ATLANTA – West Florida has been selected as the inaugural recipient of Division II's Game Environment Award of Excellence, a competition established last year to incite institutions to promote civility, sportsmanship and a family-friendly atmosphere at their athletics contests.

West Florida, which receives a $500 grant that may be applied to future game-environment initiatives, also was selected as its conference winner (Gulf South Conference). In all, 10 conference winners were named in the award's first year.

West Florida was recognized for its "Argonaut Spirit Challenge," a promotion that awards student organizations on campus with prizes for the groups that showed the most school spirit over a span of six basketball double-headers.

The effort was relevant to the Division II game-environment effort, since part of the purpose is to engage other campus groups to support athletics in a sportsmanlike manner.

West Florida officials judged the "challenge" based on the percentage of the organization's roster to attend and the type of spirit (both in wardrobe and in voice) they added to the game environment. Points could be deducted in fact if the cheering was negative.

"This competition has made a tremendous impact on our game environment," said Athletics Director Dave Scott. "We had more fans attend our games, especially students who otherwise may not have come to the game. The promotion helped entice the student groups to come out to the basketball games and support the teams."

Scott said attendance increased by an average of 175 spectators for each of the six games during the promotion. The effort was so successful that the school is doing it again during this year's basketball season. "We even did a ‘Diet Spirit Challenge' this fall on a smaller scale that centered on a volleyball game and a soccer double-header," he said.

Innovative ideas

The game-environment award has sparked a number of innovative ideas in addition to the one at West Florida.

The athletics department at Shippensburg staged a "Jam the Gym" effort for a men's and women's basketball doubleheader last year. School reps promoted the event within the community and in nearby secondary schools, offering reduced admission for everyone and free T-shirts to the first 2,000 fans. Promotions during timeouts and halftime also got the crowd involved.

"The reaction from the community, student-athletes, coaches and others was extremely positive,' said Jeff Michaels, the acting AD at the school. "This activity brought awareness to the type of environment that should be prevalent at all competitions and helped to set the stage for many activities that are conducted at most of our current sporting events.

The "Javelina Tailgate Extravaganza" had a similar effect at Texas A&M-Kingsville. The Javelinas' season-long effort not only encouraged pregame family-oriented fun, entertainment and a positive game environment but also community involvement and engagement. 

The school focused on the seven home football games in 2009 and engaged members of the community, families, current students, parents of current students, alumni, faculty, staff, student organizations and student-athlete alumni. Each of the seven home game tailgates marketed to a specific theme.

At Emporia State, student-athletes put their commitment to game environment in writing, creating a "Sportsmanship Creed" that turns the Hornets' mascot into an acronym:

• Honor
• Outstanding
• Respect
• Nobility
• Enthusiasm
• Teamwork
• Support

Similarly, Limestone student-athletes and fans signed a sportsmanship pledge written by its Student-Athlete Advisory Committee president Lauryn Wise:

"We're proud to bleed Gold and Blue. But we will treat players, coaches and officials with respect. We will encourage and be positive for our team, but that doesn't mean being negative toward the other team or visitors. Respect – it's the name of the game. We are Limestone."

Meanwhile, Concordia-St. Paul showed its game-environment spirit by recognizing the armed forces during the home football opener against Winona State. Fans were able to interact with military personnel and veterans in pregame activities, and the ceremony included a flyover of World War II airplanes.

"The lengths schools went to in the game-environment effort should be inspiring to all of Division II," said Division II Vice President Mike Racy. "The creativity they showed was one thing, but in the end all the participants showed that they understood what staging a positive, family-friendly game environment is all about."

The competition already has begun for the 2010 Award of Excellence. For more on the Division II game environment effort, see the Division II game environment Web site, which includes information on the game-environment recognition program.