Student-Athlete Advisory Comm. | 02/04/2016

Blazer Bowl Standings | CSB SAAC Home Page

ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – The College of Saint Benedict student-athletes are taking competition to a new level in 2015-16. Throughout the year, Blazer athletes will be competing against each other to determine who will be crowned the first ever Blazer Bowl Champions.

The Blazer Bowl is a yearlong, SAAC-sponsored school spirit competition between each sport team. SAAC is an organization that has been designed to serve as the voice of student-athletes and to form strong relationships between CSB athletics, the institution and the surrounding community.

Annie Dittberner, junior basketball player and head of the Blazer Bowl, has been working with other members of SAAC to collaborate ideas and implement a system to encourage support for Blazer athletics.

"It's all about the camaraderie," Dittberner said. "Knowing that Blazer athletes from other sports are willing to support you and your teammates in such an expressive and encouraging way is really fun to be a part of."

Through the Blazer Bowl, SAAC president, CSB senior Rachel Raden, and her co-officer, CSB junior Maddie Rainey, were able to achieve two major goals.

"Two of the goals Maddie and I established for this year were to create a stronger community between student-athletes, and to increase support of Saint Ben's athletics around campus and within the community," said Raden, a member of the Blazer tennis team. "We strive to gain support across the board, and we decided to start by focusing on increasing Blazer-to-Blazer support."

The Blazer Bowl competition is judged using a point-based system. Each CSB athletic team can earn points by attending other Blazer athletic or SAAC events. Wearing spirit attire, creating signs and having the largest percent of your team in attendance will all earn extra points.
 

"The Blazer Bowl gives student-athletes an incentive and a reason to get decked out, make some creative posters and go cheer on fellow Blazer athletes. We hoped that by making it a contest, we could kind of capitalize on the natural competitiveness that most athletes possess," Raden said.

Dittberner has noticed that the Blazer Bowl has not only changed the quantity of fan support, but also the quality.

"The Blazer Bowl has increased fan participation at almost every Blazer athletic event. Not only do our teams have more student fans at their athletic competitions, but they also have an engaged group of students that are interested in supporting one another."

So who is the team to beat in this year's Blazer Bowl?

"The softball team always has the best outfits, and they are leading the Blazer Bowl in points. They usually wear their full get up — jerseys, face-paint, hats, you name it. It's really impressive, actually," Dittberner said.

While the Blazer Bowl competition is geared towards athletes, Raden and Ditterner hope that all of the student body join in and support their fellow classmates.
"I think that there has been a relatively noticeable change in non-athlete fan involvement since the beginning of the Blazer Bowl," Dittberner said. "We encourage all students to attend CSB sporting events, and the Blazer Bowl is one of the ways to do that."

If you're looking for ways to get involved and support Blazer athletics, check out the Blazer Athletics webpage for upcoming events and game schedules.