The challenge of putting University of Hawaii students in the seats at Aloha Stadium on Saturday is being left to fellow students this week.

Eighteen campus clubs are taking part in the inaugural Warrior Club Challenge, an entrepreneurial competition that rewards the most enterprising plans to bring students to the UH-Fresno State game.

Susan Yamada of the Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship, which is running the competition, said three winning clubs will each receive $2,000 for their efforts.

Competition is in three divisions: most creative, most participation and most spirited.

"The goal," Yamada said, "is to get 1,000 • or more • students there to the game and tailgate than usually attend." Student attendance has been running under 1,000 per game this season, according to UH officials.

PACE annually holds a student competition, and the sight of sparse student turnouts prompted a contest to boost attendance.

The cash prizes have stimulated competition, Yamada said. "A club can wash cars all day and not come up with $2,000," he said.

Athletic director David Matlin said, "It is a really positive program, something we hope to be able to build on for the future."

Attendance among students, who may attend football games without charge under terms of the mandatory $50 per semester student athletic fee, has dwindled, along with turnouts among other constituencies.

"There are buses that take students to the game, but they just aren’t turning out," Yamada said. "Attending a football game just isn’t on a lot of their radar screens right now and this is one way, we think, to encourage student participation and support fellow students who play on the (football) team," Yamada said.

She said the Warrior Club Challenge is open to all student clubs, not just business majors, and is meant to promote entrepreneurial skills and collaborative thinking.

Along with the game, a special student tailgate is being held with a drawing for prizes among those in attendance.