“Everybody get up and do the Space Jam.”
Many college students knows these lyrics by heart and students will get to watch “Space Jam” on at 7:30 p.m. Sunday on Kyle Field in a free viewing hosted by Aggie athletes and the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, SAAC.
The gates will open at 5 p.m. with various activities for students to partake in and students are encouraged to bring blankets to sit on the field while watching movie, broadcast on the Jumbotron.
“The whole goal of SAAC and really of this event is to bridge the gap between students and athletes,” said soccer player Nora Skelton, senior university studies major and member of SAAC. “We really want to show our appreciation for the community. It’s a way for us to say ‘Thank you’ for coming out and supporting us year round”.
SAAC hosted the first ever Film on the Field last year when hundreds of students showed up to watch “The Blindside.”
Golfer Janell Lysack, junior sports management major and president of SAAC, said student athletes had wanted to interact more with students.
“This idea had actually been floating around for eight years,” Lysack said. “We wanted to do something for the fans, so last year our executive team decided to put it in motion.”
This event is open to the entire Bryan-College Station community and will offer $1 concessions. From 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., athletes from the baseball, basketball, soccer and football teams will be on hand to do speed pitch, basketball shooting, football throwing and poster signing. Participants can enter their names into a free raffle with the chance to win a football signed by potential future NFL draft picks from A&M, including Ryan Swope.
Representatives from SAAC began polling students this semester as to which movie they would like to see. “Space Jam”, the 1996 film starring NBA legend Michael Jordan, was selected out of a possible six options.
“We wanted the students to select the movie,” Janell said. “The SAAC executive committee went around to about 40-50 different campus organizations and in each of our classes and asked students what they wanted to see. When the results came back, the hands-down winner was ‘Space Jam’.”
Swimmer and senior kinesiology major Allyson Sweeney said this is her first year participating and she is excited for the event.
“It will be a great opportunity for athletes to hang out with students and the community that showed us so much support,” Sweeney said.