Code Blue! No, it’s not a medical emergency, it’s time to head to a CNU athletics game. Founded by lacrosse player Adam Paymer, Code Blue is a movement encouraging student athletes (and anyone else) to come out and support their peers from the stands. CNU has outstanding athletics with a variety of impressive accomplishments, but it can often be difficult for athletes to go and watch each other. “We started this initiative because we have such good sports teams here, we’re all like top 10, which is insane, but we just don’t get out and support one another,” Paymar said, “The thing about being a student athlete is that you don’t have a lot of time because all your time is spent with your team. And we all know each other, but it’s tough to get time to really support one another.”

The challenge was finding a manageable way for athletes to show their support in the stands without putting too much pressure on their schedules. After talking with the lacrosse team and Coach Mikey Thompson, the idea of Code Blue was created. “We highlight one game a semester, or a season, where everyone “has to” come out,” Paymar said. The name comes from CNU’s colors and the idea of wearing CNU merch to show support. “We’re wearing blue for this one, but we did a white out with lacrosse last year,” he said.

The organization in charge of coordinating the Code Blue movement is the Student Athletic Advisory Committee, or SAAC. SAAC has several sub-committees for a variety of things, such as athlete mental health and community service, and the organization has members from each team to represent athletes. Because of this set-up, SAAC is able to reach athletes across the board. “The committee heads plus the team reps are in charge of spreading the word through the athletes,” said Paymar, “And then we have an Instagram account, @cnu_saac, which is a great resource, and we encourage everybody to repost everything.”

Despite originating as a way to encourage student athletes to support each other at games, Code Blue participation is by no means limited to athletes only. “Just wear blue and show up, it doesn’t matter if you’re an athlete or not,” Paymar said. The goal is big support for CNU’s amazing athletic teams in all they do. “The goal for this year is to just get everybody there, and for the future, and the next couple of years, hopefully we won’t even have to do a Code Blue.”