Sporting events will record an increase in attendance from one important campus demographic this year – the Greeks.
The Greek Cup, a new incentive-driven program, aims to encourage members from Cal State Long Beach Greek organizations to attend sporting events through a point-based reward system.
Fraternities and sororities will earn points for going to basketball, volleyball, baseball, softball and soccer games in relation to the percentage of their members who attend.
At the end of the year, the fraternity and sorority with the most points will win a trophy, have a banner with their name hung in the Walter Pyramid for the following academic year and will receive 50 points towards their score for Greek Week, which is a week long point-based competition where fraternities and sororities raise money for a specific organization.
“There have been informal discussions about having an attendance-based competition for a long time, but it had never come to fruition until this year,” said Matthew Barserian, assistant director of marketing for athletics.
“Greeks and the athletic department have had a great relationship for many years, and it has been the mission of the athletic department to further that relationship with this Greek Cup competition,” Barserian said.
The athletic department and the Greek system created a point value based on the popularity of each sport. A highly attended sport, like men’s basketball, is worth one point, whereas a sport with lower attendance, like women’s basketball, is worth three points. The percentage of members who attend is multiplied by the designated point value, ultimately equaling points earned for the organization.
Certain games will also have half-time competitions in which Greek organizations could earn more points.
Associated Students Inc. Senator-at-Large Jamie Varela, who represents Greek organizations and is president of Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity, said that there have been similar competitions in the past, but they centered around attending a single game.
“I thought in the past there was no incentive for Greeks to participate,” Varela said. “I think this has great potential to increase participation within the Greek community.”
Caitlin Roberts, greek life coordinator, said she thinks the program has promise as well.
“I think this will be very successful,” she said. “The fraternity and sorority members enjoy cheering on the 49ers and have a lot of fun coming together as a community.”
Each fraternity and sororities’ score will be tracked on the Monson Maniacs Facebook page.
The competition runs through mid-May, and an award ceremony will be held for the winning chapters at the end of the year.
“The athletic department is extremely excited about our continued partnership with the Greeks,” Barserian said. “We know that this competition will serve as a catalyst for the future creation of ideas and continued success of the relationships between Long Beach State Athletics and our campus partners.”