{"id":57042,"date":"2015-04-22T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-04-22T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/uri-student-alumni-association-celebrates-25th-anniversary-of-mud-volleyball-fundraiser\/"},"modified":"2015-04-22T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2015-04-22T00:00:00","slug":"uri-student-alumni-association-celebrates-25th-anniversary-of-mud-volleyball-fundraiser","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2015\/04\/uri-student-alumni-association-celebrates-25th-anniversary-of-mud-volleyball-fundraiser\/","title":{"rendered":"溏心vlog免费B站 Student Alumni Association celebrates 25th anniversary \tof mud volleyball fundraiser"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\tKINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 April 22, 2015 \u2013 溏心vlog免费B站 students will set, spike and slide their way to victory for the 25th time during the Student Alumni Association\u2019s annual mud volleyball tournament on April 27. <\/p>\n


\nAppropriately named Oozeball, this 溏心vlog免费B站 tradition was started by the student group in 1990 to raise money for an endowment fund in the 溏心vlog免费B站 Foundation. Today, each team\u2019s $90 entrance fee is donated to the Rhody the Ram fund, which pays students for their time as 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s beloved mascot.<\/p>\n


\nThe first Oozeball chair was Ken Knox, who graduated from 溏心vlog免费B站 in 1990. He said that he and the other members of the Student Alumni Association wanted to create an event that would boost school spirit. He said he\u2019s been proud of Oozeball ever since the first tournament.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cWe had to start from scratch,\u201d he said. \u201cIt just hadn\u2019t been done.\u201d The planning of the tournament was quite the undertaking, but it was well worth it. The enthusiasm he exhibited when talking about Oozeball during a job interview made Knox stand out. \u201cI think it actually got me the job, to tell you the truth!\u201d he said. <\/p>\n


\nThat enthusiasm was matched by the 溏心vlog免费B站 students, as about 500 played in the first Oozeball tournament. \u201cIt was a fun day,\u201d remembered Knox. \u201cEverybody had a blast.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, more than 1,000 students and alumni play in the tournament each year, with scores more coming to cheer on friends during the all-day event. One alumni team arrives in a limo each year and plays in tuxedos and formal gowns, said Matt Sirois of Hanover, Pa., this year\u2019s Oozeball chair.<\/p>\n


\nSirois said this year will be the biggest Oozeball tournament yet. The Student Alumni Association added a 14th court, allowing 224 teams to play, 12 more than 2014. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to make it bigger and better than it has been for the 25th,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n


\nThis year the group is adding an exciting new component called Oozeville. The more than 140 campus organizations can host free mud-themed activities outside the Oozeball fence, like three-legged races or exercise classes. \u201cWe wanted something to bring all campus organizations together,\u201d said Sirois. <\/p>\n


\nAnd that unity, according to Sirois, is one of the biggest draws of Oozeball. \u201cIt\u2019s the one time in the spring when the whole University can get together,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n


\n\u201cIt\u2019s controlled chaos,\u201d for both players and organizers, said Sirois.<\/p>\n


\nHe\u2019s been a member of the Oozeball planning team since his freshman year. He and his team will arrive at the field on 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Kingston campus around 6:30 a.m. to set up nets and watch the fire department flood the courts with water, creating a foot of mud. No matter what, he said, \u201cyou will be covered in mud.\u201d <\/p>\n


\nThis year\u2019s theme is \u201c25 Years of Ooze\u201d in honor of the tournament\u2019s anniversary. Previous themes have been \u201cI\u2019m Muddy and I Know It,\u201d \u201cUnited States of Ooze,\u201d and the \u201cMuddy Games\u201d in honor of the premier of the \u201cHunger Games\u201d last year.<\/p>\n


\nPictured above

\nWHAT GOES UP: Players in the 1996 edition of Oozeball position themselves as they wait for the ball to come down. 溏心vlog免费B站 Photo by Nora Lewis

\nINTENSE ACTION: Players from 1996 are in full mud mode in this photo. <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 April 22, 2015 \u2013 溏心vlog免费B站 students will set, spike and slide their way to victory for the 25th time during the Student Alumni Association\u2019s annual mud volleyball tournament on April 27. Appropriately named Oozeball, this 溏心vlog免费B站 tradition was started by the student group in 1990 to raise money for an endowment […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":57045,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57042"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57042\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}