CURTIS HENRY
Distribution Manager
Those who tuned in one year ago to witness the first annual “Clash of the Clubs” weren’t disappointed. It provided a perfect sample of what opportunities Fredonia has to offer.
One of those opportunities was winning a contest by way of choreographing the perfect lip-sync routine to Queen’s smash hit “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which is far from an easy task. Yet that is exactly what brought the Fredonia club frisbee team to victory in the inaugural event.
Senior public relations major Brendan Hoare, who hosts “Fred Before Bed” and is general manager of the WNYF television station on campus, hosts the event. He has high hopes for this year’s event.
“This year, we are really looking to kind of up our game,” said Hoare. “We are very excited because we have a lot of different clubs that are very different from one another, so we feel as though they will bring in a wide array of people to make up the audience.”
Not many people actually know how the event works. Sarah Pietras, a senior video production major who works as WNYF’s production manager, explained the process.
“Essentially, it is a bracket-style competition where all of the different clubs compete in different events,” said Pietrus.
Breaking it down further, this year’s competition will be made up of four rounds. During each round, the clubs will be subjected to a different challenge. Last year these challenges ranged from lip sync battles to dance-offs to pictionary games.
The judging process is made up of two pieces: actual judges and social media. The event will have three live judges to critique each performance, and, in addition, Twitter will be opened up for the audience to tally votes on each performance.
Each elimination decision will be 50 percent in the hands of the judges and 50 percent in the hands of the audience. Every vote will be a big part in deciding the ultimate winner of the competition.
Dylan Leitner is a graduate student here at Fredonia who doubles up as the residential director in Igoe Hall. He also serves as captain of the club frisbee team. Last year, he was a part of the group that won it all. He sang his praises of the event and thinks it’s something everybody should be a part of.
“It was awesome, honestly. It was a lot of fun,” said Leitner. “Seeing the mix of all the clubs come out and take part was really cool because normally that doesn’t happen.”
Last year’s competition featured 12 clubs on campus. This year’s field of teams has been expanded to 16 teams, ensuring an even wider variety of personalities and outlandish performances.
The long-term aspirations for the event are huge, according to Hoare.
“It’s the sort of thing where it has so much potential,” said Hoare. “We saw a very little glimpse of that last year. But I feel as though it can continue to grow and get bigger and bigger. Last year it was a two hour event, this year it will be three hours. I really, really hope it continues to grow and thrive well after I graduate.”
This year’s event will take place today in the Williams Center Multipurpose Room. The event is scheduled to begin promptly at 7 p.m. and run through 10 p.m. Additionally, it will be broadcast live on WNYF, channel eight on campus.
Admission to the event is free to both students and the general public.