The newest Hunger Games arena was in the Seaton Center on March 22, when the Student Activities Board brought Archery Tag to campus.

According to Associate Board Director for Traditions Alethia Placencia, the idea for the event came from another one of SAB’s board members after working with the company previously as an resident advisor.

“It’s really helpful to see companies that have relationships with other groups on campus,” she said.

With safety masks on and bows handed out, six of the seven players each round waited for their runner to retrieve the first round of arrows. Once the signal was given, the two runners would dart to the center of the court and grab as many arrows as humanly possible before the game truly began. With the arrows on each side, students were told to shoot at the other team out and if they got touched by a foam arrow they were out.

With the game resembling a cross between dodgeball and archery, everyone was at an equal playing field. According to freshman finance major Justin Colvin, having archery experience didn’t give him the advantage he thought it would.

“I bow hunt but not with any of this equipment; this is actually quite challenging,” Colvin said.

“They were talking about coming here and absolutely demolishing everyone and being dressed in camo and face painted out,” Colvin said of why he came with his friends to the event.

As the night continued, several members of SAB joined the fun and made their own team to challenge the other students.

Freshman Traditions Chair Katie Meyr was not afraid to embrace her inner Katniss Everdeen, even though they had to stop the introduction to “explain to me what the heck to do.”

“I decided to try it because it sounded fun and why not?” she said. 

When it comes to planning events, SAB is always thinking one step ahead. According to both Meyr and Palacenica, events are all prepared a semester ahead based off what SAB members and students come up with. With yesterday being the first time SAB held archery tag, the return of the event depends on student feedback.

“We look at the post-event survey to see how people liked it and see what went wrong and right so we can see how to improve it. It’s up to the future of SAB to interpret the data and see if they want to bring it back,” Palacenica said.

SAB’s next event will be Binglow on March 25 at 7 p.m. in the Gatton Student Center Ballroom A. For the latest Student Activities Board events and updates, students can stay updated through BBNvolved or through SAB’s social media pages on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.