Blue Jay Rewards, a program that incentivizes students to attend varsity athletic events, launched on Sept. 3. Students can accumulate JPoints by swiping their J-Cards at designated home games to earn prizes.
Headed by Assistant Athletic Director Kelsie Gory, the Blue Jay Rewards program aims to increase attendance and participation at athletic events.
“The athletic department has been considering putting a loyalty program into place for several years now. Over the summer myself and a few other athletic department staff members worked hard to make the program a reality for the 2014-15 season,” Gory wrote in an email to The News-Letter.
Prizes will include free admission to NCAA championship games, coupons redeemable at Eddie’s Market, game-worn jerseys, Barnes & Noble gift cards and a signed men’s lacrosse helmet.
The student who accumulates the most JPoints through Nov. 15 will receive two sideline tickets for the men’s lacrosse game against Rutgers, which will be the first Big Ten game hosted at Hopkins this season.
The student who has the most JPoints by Feb. 21 will receive two sideline tickets for the homecoming game against the University of Maryland.
“The points accumulate throughout the entire year. Once you hit a point level you will receive that prize and continue to earn points towards the next rewards. So when you hit 20 points, you will win the prize and retain your 20 points to reach the next level at 35,” Gory wrote.
Blue Jay Rewards kicked off at the women’s soccer game against Messiah College, which was the first athletic event of the year. There were 450 fans at the event, which set a record for attendance at a women’s soccer game.
“I was at the women’s game last week supporting them after our practice, and there was an insane number of people,” Samy Ramadane, a men’s varsity soccer player, said. “I know that if I was playing in front of that big of a crowd it definitely would have motivated me and given me more energy. It gets the blood pumping, and it also really is intimidating to other teams.”
Gory also highlighted the positive impact that bigger crowds have on the varsity athletic teams.
“Blue Jay Rewards will have a great impact on the student-athletes’ experience here at Hopkins,” Gory wrote. “Our student-athletes love playing in front of crowds, especially a crowd of their peers who care about Hopkins. We have tremendous athletic teams here at Hopkins and our teams will only get better as more and more students come out and support them.”
Many athletes expressed their excitement about the program.
“I think that by starting this initiative and giving the students [an] incentive to come out, people will start to see how awesome the games are, and it will improve the atmosphere and make it even more fun. So hopefully then word will get out, and it will become a cycle,” Ramadane said.
Varsity women’s soccer player Issy Berkey was pleased with the turnout at the game against Messiah and is very supportive of the program.
“It gives us athletes so much more confidence when we have a larger support team behind us, so the more fans the better,” Berkey said.
Field hockey player Austin Davis said she hopes the Blue Jay Rewards system will increase school spirit outside of the lacrosse season.
“I think in general school spirit could be higher,” Davis said. “People seem to be a little more proud of the academics at Hopkins than the athletics, with the exception of men’s lacrosse, which isn’t necessarily a problem [since] academics are the primary reason we’re here. With that being said, supporting athletics is a great way to come together as more of a united community.”
Sophomore Katie Rubery said that although she enjoys attending athletic games, she has been underwhelmed by student attendance in the past.
“It’s a shame to show up to athletic events where regardless of the team’s ability, the turnout is less than you would see at a high school game,” Rubery said.
Gory wrote that she hopes the Blue Jay Rewards program will create a cultural shift at Hopkins.
“Blue Jay Rewards is important to the Johns Hopkins community because it will help connect our student body to one another and provide a better college experience,” Gory wrote. “With Blue Jay Rewards the student section will become one of the best places to meet new friends, get crazy and loud, and just have fun. With such a rigorous academic schedule, our athletic events will be a great outlet for our students to relax or take a break from studying for a few hours.”
This initiative has been widely publicized on both Facebook and Twitter. Blue Jay Rewards has pages on both platforms, and students are encouraged to use the hashtag #packthenest when they attend games.
