CLEVELAND – Following the first year of NCAA Division I competition, UC San Diego Athletics captured a pair of awards in Group II for student promotions by the National Association of Collegiate Marketing Administrators (NACMA) on Thursday morning. Athletics earned a gold award in the category of Virtual/In-Venue Student Promotion for its "The Road to the Cup of Cheer/Virtual Spirit Night" promotion. UC San Diego earned silver in the Virtual/In-Venue Event Attendance Promotion category for its "Triton Mania Goes Virtual" event.
UC San Diego Athletics has earned four NACMA gold awards since 2014 the first three of which came when the Tritons were members of NCAA Division II.
The Road to the Cup of Cheer/Virtual Spirit Night (Virtual/In-Venue Student Promotion), Gold
One of the longest standing traditions at UC San Diego, the marketing team created The Road to the Cup of Cheer- Virtual Spirit Night to build campus and student engagement around the Tritons' first season of Big West Conference basketball.
The Road to the Cup of Cheer had five components where students could earn points for their college, mapped out over the course of several weeks to allow for flexibility and stronger student buy-in knowing many were suffering from "Zoom fatigue."
Triton Madness: A new event for campus was designed and executed by student leadership from Triton Tide. The event created a space for students to gather, meet the Triton basketball scholar-athletes, and play games. It was also used as a chance to allow the students to vote on the official game day t-shirt which would be delivered later in Spirit Night packs in collaboration with the college councils.
Virtual Fan Fest: This weekly Friday event series helped remind fans we were now playing Division I basketball, creating community for the students. The two weeks leading up to Spirit Night included games that earned Cup of Cheer points.
TikTok Challenge and Social Media Hashtag Campaign: These were ways to keep students engaged and spread excitement to others who might not be aware of Triton Tide, the Cup of Cheer, or Athletics at all.
Virtual Spirit Night: The final component included a virtual fan fest with a spirit scavenger hunt and other interactive activities prior to pushing the students to watch the basketball game on ESPN3. The winner of Spirit Night was announced live during the game telecast, keeping students excited and engaged.
Throughout the campaign, more than 500 students took part, growing the Triton Tide membership by nearly 400 new students.
Triton Mania Goes Virtual (Virtual/In-Venue Event Attendance Promotion), Silver
Due to campus restrictions on gathering during the pandemic, the annual kick-off pep rally, Triton Mania, was quickly shifted to an entirely virtual experience.
The program was hosted by a student leader from the Triton cheer squad and included interactive elements from counting the number of appearances by the mascot to answering trivia questions. Compilation videos submitted by students showed off their Triton spirit and why this was an exciting time on campus. The event wrapped with a high-energy welcome to the Big West introducing UC San Diego's new competition and Triton traditions.
Close to 500 students attended the Zoom session and participated in the games and content and were added to Triton Tide to keep them up to date on Triton happenings throughout the year.
About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program began a new era in 2020 as a member of the Big West Conference in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 83 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have earned prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions.
