DENVER – MSU Denver recently continued its partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Colorado and their Sports Buddies mentoring program in hosting a participatory event for nearly 80 matches at the Regency Athletic Complex.
 
A Ninja Warrior obstacle course on the RAC's baseball field highlighted the event, which also included Nerf Dart Tag and relay races. Newmont Goldcorp Corporation sponsored the event and provided volunteers to run the activities, while Ninja Nation provided the obstacle course.
 
"Our matches had an amazing time at this event!," said Matt Kaiser, Sports Buddies Team Lead. "Sports Buddies hosts an event for our 'Bigs' and 'Littles' on a weekly basis around the Denver community. This includes activities like playing dodgeball, soccer, basketball, watching local college sports, Rockies games, etc. Every now and then we have a mega event like this Ninja Warrior event. These special events are always a huge hit with our matches and often their favorite event for the year. This was definitely the case for our matches at this event. The Regency Athletic Complex was the perfect arena for this event. MSU has been a wonderful partner of Big Brothers Big Sisters for many years."
 
Matches are pairings of mentors and mentees, otherwise known as a "Bigs" and "Littles."  The Littles in the program range from ages 8 to 18 years old.  These children come from single-parent, kinship, or non-traditional households. BBBS matches these children with positive, adult role models and then professionally supports their relationships. Learn more about the Sports Buddies program here: https://biglittlecolorado.org/be-a-big/#sportsbuddies
 
Metropolitan State University of Denver has hosted several unique participatory events for Big Brothers Big Sisters over the years. Roadrunners athletics events are also a popular destination for Sports Buddies spectator events. Big Brothers Big Sisters groups attended six MSU Denver athletics events during the 2018-19 academic year.