Student Activities hosts a night of neon

Students piled into the neon-lit Thomas Indoor Soccer Center to play Neon Mini Golf March 2.

Inside the Thomas Indoor Soccer Center, the dark room glowed from neon bar lights and LED pylons. The course consisted of 18 holes and wrapped around the arena. Attendees putted a glowing golf ball around the course and wore glow sticks on their wrists.

Event Supervisor Gabriella Trotte worked alongside other Student Activities’ staff to plan for the event over the past three months. Trotte’s team focused on preparing for this night. Specifically, Student Activities partnered with Glow Vibe Golf to provide the LED glow golf system. According to Glow Vibe Golf’s website, it delivers glow golf equipment to organizations across the United States.

Along with the mini golf course, Student Activities set up other glow-in-the-dark yard games to match the theme. These games included Spikeball, a glow bucket challenge and frisbee golf.

“We want to make sure all of our events include everybody, whether you’re a commuter or an on-campus student,” Trotte said.

One reason Trotte believes that students enjoy this event is because of the physical activity involved.

“This is a newer event for (Student Activities),” Trotte said. “Rather than going to a trivia night or bingo night with us, there is a hands-on activity that students and friends can be a part of.”

Freshman Simon Smithley attended Neon Mini Golf with a large group of his friends. He explained how this event allowed friends to come together and participate in an activity.

“It reminds me of home,” Smithley said. “I had a large family growing up, so it reminds me of the whole family hanging out together.”

Groups like Smithley’s spent time dancing to music while waiting to golf.

Trotte saw some groups battle for the best score.

“Some of them get extremely competitive. We get a lot of friend groups who compete against each other,” Trotte said.

On hole 14 of the course, skilled attendees who earned a hole-in-one were able to choose from an array of prizes: remote control cars, Nerf blasters, stuffed animals and sunglasses.

“The students love neon mini golf,” Trotte said. “Attendance has always gone up with this event. We get different prizes every time, so students gain excitement to see what they can earn.”   

Student Activities strives to create opportunities for students to interact with their events and create lasting memories.

“(In all events) we want to make sure that students have an opportunity to create and have fun,” Trotte said. “We want to make sure they are hands-on with our event and not just consuming.”

Garman is a news reporter for the Liberty Champion