By Mikenna Barcelona, Staff Writer
Newman University’s Student Government Association is teaming up with Friends University’s student government for a bubble soccer event that will happen at Friends University’s football stadium.
The event will happen from 6 to 8 p.m. on April 19. Only students who RSVP in advance using a QR code on the Newman University Student Government Facebook or Instagram pages will be able to play. Anyone can come to watch.
SGA President Alondra Valle said she got the idea for the event after she saw Newman post a “Throwback Thursday” photo that featured students participating in bubble soccer.
“I saw a comment saying to bring it back, and I thought, ‘If the students want it, I’ll make it happen.’”
Director of Student Activities Joshua Prilliman said that SGA tried to get in contact with a local company that rents out bubble soccer equipment but found that it no longer existed.
“When we realized the company didn’t exist, then we were like, ‘Alright, let’s just get our own equipment, and we'll make this happen,’” Prilliman said.
Toward the end of fall semester, SGA became concerned that student athletes would not be able to participate because basketball season was starting up and spring sports season was around the corner. They did not want athletes to risk getting hurt playing bubble soccer.
But at that point, they’d already bought the equipment, so they decided to make the event happen.
The idea came to get Friends University’s SGA involved, which would create a different competitive environment. Prilliman said that years ago, there was always a little rivalry between Friends and Newman called “The War on 54,” a reference to the fact that Kellogg, or Highway 54, physically separates the two schools.
Valle got in contact with Friends, which agreed to participate. Prilliman said that he and Valle will see how this event goes and decide whether to do it again.
“The goal is to make it more consistent,” he said. “If students want to do it and have fun, we’re there for it. We’ll find a way to make it happen.”
PHOTO: Courtesy photo, Unsplash
