Spirit of Sport returns

Spirit of Sport, an annual event sponsored by the IU Division of Recreational Sports, will start today at 5 p.m. in the Health, Physical Education and Recreation's Wildermuth Gymnasium, going until 5 a.m. The event is designed to raise money for Indiana Special Olympics. \nThis year's Spirit of Sport marks the 25th year of the event, said senior Lauren Naset, director of volunteers. She said Spirit of Sport did not run last year because of lack of available administrative help among the division.\n"Last year, my position was actually vacant," said Christine Geary, assistant director of special events for Recreational Sports. \nThe decision to not run Spirit of Sport last year, Geary said, was a tough decision because the event is an IU tradition. Without sufficient leadership and funding, the division decided to not run the event.\nGeary started her position in July, and she said planning this year's Spirit of Sport was an important part of her agenda because of the 25th anniversary.\n"The division is very committed to the event," Geary said. "They are glad that we are bringing it back, especially in this, its 25th year."\nGeary said the mission of the event is three-fold: showcase opportunities in Recreational Sports, provide campus leadership chances and raise money for the Indiana Special Olympics.\nThe event is expected to raise between $10,000 and $18,000 this year, Geary said. About $8,000 is already collected from programs during the year to raise money for the event, including residence hall donations and greek "miss-a-meal" programs. This sum does not include tournament registration fees already collected, Geary said.\nNaset said the event is also sponsored by businesses, community organizations and campus groups from all areas of student life.\n"It brings together all sorts of different students in a sporting event that is not completely competitive," Naset said.\nThe evening's events start at 5 p.m. with the Unified Games and family activities. The Unified Games include tournament sports and activities that include members of the Hoosier Partners for Special Olympics and the Greek Partners for Special Olympics. Both groups include participants from the Indiana Special Olympics and in the opening ceremonies, which begin at 7 p.m., Naset said.\nIndividual sports and activities begin at 8 p.m. and run until 3 a.m. Any student of faculty member with a valid ID can participate, Naset said.\nWhile tournament participants were expected to register by Feb. 2, students and faculty are invited to participate in individual activities and classes available throughout the night, Geary said. Music, karaoke and entertainment will be available during the evening.\nInformation booths will be spread throughout the gymnasium, representing the different areas of Recreational Sports, Naset said.\nSenior Emily Butwin, president of the equestrian team, said the team will have an information booth with people to answer questions about the club and its competitions.\n"Most people don't even know that IU has an equestrian sport and that we compete intercollegiately as one of the most active clubs in the campus' club sports division," Butwin said. "We will have a TV set up with a video recording of one of our recent competitions so that people can observe the way an intercollegiate show is organized."\nDonations to the Indiana Special Olympics are also welcome any time throughout the night, Naset said.\n"The publicity is great, but the most important thing is that we are helping disadvantaged kids reach victory goals too," Butwin said. "To them, a sport is not always just an extracurricular activity. SOS is important to the community because it bring all kinds of people together, people who are usually separated by club, race, gender, or disability. In a sport all these people are on the same level"