Princeton Athletics has had their fair share of success against opponents this fall, but transitioned their focus outside of competition for Tiger Athletics Give Day (TAGD) on Tuesday, Dec. 3. The 11th iteration of the tradition, TAGD seeks to use the Princeton Athletics community to raise funds for charity each year on Giving Tuesday.
As has been the case in every previous iteration of the event, they broke the giving record by raking in an outstanding $5.77 million to support each team in their quests for Ivy League and National championships. The funding allows teams to cover travel, equipment, facility costs, and other expenses that allow Princeton Athletics to continue to compete at a high level.
“Each and every year, the passion and support shown on Tiger Athletics Give Day is astounding,” Director of Athletics John Mack ’00 wrote in a statement. “I firmly believe that there is no better student-athlete experience in all of college athletics than the one at Princeton.”
The main goal of TAGD is to support the 38 varsity teams, along with club teams, on campus in their effort to further Education through Athletics.
Rowing had the highest number of donors overall this year, coming in at a whopping 1,123. The program had multiple alumni compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics, including both Nick Mead ’17 and Hannah Scott ’21 bringing home gold for Team USA and Great Britain, respectively. Mead was also the flag bearer for the Americans at the closing ceremony.
The rest of the varsity sports were split into groups depending on the sizes of the programs, with the winners receiving additional funding as an incentive to encourage as much participation as possible. Track, baseball/softball, water polo, and volleyball all won their respective brackets for the highest number of donors, earning an additional $10,000 from Princeton Varsity Club (PVC).
These bonus funds are provided by the PVC Board of Directors, who over the last 10 years have allocated nearly $2 million in bonus funds to teams.
Comparing 2024 to 2023, Princeton Athletics raised $400,000 more than their $5.3 million figure in 2023. However, only Baseball and Softball combined alongside Tennis had more donors than last year.
Lacrosse raised the most money out of all teams this TAGD, with $776,447 tallied. The other brackets were won by soccer, wrestling, and golf.
“We are incredibly grateful for the tremendous support,” men’s lacrosse Head Coach Matt Madalon wrote to the ‘Prince.’ “Truly remarkable showing from our alumni, family, and friends. We look forward to representing this group on the field this spring.”
Wrestling Assistant Coach Joe Dubuque shared similar appreciation to the supporters.
“I am extremely lucky and grateful to be surrounded by such an amazing group of supporters in alumni, family, friends and fans,” Dubuque said. “Last night was a testament to the belief our supporters have in the program and what it can be.”
“Week by week, I am constantly talking to alumni and I feel their support, but it was definitely on full display during TAGD,” sophomore wrestling captain Ty Whalen told the ‘Prince.’ “We raised $300,000 from around 280 different donors, so it’s pretty incredible the support that we have and it’s definitely motivating. We are all very grateful.”
Additionally, all teams exceeded their 10-year historical TAGD averages (2014–2023), granting bonus funds for their programs. Soccer, coming off successful men’s and women’s seasons, exceeded their historical average by the most, raising 428 percent more and granting them an additional $5,000 in funding. Moreover, soccer raised the second-most with nearly $550,000 in donations.
“It’s great to reconnect with former players who are so energized on TAGD and eager to help the program by giving back and competing for bonus funds,” men’s soccer Head Coach Jim Barlow said. “[Women’s soccer Head Coach] Sean [Driscoll] and I were amazed at the ways in which our alumni group mobilized to spread the word about TAGD, and contributed to the future success of our programs.”
PVC also attracted 25 new Lifetime Members, beating their goal of 15 and granting an additional $10,000 for the organization.
“TAGD would not be possible without the hard work and creativity of our student-athletes, coaches, staff, Friends Group leaders/volunteers, and campus colleagues who worked tirelessly to make this day possible,” Mack wrote.
Mack ended his statement by writing, “I am appreciative of the effort everyone puts into TAGD to further enrich the championship-level experience in competition and on campus for Princeton student-athletes.”
Hayk Yengibaryan is an associate Sports editor and News contributor for the ‘Prince.’
Doug Schwartz is a Sports contributor and a News contributor for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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