BVU invites Storm Lake families to free Dam Good Sports Day

Free food, live music, inflatables for kids and a dunk tank will fill J. Leslie Rollins Stadium and Peterson Field on April 25, when Buena Vista University opens its campus to Storm Lake families for Dam Good Sports Day. The afternoon, set for 1 to 4 p.m., is open to the public and aimed at children of all ages, turning the university grounds into a low-cost outing for parents and kids across Buena Vista County.

BVU Athletics and the School of Business, through the Sport Business program, are hosting the event as a celebration of Beaver athletics with students, families and the wider community invited. The day will begin at 1 p.m. with the first annual Battle for the Net Cup, a kickball game between BVU women’s soccer and women’s basketball. At 2 p.m., the Men’s Soccer Alumni Game will bring former players back to campus for another round of competition and reconnect the program with its past.

The format matters in Storm Lake, where BVU is one of the town’s biggest anchors and campus events can easily draw residents from across the county. The university describes Storm Lake as a robust community, pointing to six beaches, nine parks and miles of trails, including three parks directly next to campus. BVU also says the city is the fourth-largest glacial lake in Iowa, covering 3,097 acres, and notes that a recent National Council for Home Safety and Security list ranked Storm Lake as the 13th safest city in Iowa.

Dam Good Sports Day is also part of a busier stretch of free spring programming from the university. BVU has scheduled a free Spring Football Fest for April 16 and Buenafication Day for April 23, giving families multiple chances to spend time on campus before the month ends. Taken together, the events show BVU leaning into the role of a community asset, using sports, food and free activities to make its grounds feel less separate from town life and more like a shared space for Storm Lake.