The Nest is a new group on the William Jewell College campus this year. It is a student organization that aims to support all athletic events. The group was formed by the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).
“The Nest was developed by SAAC with the hope to change the dynamic on campus with student attendance at sporting events. There are certain sports that always get a ton of students and others do not so, the hope was to get more people in the stands at ALL athletic events throughout the year,” said Lindsey McCoy, senior communication major, basketball player and president of SAAC.
Registration to join The Nest has already closed. The group had hoped to have 100 students join, and they exceeded this goal with 212 Jewell students signing up. Students paid a one-time fee of $30 and received a t-shirt to wear to games and around campus. Members of The Nest have incentives to attend sporting events.
“Anytime [members] go to an athletic event they check-in with a SAAC Representative and that gives them points. The more points the students accumulate individually, the more free incentives they get. Those include hats, thermos cups, t-shirts, hoodies, etc.,” said McCoy.
The Nest has been at both home football games so far this year, as well as various other men’s and women’s sporting events. The group is hopeful that they can maintain high attendance throughout the year.
“The events with the Nest have gone great so far. We have had a lot of students come to multiple athletic events for men and women’s teams this fall season. We all hope that will continue as we move into the winter season sports,” said McCoy.
The Nest aims to support athletics but also provides benefits for students attending sporting events. Because of this, the group finds it important to maintain desirable incentives for its members.
“The Nest plans to grow by adding in potential partnerships with different organizations on campus so that students can get more free gear or prizes for attending events. We are staying active on campus through social media posts to help get the word out about events coming up that Nest members can attend,” said McCoy.
For more updates on The Nest, follow SAAC on Twitter, @saacwjc.
Photo courtesy of William Jewell College.