Shippensburg University athletes stepped out of the stadium and onto the stage, showing that jocks can be stars too.
The Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) hosted the annual Athlete’s Got Talent event to raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation on Monday evening in Memorial Auditorium.
Athlete’s Got Talent is a lip-sync and dance battle between all SU athletic teams. This year’s theme was summer hits of the 2000s, including throwbacks by Kanye West and Fergie.
“It is a great time for all the athletes to get together and laugh at each other. It also breaks some stereotypes of certain teams,” said Cole Nissley, a junior on SU’s track-and-field team.
Spectators could purchase tickets, which were $3 for five voting tickets and one raffle and $5 for an arm’s length.
There were raffles going on throughout the event for SU athletic banners, water bottles and apparel such as hats, sweatshirts and T-shirts.
Fifteen acts were performed, with each sports team at SU participating.
The winner was decided by the amount of tickets each team received at the end of the event.
The event raised a total of $1,153, surpassing the $1,000 goal for the event.
SAAC’s goal is to raise enough money to grant a wish for a child. SAAC needs to raise $5,000 — $7,000 in order to grant a wish this year.
SAAC raised enough money last year to grant a child’s wish because of events such as Athlete’s Got Talent.
“SAAC is a great leadership opportunity. It’s a lot of work, but totally worth it,” said SAAC committee co-chair Julia Wise.
Women’s softball team members Micaela Ghanayem, Emily Zaring, Meghan Klee, Maddie McConnell, Addy Szczerba and Kendall Geis danced to the song “Tootsie Roll” by 69 Boyz.
The team members said they practiced for five hours on their routine and were very confident they would win.
“I’ve learned a lot of networking skills from being in SAAC,” SAAC President Tyler Clisham said.
According to Clisham, there are 40 members and two advisers from each sport on campus involved in SAAC.
Clisham said there will be other fundraising events going on throughout the rest of the semester to raise the funding to grant another wish.
The women’s volleyball team came in third while the women’s track-and-field team came in second. The winner of the event was the softball team with approximately 650 votes.
Look out for SAAC collecting money at different sporting events and its other events this year.
The Slate welcomes thoughtful discussion on all of our stories, but please keep comments civil and on-topic. Read our full guidelines here.