By Brandi Wylie ’24
The Wofford College women’s basketball team was cheered on to victory by more than 300 special guests when it played Davidson College.
After a two-year hiatus because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the team played its Growing up Gold: Education Day game, which tipped off at 11 a.m. on Nov. 30. Wofford won the game 72-51, but, more importantly, won the hearts of elementary and middle school children.
“Our student-athletes are role models for the local community,” says Addison Harvey, assistant athletics director for marketing and video.
Students from five schools attended the game, including eighth graders from Spartanburg Preparatory School, who were invited on a campus tour that morning to spark their interest in becoming Terriers in the future.
Bettina Johnson, a guidance counselor at Drayton Mills Elementary School, says she wanted her fourth and fifth graders to have similar thoughts.
“We want our kids to get exposed to Wofford’s campus and enjoy being on a college campus,” Johnson says. “I also want them to see all of the great colleges here in Spartanburg. I want them to understand that they can go to a good college and not have to go far from home.”
What really captured the students’ attention, though, was the action during the game. The crowd was cheering the entire time, chanting for the Terriers each time they scored.
“We want these kids to go home and tell their parents that they went to a Wofford women’s basketball game and enjoyed it,” Harvey says. “Then they can come back and become new Terrier fans.”
Wofford staff threw T-shirts to the crowd, players signed autographs after the game, cheerleaders and dancers went into the stands and Boss the Terrier danced with all of the students.
“Our coaches, players and staff love Education Day. We are so grateful for the encouragement and school spirit those kids provide,” says Lilly Hatton ’23, a biology major from Georgetown, Indiana, who plays forward on the team. “That gym was loud and exciting, which really helps with the energy on the court.”
Leanna Walker from Spartanburg Prep says she could tell it was going to be an intense game just from the warmup.
“They’re for sure going to win, they’re blowing them out,” Azaria Sims from Spartanburg Prep said at halftime. “They’re playing good and intense, and I like that.”
The Terriers say they owe this win to the children.
“A few kids promised they’d come back because whenever they are here, we win,” Hatton says.