One of the greatest pieces of Americana is “March Madness,” the NCAA Basketball Tournament that captivates every corner of the country. This year, NDA’s Student Government is putting its own spin on it. 

Freshman Eddie Lagowski came up with the idea of hosting a March Madness Tournament during Advisory. 

“I came up with this idea because in student government we were talking about spring ideas, and I thought this tournament would be fun,” said Lagowski.

The overseers of the tournament are Frau Laaksonen and Mrs. Holly  Hinch, and they were quick to credit Lagowski for coming up with the idea.

“This was 100% Eddie’s idea,” said Laaksonen. “He took it and ran with it.”

The tournament will be spread out over three advisory periods with the opening round beginning on March 6th and the championship being on April 3.

“The winning team will get a trophy,” said Lagowski. “I haven’t decided if we should do an MVP award or not.”

Eight total teams participate in the single-elimination tournament. The first round games will be ten minutes, semi-finals 15 and the championship game will be a 20-minute game to finish it off. 

This is a new idea that has already seen a payoff with the number of students packing the gym to watch the quarterfinal matchups. The arrow for this event is seemingly pointing in a positive direction.

“We always pressure our student government kids about what legacy they will leave behind,” said Laaksonen. “The hope is that this becomes a new tradition much like Food Truck Friday. That started in a student government meeting and has been a tradition ever since.” 

The longtime voice of March Madness, Jim Nantz, has a saying, “A tradition unlike any other,” and that is the goal for this tournament for many years to come.