Screaming at the top of your lungs to a cheer you and your Y-group composed, painting your faces blue, creating a crazy banner, wearing BYU clothing, and participating in other wild activities that show your Y-group spirit are all part of the Spirit Competition. Guess what? If your Y-group is one of the top 25 Y-groups in the Spirit Competition, BYU will throw you a pizza party!
Each Y-Group will participate in various planned activities that are designed to allow the creative participation of each member of a Y-group. Each Y-group will receive evaluation from a panel of judges who will assign Spirit Points according to each group’s active participation, creativity, and enthusiasm.
“The Spirit Competition facilitates new Cougars by challenging them to gain a sense of Y-group unity and BYU loyalty. As Y-groups work together on a banner, the fight song, an original Y-group cheer, service, and collecting tour cards, values are instilled, friendships developed, and the BYU experience becomes comprehensible.” said Todd Hendricks, director of the Spirit Competition.
The primary goals of the Spirit Competition are to nurture growth through participation in programs and activities and to encourage students to attend the events that will orient them to campus.
The Spirit Competition involves almost every other activity during New Student Orientation. Freshmen will be awarded Spirit Points for their Y-groups for each activity that they attend. Attending activities as a Y-group is a great way to score a lot of points. The more activities you attend, the more points you and your Y-group will score.
The purpose of NSO is to give all incoming freshmen and transfer students the opportunity to take part in the BYU experience. This is accomplished by giving the students the chance to meet and develop friendships through well-planned, well-organized and fun activities. The spirit competition is one of those activities.
