In the early hours of this coming Friday morning, 40 brothers from USC’s Sigma Nu fraternity will be running across roughly 90 miles of South Carolina road in the 38th annual Game Ball Run.
The Game Ball Run is part of USC’s Rivalry Week against Clemson. The Clemson Sigma Nu Theta Zeta chapter will run the ball to Greenwood, South Carolina. From there, USC's Delta chapter will run the ball the rest of the way back to Columbia. They will arrive back on campus around noon Friday.
In total, the two Sigma Nu chapters will cover about 140 miles, and USC's chapter will cover just under 90. The brothers, in pairs, will take shifts of about three miles at a time. The brothers not running at the time will be on a bus following the runners, who will be accompanied by a USC police escort the entire way.
The last leg of the run, from the Sigma Nu fraternity house to the George Rogers statue at Williams-Brice Stadium, will be overseen by Columbia police. This last stretch is open to the public, and an entire lane of traffic will be closed down to accommodate the crowd.
“Definitely safety is a main priority,” said John Stathakis, fourth-year real estate and marketing student and Sigma Nu philanthropy chair. “[Police] consider it a parade ... there will be about three or four officers that will be assisting it, making sure that we get from the fraternity house to the stadium safely.”
The run serves as a major philanthropy event for Sigma Nu. The first run took place in 1977, and until the early 1990s, USC Sigma Nus would run the ball the full distance with no Clemson participation.
Originally, the run raised money for multiple sclerosis. This year, Sigma Nu partnered with the Marcus Lattimore Foundation, which is dedicated to helping young athletes medically and academically. Stathakis said the partnership is significant because it is more personal to students, alumni and Gamecock fans alike.
“Being with Lattimore has helped us with awareness, because Gamecock fans are excited about that,” he said. “The other thing I like about working with this foundation is it’s a small foundation … We know where the money’s going, and specifically it’s helping out people in our area. It’s really cool to see what’s going to come from what we raise.”
The partnership is partly in response to Clemson’s partnership with Dabo Swinney’s All In Team Foundation last year, according to Craig Almond, fourth-year public relations student and Sigma Nu Delta chapter president.
“We’re really playing up the rivalry week aspect of it,” Almond said. “Since they’ve gotten Dabo involved, and now we’ve gotten Marcus involved … We really want more involvement from the rest of the university and the rest of the community.”
In fundraising this year, Sigma Nu has been reaching out to more alumni and local businesses. Much of the money raised comes from individual brothers’ efforts, but for the first time, some USC alumni have challenged Clemson alumni to see which group can raise more for the Game Ball Run.
Almond said that they raised about $35,000 last year, and the goal for this year is $40,000. As of Tuesday evening, they have raised $25,200. Some of the money raised will go toward paying for the event, but a large portion will be given directly to the Marcus Lattimore Foundation.
Both Almond and Stathakis have run it before and will be participating again this year. They both said the run, though tiring, is worth the effort because of its contribution to the community.
“One of the most rewarding things was actually coming up into Greenwood and running the ball and actually seeing the Huddle House,” Stathakis said. “But at the same time, knowing that what you did was not just for the hell of it. It was actually a really good thing, and … that’s kind of what the fraternity’s about.”
The run is this Friday, but donations will be accepted until the USC-Clemson football game Saturday, Nov. 28. Donations can be made on the USC Sigma Nu website at http://carolinadeltachapter.wix.com/sigmanudeltachapter.