First Kid Captain of Iowa Hawkeyes football season selects first song for Wave

IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) - The first Kid Captain of the Iowa Hawkeye football season selected the first song to play during the Wave.

The University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital announced Eli Belser, 7, of Elkader, will be the Kid Captain for the Hawkeyes’ game against South Dakota State on Saturday at Kinnick Stadium.

In a tweet, the university said Belser chose the song “Brave” by Sara Bareilles.

Sara Bareilles responded to the announcement with a tweet of her own, saying, “I love this! Thank you, Eli!”

For the past 13 college football seasons, the hospital has partnered with the Iowa Hawkeyes to pick kid captains to honor and celebrate their inspirational stories.

The wave tradition began at Kinnick in 2017 and sees fans, athletes and coaches from both teams stop to wave at patients and their families inside the hospital.

Originally, the University of Iowa asked fans to vote for a new song to play during the wave, but it later decided to leave the choice up to the kid captains.

Read a full profile about Eli Belser on the hospital’s website.

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