Alpha Sigma Phi, a Fraternity celebrating its first year on campus, hosted the first annual Stayin’ Alive Water Pong Tournament on Friday, April 1 on the Quad from 2 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
The tournament was designed to raise money for Aware Awake Alive, one of Alpha Sigma Phi’s five philanthropies, which was founded to help educate students on the signs of alcohol poisoning, according to Alpha Sigma Phi president Austin Rains.
“It’s a non-profit organization created by a husband and wife whose son died of alcohol poisoning right after a fraternity initiation,” Rains said. “During the initiation, he drank a lot and his fraternity brothers didn’t know what to do. They tried to take him to the hospital, but they didn’t want to get him in trouble, so they put him in a bed. He laid there all night and died. He pretty much drowned in his own vomit. That’s because his brothers didn’t recognize the signs of alcohol poisoning and thought that he would be fine.”
The event featured a double elimination bracket with prizes of two $50 gift cards to tire discounters, two tickets to The Beach water park, two tickets to the Newport Aquarium and large bag of popcorn.
In addition to the tournament, there were other activities like a small obstacle course where the participants wear drunk goggles and navigate through flagpoles without touching the flags. There was also a giant water pong activity as well. The prizes for these events included raffle tickets for a drawing for gift baskets.
Rains said that he was happy with the turnout, considering it was the first year Alpha Sigma Phi hosted the event.
“We’re starting small this year, because we didn’t have a whole lot of ideas,” Rains said. “It’s our first one, so we’re just trying to come up with good ideas, see what works and what doesn’t, and improve as we go along every year. We actually filled the entire bracket and there are people waiting on the sidelines who want to play but don’t have teammates yet. We made $800 so far, and I’m happy with that.”
Noah Valentine, senior Organizational Leadership major, sees potential with the idea, but believes there is room for improvement.
“As far as tables go, they have a good set up, but the organization horrible,” Valentine said. “I would definitely attend next year. It’s a great event and a good way to get students out on campus. The thing is though, if teams aren’t here, you need to make the bracket for the teams that are here instead of waiting for people to show up.”
Senior Biomedical Engineering student Dan Rapking said that he enjoyed the tournament and plans on attending again in the future.
Students interested in Alpha Sigma Phi can find more information on social media and Orgsync.
