Fan the Fire, a school spirit initiative that brought 800 fans to Tufts men's and women's soccer games at its first event in September, will return tomorrow with giveaways and free food during a men's and women's basketball doubleheader in Cousens Gym.
September's event quadrupled the usual turnout for a day of Tufts sports when the football team isn't playing, and it is expected to have an even greater impact on Tufts' basketball games, according to Fan the Fire organizer Melissa Burke (LA '11). At the first event, the free "Fan the Fire" T-shirts and complimentary confections went so quickly that latecomers were given vouchers to receive a free t-shirt at a later time.
The first Fan the Fire event featured the relationship forged through Team Impact — a New England-based non-profit with multiple Tufts alumni on its board — between the women's soccer team and Joli Vega, a young girl who lost an eye to retinoblastoma.
This weekend, the highlighted organization will be more familiar to Tufts students, as event organizers will be teaming up with Relay for Life, which last year raised over $115,000 for cancer research with their all-night walk in the Gantcher Center.
"We're excited to have Relay for Life," said Burke, who graduated from Tufts last year and who is co-organizing the event with Relay for Life's Amanda Borow.
"Relay is an on-campus organization that has a huge student following. We should be able to reach out to a whole group of students that we weren't able to reach with our first event."
The action kicks off with the 6-2 men's basketball team playing No. 7 MIT at 2 p.m. The Jumbos hope to rebound from a devastating loss in overtime Tuesday night to Plymouth State with their first home win of the season.
The team has been struggling to draw fans after three years in the NESCAC basement, but is hopeful that Fan the Fire can raise the energy level in Cousens Gym. Last year, the Zeta Psi fraternity addressed the issue by holding a pre-game party to bring fans to the Senior Day bout with Bates; the team pulled out an exciting 66-62 victory that edged them into the No. 5 seed in the NESCAC Tournament.
The 6-2 women's basketball team hasn't dropped a game since their opening weekend at the Williams Tip-Off Tournament, winning six in a row dating back to Nov. 20. The Jumbos are hoping to follow Tuesday's 39-point thrashing of Emerson in similar blowout fashion in front of the Fan the Fire crowd. The women's basketball team will be facing off against non-conference foe Bridgewater State after the men's game, at 4 p.m.
The players are excited for a boost during the fall's non-conference slate when turnout, historically, is low.
"I think this is great. I went to the fall one, and it seemed like a lot more people were there," said junior Scott Anderson, a forward on the men's team. "We're all looking forward to it. The game against MIT should be good, and we're expecting to have a lot more fans there which will help."
There will be hot dogs, popcorn and other giveaways available all afternoon on Saturday, Burke said. After running low on supplies during the September event, the Fan the Fire crew has worked to secure more food and t-shirts for Saturday's games.
Students can also enter raffles to win a variety of prizes, including two Kindle Fires, a Tufts hoodie and gift cards to J.P. Licks and Flatbread Pizza.
Relay for Life will have a booth set up where students can sign up or donate to their event, which will take place the night of April 12, 2012.
Both teams are actively rebuilding and look forward to playing before a packed Cousens Gymnasium this Saturday.
