The University of Illinois Division of Intercollegiate Athletics (DIA) alongside Inclusive Illinois, the International Students and Scholar Services Office (ISSS), and the Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) hosted the third annual Football 101 event at Memorial Stadium on Wednesday night. The event welcomed both international and domestic students to learn more about the game of football.

The program consisted of three segments, starting with three instructional videos about the basics of Football. Fighting Illini football head coach Bill Cubit then welcomed the students and spoke about having a strong student presence and his enthusiasm for the initiatives directed at engaging international students with Fighting Illini football. Lastly, students and scholars broke into groups and took part in football drills under the instruction of the Fighting Illini football coaching staff.

With nearly 10,000 international students attending the University of Illinois, Football 101 continued the strong push by the DIA to engage international students. Beginning this season, each Fighting Illini home football game at Memorial Stadium is broadcasted in Mandarin Chinese. Additionally, the DIA, Inclusive Illinois, ISSS and CSSA have partnered to host the second Basketball Carnival on October 2 to connect international students with the Fighting Illini basketball programs.