the future survival of the university. With the coming decline in overall enrollment our regional universities need to be creative to attract students, starting with those who live nearby. This kind of event is great way to help do that.

    Comment by Captain Obvious Wednesday, Dec 7, 22 @ 11:40 am

  16. Thanks for posting this. SIU is a wonderful school, and Carbondale is a wonderful town.

    Comment by Chicago Republican Wednesday, Dec 7, 22 @ 11:41 am

  17. If you are watching (ESPN+), SIU is up 50-27 with 1:00 to go in the first half.
    The kids are REALLY LOUD.
    What a great atmosphere for a game.

    Comment by Leigh John-Ella Wednesday, Dec 7, 22 @ 11:54 am

  18. Watching students march up the stairs reminds me of many holiday trips to the circus at the local Civic Center—capacity 4,500.

    The schools in the community brought their students to this event every year.

    This was so long ago that they had elephants, acrobats, a trapeze, clowns and the clown car, a ringmaster, and a live band from the Musicians Local.

    What a fun day for the kids.

    Comment by Rudy’s teeth Wednesday, Dec 7, 22 @ 12:05 pm

  19. Illinois State did something similar yesterday with about 6,000 attending a day game against UMSL.

    Comment by Oldtimer Wednesday, Dec 7, 22 @ 12:34 pm

  20. Old Timer. That’s great. During an SIU game break they did a Missouri Valley Women’s round up and mentioned that ISU recently set an attendance record. There are some great women’s basketball teams in The Valley.

    Comment by Michelle Flaherty Wednesday, Dec 7, 22 @ 12:45 pm

  21. It’s fantastic that all the state schools do this. I’ve got chills!

    Comment by Curious citizen Wednesday, Dec 7, 22 @ 12:59 pm

  22. Minor league sports teams have done this for years up in the NW burbs. The Windy City Bulls have done it for last couple of years, but I know the Ice Hogs and Wolves have been doing it for years (at least the last 8) . Fun experience for the kiddos

    Comment by Person 8 Wednesday, Dec 7, 22 @ 1:28 pm

  23. Very good story - but I was hoping this post would be about Oscar.

    Comment by Keyrock Wednesday, Dec 7, 22 @ 2:33 pm

  24. Very cool!

    Comment by Hot Taeks Wednesday, Dec 7, 22 @ 3:23 pm

  25. This really is a win win all the way around. Kids get a really fun field trip, the schools get more exposure in the area, and the teams get a loud, excited arena full of fans.

    Outside of great ideas like this, women’s sports can be a great value for sports fans. Growing up my family would go to U of I women’s games because the tickets were a lot cheaper, and this is back when they had pretty good teams.

    Comment by MyTwoCents Wednesday, Dec 7, 22 @ 3:46 pm

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