Fall sports are in full swing, and the need for fundraising is always apparent. However, the RV Girls Soccer Team (RVGS) going door to door and selling sports merch wasn’t the route they wanted to take.
Last month, on September 16, RVGS brought a new idea of fundraising to light with their community yoga event. This event included kids events such as face painting, glitter tattoos, pumpkin painting and most importantly, indoor and outdoor yoga sessions.
“We also had specialists like mindfulness guru, Dr. Linda Whittman, and certified yoga teachers like Coach Jones and Yogi Mike, donate their time to provide indoor/outdoor yoga classes as well as meditation and mindfulness sessions” said head JV coach Keri Jones.
Jones, was a major part in the planning and development of this event, alongside Varsity head coach Brighid Marquess, assistant head coach Brooke Cantwell and freshman coach Nicole McBride, who all worked hard to make this fundraiser a success.
“As a program, we believe in the value of developing our players on and off the field,” Jones said. “Therefore, we wanted to do a fundraiser that gave them the opportunity to give their time and energy to others.”
This new idea was something that no other teams at RV had tried. Combining the ideas of raising money, and also giving back to the community was the perfect mix of work and fun.
“I think that the fundraiser went well,” said sophomore Varsity player Abigail Ondo. “It was different and was not how a lot of the traditional fundraisers are.”
While the coaches were debating on fundraising ideas, they knew they wanted this to be an event for everyone. One that would not only be a fun time for the community, but for the girls as well.
“We wanted our players involved, we wanted to give back to the community, and we wanted to potentially create our own tradition for the RVGS program,” Jones said.
Yoga has always been an important part of RVGS, it allows the players and coaches to relax and find peace within a sport that can at times be very stressful.
“We wanted to bring the beneficial things we do as a team, like yoga and meditation, to our community,” Jones said. “Life is busy. Life is messy. These tools can benefit anyone and we wanted to share them with the community.”
Not only was this event a lot of fun, but it also took a lot of work to plan and put together. The captains, seniors Abby Odenheimer and Leah Howe, also played a major part in planning this event and making sure the team and community felt included. With them, and the help of all three teams (JV, Varsity, and Freshman), they were able to make this event a success.
“ I think that the fundraiser was successful and now that we have done it once, it can only get better,” said Ondo.
This fundraiser was not just a way for RVGS to raise money, but also to thank the community for always supporting the team. The girls turned something that was supposed to be draining into something that they could enjoy and develop for many years to come.
