On Saturday, April 6 at 7 p.m.,
the members of Alpha Gamma Chi achieved their record-setting goal for the
longest played game of continuous flag football, “THE GRIDIRON.”

The
reason for attempting this endeavor was to raise funds for Build a City, a
project in Andong, Cambodia, initiated by People for Care and Learning (PCL).
MurMaid Mattress was the chief sponsor of “THE GRIDIRON.”

“Our goal
was to raise $86,000 to fund the marketplace and health clinic projects of the
larger Build a City initiative in Andong,” said Chi president Taylor Trotter.
“We want to break the poverty cycle by providing jobs and improving health in
this Cambodian city.”

The men of Chi took the field at 5 p.m. on
Thursday, April 4, and began recording the play on video and in logbooks in
order to prove to the Guinness Book of World Records officials that they did
indeed meet Guinness’ requirements.

“There were many moments
throughout the game where the members questioned why we were doing this to
ourselves,” said Trotter. “But we quickly had to return to the core purpose for
Build a City and then rally each other around that.”

Students, staff
and members of the community came out to offer their support throughout the 50
hours. Other Lee Greek clubs took shifts throughout the day and night, and a
large crowd gathered to witness the club achieving their 50-hour goal Saturday
evening.
“When the game started to get tough, we had to get creative with
making the game fun,” Trotter said. “We had to be able to laugh out there
because the competitiveness wore off (especially the second night). The two-hour
intervals felt like six hours each, and the four-hour intervals felt like
eternity! We could be freezing in the rain one moment and then be burning up by
the hot sun. In the end, we all rallied together to finish out strong.”

The first 48 hours were played on Lee’s Souther Field, while the last two
hours were played on Lee’s soccer field.

“The highlight was
definitely the last two hours playing in front of everyone on the soccer field,”
said Trotter. “Once we switched over, our legs were rejuvenated, and we knew we
needed to step up for the fans so that we could raise money for Cambodia. It was
surreal when the countdown came.”

Recordings of the 50-hour game
will be sent in to the Guinness World Records organization to finalize the new
record.

The men of Chi have raised approximately $57,000 so far.
Fundraising includes sponsorships, private donations, gifts and merchandise
sales.

Donations can still be made by sending a check with THE
GRIDIRON in the subject line to the attention of Cole Strong at Lee University,
online at www.buildacity.org/gridiron, or by texting “build” to 20222 for a $10
donation.

For more information about the Build a City project visit
www.peopleforcare.org.

PHOTO: Members of the World
Record-breaking group, Lee social service club, Alpha Gamma Chi