This Friday the Multi-Sport Field will be transformed into what might appear to be a campground. Blue-topped tents and tarps will line the field, a stage will be constructed on the south end and banners will hang from every inch of the field’s walls. From 8 p.m. Friday to 8 a.m. Saturday morning almost 2,000 students will spend their night on the field participating in a gigantic relay.
This is the second year that Georgetown has hosted Relay for Life. Last year’s event was held in the same place, and raised almost $300,000—the most of all rookie events and the second-most in the country.
This year even more students are signed up—the Relay for Life coordinators have set a goal of half a million dollars, and we have already surpassed last year’s $300,000 and are currently the top-raising event in the country.
A number of Georgetown’s sports teams have joined on relay teams, including club basketball, field hockey, lacrosse, ice hockey, soccer, volleyball, and water polo, along with varsity men’s soccer, swimming, men’s and women’s crew, football and cheerleading.
Those six teams are currently in their off-seasons, but two spring teams, baseball and softball, have also signed up to Relay, and their fundraising skills put several teams to shame. The baseball team has 12 participants and has raised 97 percent of its $5000 goal. The softball girls created two teams, which together have 16 participants and have raised nearly $3220. While in-season, these teams have put forth a great effort to show their support for the event.
On campus, athletes make up a significant number of students—one in 10 Georgetown students participate in a varsity sport. The most competitive and successful teams, such as men’s and women’s lacrosse and men’s basketball are certainly visible on the Hilltop as campus pseudo-celebrities. It is comforting to think that instead of just sticking to sports, many of our Hoya athletes are actually participating in the same community events as the rest of us. It’s good to know that for a large majority of the athletes on campus, life doesn’t stop at sports. While sports do take up a large part of their life, responsibility to Georgetown and the community at large takes up more.
