Santa Clara's 'Be Part of It' Highlight Video and Page
SAN BRUNO, Calif. - After successfully increasing women's basketball attendance by 24% and season ticket sales by 11% across the league with the help of the NCAA Women's Basketball Grant last year, the West Coast Conference looks to improve exposure and attendance during the 2010-11 season with the WCC "Be A Part of It" campaign.
Be A Part of It, a conference-wide community service initiative, encourages WCC fans to come to basketball games and support their favorite WCC basketball teams both on and off the court. Over a series of four games determined by each school, fans will be invited to take part in various community service initiatives, such as WBCA's Pink Zone and Soles4Souls.
"We are grateful to have the NCAA's support in promoting our women's basketball teams and their unique efforts to benefit local, non-profit organizations," said WCC Commissioner Jamie Zaninovich. "The commitment to community service, which is the cornerstone of `Be A Part of It', strongly aligns with the missions and values of our member institutions."
The WCC was one of two conferences selected to receive a women's basketball grant by the NCAA as part of the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Grant Program. This is the second consecutive year the WCC was granted funding by the NCAA to "increase awareness, exposure and attendance of women's basketball."
Each WCC women's basketball program will launch unique websites at different times during the non-conference and conference season to promote its "Be A Part of It" series. In addition, fans who visit their team's website and invite 10 or more Facebook friends to "Be A Part of It" online will be entered to win a three-night hotel stay at the Orleans Hotel and two all-session passes to the 2011 Zappos.com WCC Basketball Championships.
Also as part of the campaign, the WCC launched its very own Facebook game "Shoot2Hoop" found on the WCC's Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/West-Coast-Conference/40983069915?ref=ts), which invites WCC fans to play for two all-session passes to the 2011 Zappos.com WCC Basketball Championships.
Make sure to check each school's website for more information on what each team is doing to promote the game of women's basketball and support its philanthropic missions. About the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Grant Program This marketing initiative concept was generated from the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Discussion Group, chaired by the late NCAA President Myles Brand.
The group consisted of head coaches, media representatives, former student-athletes, conference, institutional and Women's Basketball Coaches Association administrators. It has been strongly supported by the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Committee and the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Issues Committee.