A tradition full of smiles continued in its fourth year for the Iowa State Cyclone football team.

Since Matt Campbell has taken over as the head coach for the Iowa State football team, the Cyclones have been part of a tradition called “Victory Day” on the last Friday night before the regular season begins. Victory Day is held at MidAmerican Energy Field at Jack Trice Stadium to give children with disabilities the opportunity to run drills with the team and score a touchdown. 

“Everybody’s bought into it here,” Campbell said. “It’s just an opportunity to give back to our community.”

Campbell carried the tradition on from his days in Toledo and has become something he feels is important no matter where he is coaching.

Even though it’s something Campbell brought over, the Cyclone players also consider this day important.

“I think it puts everything in perspective,” Campbell said. “Sometimes you can get caught up so much in college football and everything else that’s going on that you lose perspective of reality.

“I think it puts what our real mission is back into place.”

The players made the camp enjoyable for the kids, but also found it fun themselves. Laughs and smiles were shared all around, not just from the kids who got a chance to experience a day on the field, but also from the Cyclone players and coaches. 

The band and the cheer team also showed up to the event to give the full effect of an on-field experience.

“I remember the first time we walked out here and our band was all in on it, our cheer team — all in on it, our spirit squad — all in on it, Cy — all in on it,” Campbell said. “When you have everybody involved, that makes it really powerful.”