“You Can Get There from Here.”
Even before I became a student at Grove City College, I heard this line from one of the college’s most beloved professors: Dr. Powell. He had this crazy notion that if I cast a vision for something I want to do, whether large or small, at this school I could do it. His faith in Grove City College’s potential to bring to life even my biggest ideas intrigued me, but as a prospective student I had no clue how true it would prove to be.
It Started Out as a Bit of a Joke
Flash forward to sophomore year, when I was a member of the Student Government Association (SGA). Early in the year, SGA held a meeting for the express purpose of brainstorming. Unfortunately, my small group had more of a light brain mist going on than a brainstorm, and I needed to find something we could rally around. I remembered a video I had seen on the internet a few weeks back, a ridiculous game called bubble soccer. We had nothing better, so we pitched that.
Standing there in front of the rest of the elected students, I almost sheepishly described the game. It is played like soccer, but with each player wearing a large, inflated bubble suit. This allows for hilarious contact and crashing without injury. I was excited to tell them about a sport that many had not heard of, but I admitted that it probably wasn’t feasible at a small school like ours. I mean, state schools weren’t even trying this yet. However, the presentation received unanimous support. I was floored – did they actually want to try to do this?
Attempting Something Big
Okay. We were going to do this. I formed a team, and we started to figure out how. Since this game had been invented in Europe, only certain areas in the U.S. had it available. We finally found a small company near Philadelphia named BumpBall that was willing to drive out to us. Next, we had to convince the administration. Many meetings and emails later, we had the green light. I was so excited. My idea was actually happening.
Opening up brackets to each freshman hall, we developed the tournament as an end-of-the-year capstone to the new students’ various intramural competitions throughout the year. The buzz began to grow. We had 21 halls and nearly a hundred people on board. Once students saw our posters, they began to get excited.
Let the Games Begin
4 p.m. May 1st arrived, and the freshmen and their fans lined the slope at the edge of the intramural fields. I started the games and watched as fantastic bouts of adrenaline and laughter ensued. Standing there with a megaphone, I thought back to the beginning of the year. How did I get here? It was then that I realized the truth in what Dr. Powell had said. If you set your mind to it, you can make your dreams a reality at Grove City College. You can get there from here.
Check out our video of the event:
How I Brought Bubble Soccer to my School
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