Tradition runs deep in the University of Notre Dame football program. Some traditions are celebrated daily, such as the student-athletes and coaches wearing clothes adorned with the Notre Dame monogram to work, class and practice. Some traditions are celebrated weekly during the season – the team donning a gold helmet or hitting the ‘Play Like A Champion’ sign before taking the field in Notre Dame Stadium. Other traditions are celebrated yearly, such as Senior Day, the Shamrock Series or the rivalry with Southern Cal.
Before last season’s annual Blue-Gold Game, another tradition was started when Dick Corbett Head Football Coach Marcus Freeman, with the support of Allstate, invited the entire student body, faculty and family members from St. Adalbert’s Catholic School to the 2023 end-of-spring team scrimmage in Notre Dame Stadium.
For the 2024 edition of the Blue-Gold Game, the football program, Allstate and Notre Dame’s Together Irish Community Commitment Initiative reached out to the South Bend Empowerment Zone (SBEZ) and 100 Black Men of South Bend’s Freedman Academy Leadership Program and invited them to campus for the game. Kids from Wilson and Coquillard elementary schools and a group from the Freedman Academy attended the 28-21 Blue Team victory on Saturday, April 20.
For many who attended the activities on Saturday, it was their first trip to campus and first Notre Dame Athletics experience.
“As part of our Together Irish initiative, we wanted to make sure that we were doing something for the South Bend community…to engage better with the community,” JP Abercrumbie, the Executive Associate Athletics Director of Culture and Engagement said.
“For one aspect of that, we bring people to campus, and that’s what we get to do today. So, there’s a little bit of athletics and a little academics for today’s guests.”
Part of the academics section of the visit was STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) activities with the visitors which focused on the connection between data collection and athletic events.
“There’s a couple reasons why we do this,” said Jay Brockman, Director of the Lucy Institute Civic Innovation Laboratory at Notre Dame.
“One is that we really want to invite kids to campus and let them see what we do. But also have them understand that athletics isn’t just athletics, it’s about understanding data and understanding science.
“We had two activities together. One is about sports statistics. The other activity that we had is about teamwork and energy. And so the kids have to learn how to work together. The kids see that all these sports things and all these science and engineering things all fit together.”
It cannot be overstated what the experience meant to the children who participated over the weekend.
“This experience is speechless for my students,” said Helen Agtey from SBEZ.
“When we were riding the bus, we were saying cheers, we sang the ‘Go Irish’ song. Some of our students, this is their first experience, so we definitely want to thank Allstate for making it possible for all of us. All the STEM activities, the kids enjoyed every bit of it and 90% of my kids have not been to Notre Dame and a game.”
After the STEM activities and a pizza party, the group was given preferred seats in Notre Dame Stadium, received a pre-game visit from Coach Freeman and were able to catch themselves enjoying the afternoon on the stadium video board.
The Blue-Gold Game Together Irish Community Commitment initiative and the support from Allstate have allowed the University and its football program to reach out to a new group of fans and provide them with a memorable experience. Perhaps one of the students who visited campus on April 20, 2024, will forge their own tradition on Notre Dame’s campus in the future.
“Being able to come to a game like this can be a kind of transformative experience for a young student,” said Sam Centellas, SBEZ’s board chair. “Oftentimes, students in the Empowerment Zone don’t necessarily know what might be next for them. So an opportunity like this gets them to walk around campus and be like, I can see myself here. I can, I feel like college may be something that I might want to do. And knowing that the place invited them to come, it makes a difference.”