The SEC will bring two initiatives to the 2014 Women’s Basketball Tournament, held March 5-9 at The Arena at Gwinnett Center.

On Friday, March 7, fans are asked to wear purple to support the conference’s We Back Pat initiative.  The first 1500 fans wearing purple to the evening session games will receive a Fierce Courage bracelet courtesy of the Pat Summitt Foundation. 

The Pat Summitt Foundation, A Fund of East Tennessee Foundation, is dedicated to winning the fight against Alzheimer’s disease. Its mission as a grant-making foundation is to advance research for prevention and a cure; to provide hope, care, and critical support for patients, caregivers and families; and to educate the public on the impacts of Alzheimer’s disease and the urgent need for a cure. 

On Saturday (March 8) and Sunday (March 9), the SEC invites all fans to drop off new or gently used sneakers in support of Scouting for Shoes and INNERSOLE. Drop-off boxes will be available at the main entrance to The Arena at Gwinnett Center throughout the weekend and INNERSOLE will provide a t-shirt to the first 500 fans that donate a pair of shoes.

The Girls Scouts of Greater Atlanta will work with ShoeBox Recycling, which is a non-profit recycler for shoes, to send the recycled shoes to various marketplaces in the US and around the developing world. INNERSOLE, a fund of the Central Carolina Community Foundation founded by South Carolina Coach Dawn Staley will take donations of new sneakers and provide them to children who are homeless or who are in need. 

Reserved ticket books are available now.  A ticket book for the tournament contains seven tickets, one for each session, which allows one person to attend all 13 games and can be purchased for $90, the Wednesday and Thursday sessions will be all general admission seating, first-come, first-served. 

Reserved tickets can be purchased by calling (800) 732-4849 or by visiting SECsports.com.  Single session tickets on-sale now.