Barefoot Athletics Challenge Celebrates 10th Anniversary

Listen

The annual Barefoot Athletics Challenge returns next week, March 6-8, rallying alumni, friends, and fans to support Babson’s athletic programs.

Logo of the 2023 Barefoot Athletics ChallengeThis year is extra special because it marks the 10th anniversary of a popular Babson tradition, which encourages alumni athletes, parents of student-athletes, and Babson superfans to make a gift in support of the College’s student-athletes. For a decade, the Barefoot Challenge has helped provide funding for team travel, new training equipment and technology, assistant coach positions, leadership development, and mental health resources for student-athletes.

The Barefoot Athletics Challenge—initially funded by former Babson President Brian Barefoot ’66, H’09, P’01—is the biggest single fundraiser for Babson Athletics. To date, it has raised more than $1.2 million in contributions from more than 12,000 Babson alumni, family, and friends, and $90,000 in challenge prize money has been awarded. Last year, the Barefoot Challenge generated record numbers with 1,841 donors contributing $235,320.

With the addition of the women’s golf team for the next academic year, Babson will have 23 athletic programs. During the challenge, the men’s and women’s athletics teams—which include about one-quarter of the College’s undergraduate population—compete to help unlock $10,000 in challenge funds, and the team with the highest percentage of alumni donors receives an additional $5,000 in challenge funds.

It’s an exciting time for Babson’s winter sports teams, which advanced in postseason competition:

Posted in Babson Briefs

More from Babson Briefs »

Latest Stories

Sheikha Al-Otaibi sitting outside
Sheikha Al-Otaibi ’25 Wants to Talk to You Sheikha Al-Otaibi ’25 spent her time at Babson finding out what she’s really passionate about. As the undergraduate Commencement student speaker, she’s ready to tell the whole story.
By
Melissa Savignano
Writer
Melissa Savignano
Melissa Savignano, a content marketing manager at Babson College, has worked in higher education for almost a decade, where she tells authentic, compelling campus and community stories. Before Babson, she managed communications for Boston University’s largest college, the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. She previously worked in client relations, helping brands of various sizes launch content marketing strategies and storytelling initiatives. When not at work, you will find her in the city of Boston, probably at the movie theater.
May 13, 2025

Posted in Community

The Boston Celtics play a game at their home arena of TD Garden
Big Bucks for the Boston Celtics: What a Record-Breaking Sale Means for the Brand and Its Fans Babson Associate Professor Anjali Bal looks at the $6.1 billion sale of the Boston Celtics, what it says about the team’s winning brand, and whether such an exorbitant price tag is good or bad for a fan base.
By
John Crawford
Senior Journalist
John Crawford
A writer for Babson Thought & Action and the Babson Magazine, John Crawford has been telling the College’s entrepreneurial story for more than 15 years. Assignments for Babson have taken him from Rwanda to El Salvador, from the sweet-smelling factory of a Pennsylvania candy maker, to the stately Atlanta headquarters of an NFL owner, to the bustling office of a New York City fashion designer. Beyond his work for Babson, he has written articles and essays for The Philadelphia Inquirer, Notre Dame Magazine, The Good Men Project, and other publications. He can be found on Twitter, @crawfordwriter, where he tweets about climate change.
May 12, 2025

Posted in Insights

Kai Ogenah shaking hands with Arthur Blank
Class of 2025: How Sports Shaped One Student’s Babson Experience Kai Ogenah ’25, an ardent sports fan, found a way to spread joy on campus on and off the court while at Babson.
By
Melissa Savignano
Writer
Melissa Savignano
Melissa Savignano, a content marketing manager at Babson College, has worked in higher education for almost a decade, where she tells authentic, compelling campus and community stories. Before Babson, she managed communications for Boston University’s largest college, the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. She previously worked in client relations, helping brands of various sizes launch content marketing strategies and storytelling initiatives. When not at work, you will find her in the city of Boston, probably at the movie theater.
May 12, 2025

Posted in Community