First I’d like to thank everyone who shared with me their women’s basketball elementary day experiences, including best practices, on the discussion thread. Knowing that information going into my first elementary day was a huge help and a great place to start.
Here’s a few take aways from hosting my first Elementary Day:
- Plan. This is not an event that I’d recommend throwing together last minute. We sent out the first round of letters inviting schools within a 3-hour radius at the end of May/early June. To be honest, next time I do this it’ll be earlier if possible. Then we sent out a follow up letter at the beginning of August and a follow up email a few weeks later.
- Be adaptable. No matter how much planning you do, you’ll need to be adaptable. 24 hours before our event I was under the impression that our attendance number would be around 800, maybe 900 students and teachers, within an hour or the morning before I found out the attendance number would be closer to just under 2,000, it ended up being 2,462. I had to adapt and change the game day scripts, seating chart etc.
- Communication. Make sure all departments are well informed that Elementary Day is taking place and know what to expect the day of the event.
- Kidz Bop. I know these cds and the music on them isn’t what you want to listen to but the kids love it. Plus the versions are clean, so you don’t need to edit the lyrics.
- Enjoy it! This is a completely unique experience that's unlike any other theme game you’ll host. The kids love it and the team feeds off their energy, so even though it may be hectic, take it in and enjoy it.
Before you know it the clock will hit zero, the teams will return to their locker rooms and the students will board their busses. All those months of planning and promoting the event and it’s over in a few hours, but you do get a rewarding feeling after executing this type of event. I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn’t had the chance to work/host an elementary day to try it.
If I can share my elementary day experience and more specifics of what we did pre-game and in game please don’t hesitate to reach out!