TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- University of Alabama football team members and Crimson Tide Head Coach Mike Price will trade their pigskin for croquet mallets as they go wicket-to-wicket with student Ambassadors from UA's College of Arts and Sciences in the second annual College of Arts and Sciences Croquet Bowl. The event will be held Saturday, March 22, from 9-11 a.m. on Woods Quadrangle on the UA campus and will benefit the United Way of West Alabama. The event is free and open to the public.

Crimson Tide football players will team up on the lawn with members of the Bama Belles, UA's department of athletics hostess organization, in an attempt to seize the Croquet Bowl trophy from the Ambassadors, who have held it since roundly, but very politely, beating the football players last year in three out of three games.

Price and members of the Crimson Tide coaching staff will be on the lawn-lines to coach the football players. College of Arts and Sciences Dean Robert Olin and his associate deans will be calling the plays for the Ambassadors.

“The Ambassadors completely shut out the Crimson Tide players last year to take the trophy home. Our wickets are ready for another big win,” said Olin.

Price declined to comment on the Crimson Tide’s inability to cross the wicket enough times to take the win in last year’s Croquet Bowl. “It’s going to be a whole new ballgame this year,” he said.

The Ambassadors is an organization of student hosts in the College of Arts and Sciences.

The teams are already competing to see which can raise the most money for the United Way of West Alabama with sponsorships. A football player can be sponsored in the game for a $100 donation to the United Way; A&S Ambassadors can be sponsored for a $50 donation each; a Bama Belle, $50; an individual wicket play by a member of either team, $25; a turn at the ball, $10.

In the tournament, male members of the Ambassadors will be matched against Bama Belles, while female members of the Ambassadors will take on Crimson Tide football players.

Spectators are encouraged to bring lawn chairs or blankets to watch the game. Team members will be available for autographs at the conclusion of the tournament.

A representative of the United Way will serve as referee for the tournament which will be played according to United States Croquet Association rules for Nine-Wicket Croquet. Three games will be played, with six team members on each side.

The College of Arts and Sciences is the University's largest division and Alabama's largest liberal arts college with 6,000 students and 340 faculty in over 26 departments and programs.