AMES – The Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) will complete the ROTC Game Ball Run from Kinnick Stadium to Ames, Iowa, on Friday, Sept. 8, one day prior to the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series football game between Iowa and Iowa State.
Nearly 50 Army ROTC cadets from the University of Iowa will kick off the journey from Kinnick Stadium to Tama, Iowa, on Friday at 7:30 a.m. (CT). Once the cadets arrive in Tama, they will hand off the football (symbolic in nature, not a game ball) with cadets from Iowa State’s ROTC. Those cadets will finish the second half of the run from Tama to Jack Trice Stadium.
The ROTC Game Ball Run travels by foot and van, and the UI cadets are accompanied on the trip by Herky, Hawkeye cheerleaders, and members of the Iowa Army National Guard. The cadets make stops in Williamsburg, Marengo, and Belle Plaine before arriving in Tama.
The cadets will run a combined 10-12 miles at the checkpoints, visiting local schools along the way and collecting items to support local food banks.
The first Army ROTC Game Ball Run was Sept. 19, 1987. The 2023 run is the 35th in the event’s history. The Game Ball Run was designed to build esprit de corps among cadets of the UI and ISU, and became a fundraiser for the Multiple Sclerosis Society when a UI cadet was diagnosed with the degenerative disease.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS: Friday, Sept. 08
7:30 a.m. — UI Army ROTC cadets depart Kinnick Stadium from the Kinnick statue to begin journey.
8:20 a.m. — visit Williamsburg High School (Williamsburg)
8:30 a.m. – visit Mary Welsh Elementary School (Williamsburg)
9:15 a.m. – visit Iowa Valley Jr / Sr High School (Marengo)
9:20 a.m. – visit Iowa Valley Elementary School (Marengo)
9:40 a.m. – visit Rose Haven Nursing Home in Marengo
10:30 a.m. – visit Belle Plaine High School
10:40 a.m. – visit Longfellow Elementary School (Belle Plaine)
10:55 a.m. – visit Belle Plaine’s Hawkeye Mural (photo opportunities)
12:00 p.m. – visit South Tama County Elementary School (Tama)
12:10 a.m. – cookout for UI and ISU cadets at Tama Country Club
