TOWAMENCIN – Every year around the end of October, a tradition takes place involving the Men’s and Women’s basketball programs at most major colleges. The teams host an event at their home stadium, where students come in and participate in contests for free season tickets and cash prizes, watch dunk and three point contests, dance around, cheer on scrimmages, and overall, get loud and get excited. These events are called each schools “Midnight Madness”, mainly because these events take place at Midnight, lasting hours into the morning. Originally started in the 1970s by Head Coach Lefty Driesell at Maryland as a team run around a track, the events have evolved into massive pep-rallies, featuring contests and intrasquad scrimmages.

In order to get excited for their upcoming seasons, the North Penn boys’ and girls’ basketball teams will be having their own “Mid-Knight Madness” on December 3rd, and while it will be held at 6:30pm and not midnight, the night will feature many of the same events as college versions, while also a few events special to North Penn, and provide a night to get the community excited for the upcoming season.

“We want to get fans to come out and meet the teams, get excited for the season, and we’re gonna try to get fans and students and the younger age groups, like the middle school and elementary school, to hopefully come out to our games,” explained assistant boys’ coach Pat Brett. “The goal of this is to bring more fans out to meet the teams and to gain more exposure for the players and the programs, and also to get fans to come out and really get excited for the season.”

The event, which costs just two dollars to attend, will feature contests, prizes, performances, and an overall good time. The teams want fans to become involved this season, to support the team at home games, and establish a relationship between the teams and their fanbase. Fans will get to be involved in the event, with two events on the schedule strictly for fans: a Fan Shooting Challenge and Half-Court Shot Challenge. The fans will be able to buy tickets for a dollar to enter either challenge, which will take place between the other events of the night, allowing regular fans to experience what it is like to be cheered on by fans. The winners receiving a free season ticket to all home games.

“The shooting challenge will be a layup, a foul shot, a three point shot, and a half court shot, on both sides of the basket,” says Brett. “The half-court shot is whoever makes it first wins.”

While the Half-Court Challenge will be open to all participants who buy a ticket, the Fan Shooting Challenge participants will be determined by a raffle, with the names of those who bought tickets entered. One boy and one girl will be picked to participate. Also scheduled for the night are a 3-Point Contest between the boys’ and girls’ teams, slam dunks by players and possibly faculty, and a girls against boys scrimmage. The North Penn High School Dance Team will also be performing, and an appearance will be made by a Special Guest Star.

“There will be a 3 point contest between the girls’ best shooter and the guys’ best shooter. There will be a dunk contest, between one of the boys’ players and the possibly a member of the faculty. The scrimmage will be boys versus girls, simply just showcasing the talents, no fouls, nobody playing hard defense,” said Brett. “The guys don’t want to get beat, so they’re going to come out excited to play. But it’s really just to get excited for the season. It’s not a guys versus girls event, but rather a North Penn event.”

While the night will have prizes and show off the skills of both teams, it will not be strictly about basketball. The night will be about fun within the community, and will provide a more involved experience than any normal game. Fans will get to learn who the players are by name, buy apparel to wear to games, and eat more home-cooked food sold at the snack bar. The night will be about fun, and uniting behind a team as a community in order to propel the teams to new heights.

“When our players and coaches see that our community youth are out and supporting us, it brings a lot of confidence to the players and the coaches,” said Brett. “There is a lot of pride in the North Penn community. Our community definitely takes pride in the fact that we are a formative opponent in any sport, and our community stands behind all of our sports program. So we just want to get everyone in the community excited, and our players excited for the season.”

Both teams open up their respective seasons on December 5, so the energy from this event will carry over into the season and give the teams a boost of confidence in their first games. The support that a community gives at home games can ignite a fire within a team’s confidence, giving them something to play for. The crowd at a home game can become a the thirteenth man on the bench, and a part of a team’s success. Come out on December 3 at 6:30pm in the main gym at North Penn High School and become a part of the basketball programs’ new season.

• WHEN: December 3, 2014

• TIME: 6:30pm

• WHERE: North Penn High School Gym

• COST: $2.00