By MATT PIKE

St. Joseph Post

Missouri Western State University will once again host elementary and middle school students as the Field Trip with the Griffs returns, this year going a little bigger.

In the inaugural year of the event, MoWest invited students from within the St. Joseph School District. It was so well received; the district wanted to do it again.

Senior Associate Athletic Director Ryan Menley says the district is planning to bring even more students to the event in the second year

“So that led us to looking into a second game and basically saying well what does this look like for a men’s and a women’s game this year and the second date basically inviting all the surrounding counties,” Menley tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post. “Because there’s almost 30 schools around St. Joseph in a 30-mile radius in eight or nine surrounding counties and we figured why not extend the invitation, because the only negative last year, we were limited on space.”

And this year, with two games, along with the St. Joseph School District, MoWest will invite students from around the Midland Empire, all the way from Mound City to Troy, Kansas.

Senior Associate Athletic Director Ryan Menley says it’s important for Missouri Western to showcase the university and get people on campus who may have never stepped foot on it.

“I think this is a really good opportunity to build relationships with some of these schools and really some of these communities that this becomes an event,” Menley explains.

In addition, Menley says every student who attends will receive a rally towel that acts as a season ticket, in hopes that those students will return to campus for more games.

Menley says the hope is that following the event, students will continue to come back to campus, growing the next generation of Griffons and Griffon fans.

“I think that’s really the focus here, yes it’s a great moment, it’s a great memory, it’s a great event, but we are trying to build something for the long term, and I think that’s the secondary goal of these two education games,” Menley says. “And especially with the Midland Empire game, where getting the Maysville’s the Stewartsville’s, the Cameron’s, the Plattsburg’s to step foot on our campus and remember that this is your hometown university.”

All of the St. Joseph School District will be in attendance on Monday to see the Griffon women face Livin the Dream, while several schools from the surrounding area will watch the men on Tuesday take on Avila.

Both games will be at 11am, making it a true field trip for students. An estimated 5,000 students from 37 area elementary schools will be in attendance over the two games.

You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.