How To Make Senior Night Unforgettable

The final year of high school is rich with memories. We’ve got some outstanding examples of how you can make Senior Sports Night memorable for the class of 2013.

Welcome the seniors and their families with Personalized Vertical Banners showing pictures of your school’s athletes in action.  Create a life size stand up from a picture of their freshman year or a giant 3-foot Big Head Cutout of their face for friends and family to wave when they are being honored.

You will also want to include a goodie bag filled with both fun and keepsake items such as personalized water bottles, key chains with the team photos. Personalized items create a memorable token for your seniors.  Let your imagination run wild with Do It Yourself treat bags that you can fill with either candy or healthy snacks. Or both! Make Senior Night for the class of 2013 one that they’ll be talking about in 2023 at their 10-year reunion!

Decorate for Your School’s Own March Madness

While the History Channel claims that March Madness was born 74 years ago with the “first-ever NNCAA men’s basketball tournament,” high school teams everywhere know that small town school spirit has played an important role for decades. The squeak of basketball shoes on gymnasium floors, roaring crowds, and the swish of basketballs bouncing off the backboard and falling down to bounce on the shiny floor, while the audience holds its collective breath for just one second, a second when time stops, before erupting into screams of delight while their favorite players rush back up the court, dripping with sweat and motivation…This is March Madness, and it is catching once more.

Illinois and Indiana both claim to have started March Madness with high school basketball playoffs, but whether you’re playing in the Midwest or coast-to-coast, school spirit has an insatiable thirst this month. Give in to the enthusiasm and make sure your players and biggest fans have enough to drink with durable polycarbonate or plastic water bottles personalized with your school’s name, the year, certain player’s names, or even just “March Madness!” You could toss these out during basketball games to get the crowd even more pumped up, or sell them as part of a sports fundraiser.

Next, advertise your school spirit with banners for pep rallies, star players, and all the big games that are happening this month. Weave your school colors through fencing and around the hallways using gossamer or even durable, flame-resistant poly vinyl. Nothing is more exciting than walking into your high school or college gymnasium to find huge signs promoting the team and the starting players surrounding by bright streams of school colors.

Speaking of color, you can use lots of it to spruce up the hallway in your high school with affordable graphic banners that are designed for lockers.  Personalize them to match your school colors as well as with names. These can be used for all your superstars, too; marching band, the yearbook, or even just that special person in your life that needs a little bit of motivation as the end of the school year looms, but is still very far away.

Finally, be sure and surprise boys and girls, women and men’s basketball superstars with Big Heads; use them in the crowd or attach them along the walls or fencing with their number and cheer them on throughout March Madness and for the year to come. Remind them who their biggest fans are and frighten the opposition with your school spirit, to boot!

Make Your Stadium More Fan-Friendly – Ideas from top General Managers

Back in 2001, a marketing agent created loads of hype for the Baltimore Ravens when they faced off against the New York Giants during the Super Bowl in Tampa. The hype was created by placing tons of Ravens advertising support all along the route from the airport to the stadium, to the effect that then-president of the Ravens David Modell said that “it really made the players feel like they were at home, that this was a home game.” While this was the Raven’s first time at the Super Bowl, they certainly didn’t act like it, destroying the Giants in the process.

Peace, Love, Spirit!

While it’s certainly true that in the minor leagues (and high school or grade school), there’s no event with quite the away game/home crowd draw like the Super Bowl, promotional directors and general managers still have plenty of advice to give.

Keep it fun and affordable

Paul Taglieri, general manager of the St. Lucie Mets, says that “We’ll do basically anything as long as it’s not stepping over the line that we draw for ourselves. We just try to stay with fun, family, affordable-type atmosphere. That’s where our promotions are centered.”

Theme night

In that vein, one of the promotions the St. Lucie Mets undertake is 70s night, complete with 70 cent dogs and drinks, and fans are encouraged to wear clothing mimicking the look of the 70s. You could make your theme night stand out a Tie Dye or 80s Water Bottle Label. Perhaps offer drink refills for 80 cents for fans with a theme night stadium cup.

Light it up!

Oklahoma Sooners encourage their baseball fans on “Cheer like a Champion” night, handing out special spirit apparel to the first 50 fans in the door, encouraging team support. You could recreate that with personalized #1 Spirit hand mitts.

Make it a holiday

Celebrate Earth Day like the Sooners and other college and national teams, and have personalized travel mugs for cold or hot drinks.

It’s St. Patrick’s Day! Get the crowd going with these green hand clapper necklaces and inflatable bam bams.Use green drink cups for refreshments and don’t forget to offer special treats for those wearing green (or your team colors), like fun lighted spirit poms or lucky candy bars.

Be a helper for your mascot!

How old is your mascot?

Finally, the St. Louis Cardinal’s celebrate Fredbird’s birthday – why not celebrate your mascot’s birthday? It’s a terrific crowd draw for a theme as well as providing great incentive to get pumped up during halftime. Make a week out of it like the Cardinals.  Students can walk in under a reusable archway and compete to become the mascot’s helper, as he probably needs it in his old age.  Finally, the night of the big game (and the big birthday bash!), create a banner for your mascot to run through as your fans herald the mascot (and your team) with fun stadium horns.