Clemson Wins Inaugural EcoAthletes Collegiate Cup Powered by Climategames
3-Month Competition Among EcoAthletes Champions from 14 Universities Converts Exercise into Carbon Reduction
Combined Duke-Stanford Squad Earns 2nd; Rutgers Comes in 3rd; Climate Wins
What if exercise could lead to reductions in carbon emissions? Sounds impossible, no?
No.
The inaugural EcoAthletes Collegiate Cup did just that.
Funded by EcoAthletes, a nonprofit that ‘inspires and coaches athletes to lead climate action’, the Collegiate Cup was powered by an innovative app-based technology from Climategames that converts exercise (running, swimming, cycling, etc.) into an environmental currency. That eco-currency was used to invest in two important projects that remove atmospheric carbon immediately, in real time:
Methane capture and conversion into clean electricity generation in Brazil
Peatland restoration in Indonesia
The Collegiate Cup was spearheaded by a group of 28 student-athletes and climate-motivated EcoAthletes Champions from 14 US universities. They are using their platforms to lead the much needed #ClimateComeback. The Champions encouraged their fellow student-athletes, friends, and family members to sign up for the Climategames app, join their team and then to work out.
Ana Klenke (Photo credit: Clemson Athletics)
The team that exercised the most on aggregate would win the first-ever EcoAthletes Collegiate Cup.
Clemson, led by EcoAthletes Champion and rising senior rower Ana Klenke, won the inaugural Collegiate Cup, with an outstanding, wire-to-wire performance. The combined Duke-Stanford team took 2nd place, with Rutgers coming in 3rd.
“Excitement is the first thing that came to mind when we heard that we’d won the Collegiate Cup!” exclaimed Klenke. “Sharing this news with my teammates and friends who’d participated was an incredible moment. We were all ecstatic for a few reasons. This past year, Clemson started the Student Athlete Sustainability Committee to bridge the gap between the University’s sustainability efforts and athletics. The Collegiate Cup is one way we collectively decided to show our drive showcasing our sustainability commitments. The idea that something athletes do every day, for example rowing, can benefit others outside the space one is currently in is amazing! It adds another layer of drive and purpose to training, especially on hard days. Typically training as a collegiate athlete, one only thinks about making themselves and their team better. This challenge allows that mindset to grow to include making the planet better.”
Alayna Burns, a rising senior on the Duke field hockey team, became the Durham, NC school’s first EcoAthletes Champion after the Collegiate Cup had started, which meant it was too late for them to be part of the competition.
Except that Burns would not take no for an answer.
Alayna Burns (Photo credit: Duke University Athletics)
“I really loved the idea that by exercising, we could take carbon out of the atmosphere, and I knew I could get Duke students to join in, Burns enthused.. “We just had to be a part of it! So, we partnered with the already existing Stanford team, thanks to their rising senior golfer and EcoAthletes Champion Rebecca Becht. Even though we got a late start, I am so proud of the Duke and Stanford community for exercising for the climate and for getting us to 2nd place!” Rutgers came in 3rd, with NC State taking the 4th spot.
For this first EcoAthletes Collegiate Cup, Klenke, Burns, Becht and the EcoAthletes Champions on the 11 other participating campuses were able to engage more than 150 other student-athletes, family and friends to sign on to the Climategames app and thus have their running steps, cycling pedal strokes, and/or swimming strokes converted into investments into the two projects described above. And run, ride and swim they did – to the tune of 6,800 miles! Thanks to the Climategames app, EcoAthletes converted that sweat equity into the removal of atmospheric carbon equivalent to the avoidance of 2.35 tons of coal being burned.
Rebecca Becht (Photo credit: Stanford Athletics)
“The success of the first EcoAthletes Collegiate Cup is due to the commitment, creativity and consistency of our student-athletes Champions like Ana Klenke, Alayna Burns, Rebecca Becht and many more,” shared EcoAthletes CEO and founder Lew Blaustein. “Congratulations to Ana and Clemson for winning the Cup; thanks to her leadership and drive, Clemson led from Day One and never looked back! Truth is, the Collegiate Cup was a success for every Champion and every school that competed. People exercised more than they would and thus got in better shape. And every time they took a step or made a pedal stroke, carbon was removed from the atmosphere. That’s what I call a win-win!”
“Climategames was excited to power the inaugural EcoAthletes Collegiate Cup,” said CEO and Founder Martin Lacey. “We’re based in Great Britain where university athletics is not nearly as big as it is in the States. So, it was eye-opening to us to see the enthusiasm and participation rates of these student-athletes and EcoAthletes Champions. That important carbon removal projects in Brazil and Indonesia received funding is a great result of that enthusiasm!”