This season’s Butler men’s basketball tickets will be extraordinary — and not just because the team will play Atlantic 10 competition for the first time.
No, these tickets are special because they feature drawings by kindergarteners and first-graders from the IPS/Butler University Laboratory School, the elementary school collaboration between Butler University and the Indianapolis Public Schools that opened in fall 2011.
On the tickets for the 18 home games will be child’s-eye views of Hinkle Fieldhouse inside and out, a Bulldog logo, mascot Blue II, players dunking and more. (The drawing shown here is by Larry Wharton III.)
“I think our fans are going to love it,” said Matt Harris, manager of athletic tickets and fan development.
The project began in April when Harris — whose son is a student at the Lab School — approached Lab School Principal Ron Smith with the idea. In late May, one of the school’s classes of kindergartners and first-graders took a field trip around the Butler campus to decide what to draw.
Harris received the finished drawings in mid-June.
“The pictures were all great, and a few were quite exceptional,” he said.
Butler Athletics has been doing specially designed season tickets for a number of years. The 2009-2010 tickets showcased drawings from a coloring contest for kids 12 and younger. Last year’s tickets featured pictures from every NCAA tournament win in Butler history, 1962-2011.
“This is a little different than the time we did drawings before because not only are the kids younger, but there’s a Butler connection, which I think is really cool,” Harris said. “As a parent and an advocate of the Lab School, I try to do whatever I can to let people know about it.”
Season tickets are on sale now through butlersports.com or by calling (317) 940-3647. The tickets will be sent out in early October.
Media contact:
Marc Allan
<a href=”mailto:mallan@butler.edu
(317) 940-9822
