With the final home men’s basketball game quickly approaching, the Marshallville team is in the process of finalizing details for our annual campout.

This year we’re planning to camp for two nights in anticipation of the biggest game this season — Wichita State vs. Cincinnati. With a bigger conference, comes a bigger campout.

Marshallville has been hosting campouts for the past four seasons and these events attract the craziest and most passionate fans. Ask anyone who has attended a campout before and we guarantee they would be willing to relive it all over again.

The bitterly cold nights may seem miserable to those looking at the tents from the outside, but they’ve created memories for the campers that can’t be replicated anywhere else. At the campouts, you make friendships that you never knew you needed while being a part of something bigger.

From frequent visits by Gregg Marshall to food provided by local restaurants and necessities (like security and restrooms) provided by the athletic department, we’ve received a lot of love and support along the way. But the most important help and support we’ve had is from YOU — the fans who show up and make this experience everything it can be.

Up to this point, we’ve made more memories than we can count and we want to make more this year, but we’re running into a wall.

At the beginning of the basketball season, the athletic department implemented a new system, Black Cards, which allow the holders of the cards to receive first access to the student section seats. Typically, these cards have been given out to students who attend various athletic events.

Throughout the season, we have been communicating with the athletic department to try and find a way to distribute the Black Cards for priority seating for the Cincinnati game, but we’ve been given false hope.

Originally, we were told that the students who camp out before the game would be the only ones receiving the cards. As it turns out, not all of the campers will be guaranteed Black Cards as previously stated by the athletic department. It was decided that students who attend various sporting events over the next week would be the recipients of these cards.

We encourage students to attend the other athletic events happening, but feel that distributing the Black Cards during those games will deter students from attending the campout, where we believe they should be rewarded with priority seating.

This is our first year in the American Athletic Conference and we have a chance to win a share of the regular season championship. The game versus Cincinnati deserves to have a crowd full of energy which can be inspired by the campout. The way the current Black Card system is being implemented may impede on student’s participation on this experience.

Signed, 

Marshallville

Brianna Appel, Maddie Holzem, Sam Belsan, Paul Buffo, Jamie Gallagher, Sarah Crigler, Christy Miller, Alan Joyal, Kaden Miller