With an awards ceremony, a food drive and desserts succeeding, RBHS will host its annual Bruin Cup at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 13 at the Crossing church, 3615 Southland Drive.
The event is a student-created and executed end-of-year all-sports banquet sponsored by the RBHS booster club.
Not only does the evening put on a celebration for all of the sports accomplishments, throughout the year, but it also helps students and their families give back to the community.
At the ceremony, students and faculty will have the opportunity to give to a food drive.
Lexi Piecko, a sophomore student committee member, helps organize this collection. “There will be buckets where families can donate canned foods,” Piecko said. “We have done it in years past, and it has gone pretty well.”
The Bruin Cup student board began planning for the 22-team program in early November, while working among Athletic Director David Egan. Booster club members began planning in September. Bruin Cup offers a large ceremony that recognizes accomplishments throughout that school year and in the case of some spring sports, from the previous year, Piecko said.
During the ceremony, awards are given to members of all levels of RBHS sports teams from freshman or C team, JV to varsity.
Additionally, the event will offer a slew of crowd-voted awards that range from best sports couple to best shoes. Throughout the night, the Bruin Cup committee will give attendees the opportunity to select one of four options for the awards available on the social media website, Twitter.
Bruin Cup, however, is more than just recognizing standout athletes on each sports team. The staff and committee work with the school to shine a light on the students who get their work done in the classroom and those who work to give back to their community.
“The four pillars of Bruin Cup are athletic achievement, academic achievement, fan recognition and community service,” Egan said.
These focus points alone make Bruin Cup a far different awards banquet than most. Piecko helps to make the spotlight shine on all hard working Rock Bridge athletes. “[Bruin Cup] is to recognize members from all levels of teams not just the star player,” Piecko said. “It gives a chance for all of the things people have done to be seen and recognizes people who are good for the team even though they might not be the best on the team.”
The seventh annual event has become an embedded part of RBHS culture and tradition since its beginning. Each year large recognitions at Bruin Cup give smaller, less known about sports a boost. Junior Mary Capron, who has been a part of the track team and the girls basketball team during her three years at RBHS, has gone to every Bruin Cup offered to her. Some accomplishments at RBHS tend to be masked by other, more popular activities, and Bruin Cup allows for those to be recognized. “Sometimes you find out about golf or tennis, the sports that not a lot of people talk about, and they do really well,” Capron said.
Though some enjoy learning about fellow athletes’ accomplishments, Egan says the best thing about Bruin Cup is its celebratory nature. “The Bruin Cup provides an opportunity for the Rock Bridge athletic community to come together at the end of the year,” Egan said. “The event allows for an opportunity to celebrate and reinforce our greater purpose for education-based athletics.”