DePaul Amps Up for "Shout-Fest On Sheffield"
12/3/2009 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
CHICAGO - There's nothing quite like 1,800 school children screaming at the top of their lungs to liven up a college basketball game.
A high-decibel McGrath Arena will be the scene Friday of DePaul's fourth annual Field Trip Day when the women's basketball team welcomes Illinois-Chicago to the "Shout-Fest On Sheffield Avenue."
"This will be my fourth one, and I can still remember the first one," said 6-foot, 3-inch Blue Demons forward Felicia Chester. "The energy level was amazing.
"The kids are cheering all the time, and the crowd is going wild after every basket. It reminds me of a huge high school game in a small, packed gym where it's hard to hear each other when you're on the court."
Which means DePaul women's coach Doug Bruno will have to be even more vocal than usual in communicating with his players.
"This is a great event, and you always have an electric buzz in a packed arena," Bruno said. "We were among the first to do it, and now we've taken it to another level by providing free tickets, free bus transportation and giving away T-shirts. Everything will be blue inside McGrath."
According to DePaul's Assistant Director of Marketing Patrick Condon, the university will dispatch 34 buses to 12 different grammar schools and bring in 1,800 students. In addition to the Chicago Public Schools, the buses will transport kids from schools in Bartlett, Chicago Heights, Hoffman Estates and Hanover Park.
Working with Condon on this special event is former DePaul basketball star and ex-Bulls center Dave Corzine, who is the Assistant to the Athletic Director for Community Outreach.
"We had to turn away several schools last year, and those schools had the first chance to attend this year's game," Condon said. "For some kids, this might be their only opportunity to visit a college campus and attend an NCAA athletic event.
"Ideally, we'd like to help all the schools in the Chicago area with an opportunity to put together a unique field trip. This year, we're incorporating an education component into our event. At halftime, students will get to participate in a game about health, nutrition and exercise."
Bruno understands the underlying motive for Field Trip Day.
"This really fits into the Vincentian belief," Bruno said about the university's namesake, St. Vincent de Paul, the 17th century French priest who reached out to the poor, the marginalized and the disenfranchised. "This is DePaul's mission of service to the urban environment.
"It provides these children with exposure to a campus setting in Lincoln Park and to women's college basketball. Who knows, some of these students could ultimately wind up going to school here after their introduction to DePaul."
Chester fondly recalls attending college games at Missouri-St. Louis with her dad when she was in fifth grade.
"This definitely has a positive effect, and you get so much energy from a big crowd," Chester said. "These kids look up to us, and we sign autographs after the game.
"It feels good to become a role model for them. Hopefully, they can be inspired to achieve their dreams and someday become a college basketball player."
Hopefully on Friday, they'll be inspired to raise the roof for the Blue Demons.
"You want them all to be cheering for us, but it could be split on Friday with Chicago going against Chicago," Chester said with a laugh.