UWRF athletics contests aimed at getting students into the bleachers

In an effort to get students more excited about UW-River Falls athletics there are a number of fun contests going on this coming weekend at home sporting events.

At 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 21, the Falcon men’s hockey team is hosting its first ever “Movember (mustache November) Game” at Hunt Arena when the Falcons play Lawrence University.

“Each team typically does a cancer awareness game,” said Assistant Athletic Director Crystal Lanning. “The men’s hockey team has done Movember and thought that this game would be a fun way to tie that in with their cancer awareness game.”

The goal of Movember, according to the Movember Foundation found on Movember.com, is to “change the face of men’s health.”

This is done by men growing out their mustaches during the month of November to raise awareness of men’s health issues such as prostate cancer. According to the website, over $559 million has been raised through the Movember campaign.

At the men’s hockey game on Friday, there will be two parts to the mustache contest. The first part is a player mustache contest where pictures of the players fake or real mustaches will be on jars and fans will have the opportunity to donate money by giving to the jar they think has the best mustache.

The second part is a fan mustache contest where three fans with the best real or fake mustaches will be brought down to the ice. Fans will cheer for their favorite mustache and that person will be given a prize. All money made at the game will be donated to the American Cancer Society.

The men’s hockey team is off to a hot 4-0 start this season.

On Saturday, Nov. 22, there will be a “Falcon Pride Super Fan Contest” for the women’s and men’s basketball home opener. The women’s team will host St. Olaf College at 3 p.m. and the men’s team will host Concordia University at 5 p.m.

Prizes will be given during each game for the best super fan. The super fan winner will be determined by who is the loudest, and who can get the most fans involved.

Earlier this year when talking about the Falcon Cup Contest, junior basketball captain Richell Mehus said a lot of times people will come to the start of the game but then leave.

“It is great to see so many people at the game but is kind of a letdown when they leave,” Mehus said.

The idea of the Falcon Pride Super Fan Contest is to get people to the games and excited about Falcon basketball so they will want to keep coming back all season long. The men’s team already hosted a red vs. white team scrimmage with a dunk contest and a youth basketball player’s lighting contest earlier this year to get people excited about the season. The event had a good turnout for being the first one the team has tried and both teams are hoping for a strong turnout Saturday.

Both basketball teams have just started their seasons with men at 0-2 and the women at 2-1.

For more information on the Movember game or on the Falcon Pride Super Fan Contest go to uwrfsports.com.