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Katie Woodruff, associate director of athletics, said she wanted to emphasize a strong dedication to being “all in” this year in Union athletics.
Athletics must be all in for NCAA Division II, all in for sports, all in for serving the community, all in for school and all in for serving Christ, she said. As a way to build community among student athletes and form relationships with students and the Jackson community, Woodruff started the movement #uuallin.
“My goal is to encourage student athletes to play their sport, study and serve others with their whole heart,” Woodruff said.
The inspiration for the movement sparked from other schools and conferences who have hashtags to promote their athletics. Most NCAA DII schools have a hashtag and the Gulf South Conference uses these hashtags to find local stories to promote nationally.
“Union athletics hasn’t had one and with the transition to NCAA DII, it was about time we did,” Woodruff said.
Based on Union’s core values and the overall Christian faith of the university, Woodruff wanted to tie in Union’s commitment to faith in learning with faith in athletics. Therefore, #uuallin was created.
In addition to the hashtag, the athletic teams will be competing in the Top Dawg Challenge. Each athletic team will earn points for participating in challenges based on Union’s core values. The team with the most points and the best exemplification of being “all in” will win the Top Dawg Cup.
The Student Athletic Advisory Council (SAAC) immediately hopped on board for both initiatives.
“The movement is something that has been a goal of mine since my freshman year and I am excited to see the direction that the athletic department is headed with increased involvement with students and the community,” said Chip Crockarell, vice president of SAAC and senior soccer player. “By building these relationships and being ‘all in’ we want people to see us as followers of Jesus who are using their athletic talents to share the light of Christ.”
This movement is not just for athletes. The whole student body and faculty are encouraged to take part in the promotion of being all in.
“We want to bring everyone together as a school,” said Kaycee Lindberg, sophomore sports management major. “When you go to an athletic event you can show your love, support and commitment by taking a picture with your friends and using #uuallin.”
