With the COVID-19 pandemic still going on, it came as no surprise that Longwood’s beloved fall tradition, The G.A.M.E (Greatest Athletic March Ever) would not be occurring at its normal August date. However, that did not make it any less painful. The G.A.M.E. has become a staple at Longwood so not having it this fall is taking some getting used to for students.
Director of Student Activities Susan Sullivan spoke on the importance of The G.A.M.E. and the impact of it not occurring this semester. “It’s about intercollegiate athletics, it’s about Division I sports and seeing what that’s all about, and rallying around our team.” Sullivan announced that The G.A.M.E. would be rescheduled to the spring, saying, “God-willing, we’ll have some spring sports. So we can still replicate that event, either with a softball or a baseball game. We’re trying our best to keep our traditions alive.”
Sullivan stated that the event would be called “The Final Friday Bash” instead of the usual “First Friday Back” to maintain the same feel. An important part of The G.A.M.E. involves Longwood students receiving the scarf that had been designed for that year to add to their collection. Sullivan made sure to mention that scarves will still be a part of The G.A.M.E. in the spring. “We will still give out the scarves. We will try to do as much as we have done in the past in the spring.”
No one knows just how long the pandemic will last, but Sullivan is remaining optimistic. “There’s going to have to be a lot of hard decisions. If we are able to have it outside, we will have to follow all of the same protocols we’re following now. If we’re not able to have it, do we still give out the scarves? I don’t know. The committee will start to get back together some time in October to start planning. Once we get back in January, we’ll probably have a better picture of what the spring will look like and if there are going to be intercollegiate athletics and if so, how we can manage a crowd of 1,000 people safely.”
While no one knows how things will be with COVID-19 in the spring just yet, Sullivan did announce a preemptive date for The G.A.M.E. in order to give students something to look forward to. She said to mark calendars for late April. “We’re looking at either Friday April 23, or Saturday April 24, depending on what games are held and what makes the most sense.”
Lancers encourage the women's soccer team from the hill, holding their scarves proudly in the Fall 2019 semester.
