BYU is reimagining football rivalries off the field
An open bed truck, brats on a grill, some cornhole.
The scene is similar on college campuses across America. But for a growing group of Cougars fans and their rivals, the tailgating ritual has come to include donations of used books, cans of food, toys, socks, gloves and other goods given to local communities in need. For several years now, during away games, a service initiative, “Cougs Care,” has become a regular part of BYU’s away game routine. BYU Alumni organizers call it a small expression of appreciation for the rival host’s hospitality.
In a day when expletives and jeers are sometimes shouted at opposing teams, this kind of goodwill has started attracting some attention — garnering a growing list of local headlines — and catching on with other teams. This Saturday in northeastern Oklahoma, fans will gather at BYU’s tailgate to join forces with Catholic Charities of Eastern Oklahoma to collect athletic balls (also purchased via an Amazon Wish List). The donations will go to local youth and refugees in need. Oklahoma received the most Afghans per capita for any state, explained Deacon Kevin Sartorius, CEO of Catholic Charities of Eastern Oklahoma. The deacon called this an “awesome opportunity” for “two faith communities to join together to serve and care” — adding, “even at an away game!”
“Everything else melts away,” Sartorius added, “and we see a poor person in front of us as an opportunity to love Jesus.” Thanks to the number of balls being gathered, he added, ”there will be a lot of smiles on kids’ faces for Christmas.”
These latest pre-game activities are the culmination of over a month of similar efforts leading up to this game, dating back to a food truck showing up with 40,000 pounds of food and other staples for the Our Daily Bread food pantry.
As reported in the OSU school newspaper, that delivery by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints about 40 days before the OSU-BYU game was the beginning of a “40 service projects in 40 days” initiative organized by the local Stillwater Stake of the church and BYU alumni in the area, organizing or joining available service efforts shared on the JustServe Facebook page.
At least 35 projects have been completed (with five to go). Projects range from reflooring the Hands of Jesus food pantry, tying blankets for needy children, and even an over 90-year old-woman baking brownies every week for 20+ other elderly women in her apartment complex.
As part of the initiative, The Church of Jesus Christ has also donated $21,000 to Central Oklahoma Community Action Agency to provide shoes and socks for Payne County Youth Services, Little Axe Public Schools and other agencies.
This specific funding recommendation came from local Payne County Youth Representative Sheri Gray, who identified in conversation with shelter director Judith Christensen this need among refugee children who sometimes show up for services barefoot with only a trash bag of belongings.
A new pair of shoes can “provide a new sense of confidence” for young people starting at school, Gray stated.
Related
A new tradition begins
All this began when Brigham Young University partnered in 2019 with Knox Area Rescue Ministries on a coat and food drive prior to their game against Tennessee. That effort was successful enough that even in 2020, amid the pandemic, Cougars fans in Boise organized a “drop and go” donation campaign at the game.
In 2020, as reported by the Deseret News and others, the Black 14, a group of former Wyoming players, partnered with Latter-day Saint Charities to deliver more than 180 tons of food in eight states near the homes of the Black 14 members.
After several similar service events during the 2021 season, the service-sporting combo grew to become a mainstay at away football games. This included BYU fans donating $2,500 worth of diapers in Pasco County, Florida; 1,541 books in Lynchburg, Virginia; and more than 1,500 pairs of socks and gloves in Albuquerque, New Mexico, during BYU’s 2022 bowl game. Depending on the location, each tailgate draws between 300 and 5,000 Cougars fans together for the flash-mob style service efforts. Michael Johanson, executive director of BYU Alumni, noted that BYU’s decentralized fan base across the country made it uniquely suited to make a difference.
So far in the 2023 season, BYU alumni, fans and friends have donated three months’ worth of food (40,000 pounds) to the Fayetteville, Arkansas, community, 1,800 books for Native American student services in Lawrence, Kansas, and gathered cans, toys, socks, gloves, diapers and books in Austin, Texas. At the recent West Virginia game, fans contributed to a children’s book drive benefiting the local United Way and West Virginia University’s Nursery School.
For the football game with TCU, BYU fans donated pillows, sheets, blankets, mattress pads and comforters to help set up apartments for refugees in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. In addition to fan donations, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has also begun regularly sending semitrailer truck-size deliveries of food staples like corn, rice and peanut butter to food shelters in rival cities, including 33,000 pounds of food to Fort Worth during the TCU game.
A team effort
With coordination by the BYU Alumni “Cougs Care” program, local leaders and BYU alumni help identify a local need based on an ongoing relationship that will outlast the game’s festivities. In Arkansas, for instance, area seventy Elder Alan Gauldin, then a stake president of the Church of Jesus Christ, had developed a connection with the food bank during the pandemic.
Julie Russin, chapter chair for Pittsburgh’s BYU Alumni, recounted six months of coordinating with WVU officials prior to the recent game in partnership with alumni chapters in Cleveland, Washington, D.C., and the Susquehanna Valley — and how much fun they all had developing new friendships with their game hosts. The Oklahoma State effort this weekend brings together people across Oklahoma at the encouragement of the Tulsa, Oklahoma, chapter of BYU alumni.
“It’s been amazing to see all this come together and highlight the spirit of working together not only for our community, but most of all for our kids,” Payne County Youth Representative Sheri Gray said about the service efforts. She was quick to clarify, though, “I’m still a loyal and true fan — I’ll be there Saturday in my orange.”
When BYU’s 2021 bowl game was scheduled in Shreveport, Louisiana, there wasn’t a lot of time to plan. But a local Latter-day Saint bishop had been working with the homeless shelter and knew they had a 1,000-socks goal by the end of the year. So, “socks for Shreveport” was born, generating double the goal — 2,000 pairs of socks — in a single day, as Cougars fans flooded the area on game day and bought out sock supplies at stores along the way. “Party with a Purpose” headlined one local news report after the game. While no opposing fans so far have defected to root for the Cougars, one Arkansas fan who witnessed all the donations prior to the game confessed, “The Razorbacks are still my favorite team — but BYU’s a close second.” Another fan said on X, “*Sigh* Okay, BYU. You win. I like you.”
After witnessing the service effort in Fayetteville, Arkansas, one sports radio host, Scott Puryear, wrote on X, ”In this world of hate, who does that?”
Good news stories about the game host on BYUtv
To complement the physical donations, BYU’s national TV and radio/podcast networks air good news stories about the current opponent on “Sports Nation Game Day” two hours prior to the football game.
At the recent West Virginia game, this included interviews with WVU President E. Gordon Gee, highlights from WVU basketball legend Hot “Rod” Hundley’s history (a former beloved Utah Jazz commentator), and a feature on the school’s new Mountaineer mascot, Mikel Hager, who left his rural, mining town to chase dreams of higher education.
Prior to the Oklahoma State-BYU game this weekend, BYUtv will air stories on the history of the OSU wrestling program, Kay Norris’ creation of the OSU Heritage Hall, the OSU “cowgirl code,” and an interview with OSU President Kayse Shrum.
Elevating college rivalries across the nation
“In a world that’s filled with ugly things that tear us down, there needs to be more opportunities to lift us up,” remarked Johanson, who in recent years has enjoyed meetings with his counterpart Kris Bosman, chief alumni officer at the University of Utah, where they regularly discuss ways to “reinvent their rivalry,” keeping the “competitiveness” but without “vitriol.”
It’s not just the away games where BYU is seeking to extend good will. Rival teams and fans visiting Provo are greeted by BYU fans when they arrive at the stadium. Fans receive ice cream after the first quarter — while hearing their school’s fight song played by the BYU band.
Service and visitor experience has long been an element of sports. During last year’s NBA All-Star game in Salt Lake City, the NBA Cares All-Star Day of Service, athletes gathered with residents to package thousands of boxes of food. Most coaches and teams do outreach. But BYU alumni are expanding the impact and hoping the trend will continue to spread in college football, with a particular emphasis on building bridges between rivals.
Deacon Sartorius, from Catholic Charities of Eastern Oklahoma, told me he’s noticed others were initially caught off guard and saying, “Why are they doing that?” — ultimately being inspired with more explanation, and saying, “Why don’t we do that too?”
After last December’s bowl game, Damon Amendolara remarked on his nationally syndicated sports radio program how much he loved these service efforts, suggesting “this is something other schools and other fan bases could really do in a really big way ... the next football season and beyond.”
The hospitality in Provo made such an impression on Razorbacks’ administrators that, late last season, Arkansas began offering popcorn to those sitting in the visitor section at games in Fayetteville. Perhaps a ripple has begun.
