Big Ten Athletics and Illini Spirit with Sydney and Chase

Transcript

When it comes to school spirit, there’s nothing quite like being at a big 10 university. The atmosphere and energy here on game days is absolutely insane. You can cheer on the teams through the Illini Pride U of I Student Fan Base. Not only do they organize these huge cheery sections but they also raise money for charity. If playing sports in college is your goal, there are tons of club teams and intramurals to join on campus, plus the 21 division one teams. Right now, we’re gonna head over to the amazing new Henry Dale and Betty Smith Football Center so you can hear from not one, but two of those fighting Illini athletes, twins in fact. Sydney and chase, please take it away.

Alex, I appreciate the introduction. Hi everyone, I’m Sydney.

And I’m Chase.

And as you can tell, we’re identical twins and we don’t make it easy on people by having the same hair, going to the same university, and playing on the same football team. I’m gonna be taking you through the first segment here. Chase, so we’ll see you soon.

Being part of an NCAA football team has been a dream of mine and my brother’s since we were nine years old. Our father played three seasons in the CFL, so it’s kind of in our blood. As we started having more success in the sport, we noticed to make it to the next level, we had to experience a whole new level of training and competition. The minute I stepped on campus at the University of Illinois, it felt special to me. No other university had what Illinois had to offer. You not only get that Ivy League type of education, but you get to play football in the big 10, one of the best in the nation. You get to play and train in amazing facilities. I mean, look at this. We’ve got the best strength and conditioning, sports med, nutrition, you name it.

When we dreamed of playing college football, we knew we’d have chance at the national stage playing in front of tens, even hundreds of thousands of fans. There’s nothing like that feeling on game day. Walking through the tailgating during the Illini walk, running out onto the field to the sounds of the fight song from the marching Illini. And of course, celebrating with your team in the locker room after big wins. It will give you chills.

I’ll take it from here Syd. At Illinois, being part of a team feels more like being a part of one big family. We work so hard together all year long to assure that we are successful on the field. Now, we start with early weight room workouts, long hours of practice, and grueling camp days. But our family is even larger than just a football team. With 21 sports and over 500 student athletes on campus, we go out every single year and fight for big 10 in national championships so that we can represent that name in our chest, “The Fighting Illini.”

More than half of our sports are ranked in the top 25, every single year nationally. Athletics helps provide passion and spirit for the university, a way for us to all come together and celebrate. We truly believe that football has changed our lives. Because we came to Illinois, we’re going to leave with a lifetime of memories, an experience through sport that has taught us the power of leadership, determination and fighting through adversity. But more than anything, we will receive a degree from one of the best universities in the world. We’re going to leave with a unique identity, being a Fighting Illini, one of hundreds of thousands across the globe. And everywhere we go, we will hear I-L-L –

I-N-I!

Back to you, Alex.

You guys, your story is just awesome. Thank you for sharing it and best of luck next season. Cheers guys.