“LA CROSSE, Wis. (WXOW) – This Friday and Saturday around 3,000 student athletes and 19,000 spectators will pour into Veterans Memorial Sports Complex at UW-La Crosse for the WIAA State Track and Field Meet. And days before the event, volunteers are hard at work preparing.

On Tuesday, volunteers set up mats and started moving around 50 sets of bleachers to accommodate the 22,000 thousand people expected to attend the event.

“They’re not light,” said Cy Badertscher, UW-La Crosse Track Athlete and Volunteer.

This year, 700 to 800 volunteers will work to make the event a success. Without their help, the competition could not happen in La Crosse.

“The WIAA, they take a net loss on this event each year,” said Josh Buchholtz, On-Site Coordinator for the WIAA State Track and Field Meet. “And so all the volunteers that we have are very vital to how this thing operates.”

Lucky for the WIAA, finding volunteers is not an issue.

“They sent out an email looking for volunteers,” said Badertscher, “and I know, I think it filled up in like four hours.”

Volunteers take care of everything from cleaning and setting up hurdles to working the gates and taking measurements during the meet.

“State Meet kind of takes over our whole week but we like it,” said Badertscher. “It’s probably our favorite time of the year when we’re not competing.”

“I think the biggest challenges we have are just coordinating all of the efforts,” said Buchholtz. “It’s a multifaceted event.”

But even with a good crew of volunteers Buchholtz say there will be plenty of hurtles during the event.

“We’ve got all kinds of hurdles that are going to come out here,” said Buccholtz. “So yeah, we’ll have hurdles. But we’ve going to make sure we go over them smoothly.”

Buccholtz said Tuesday and Wednesday are the busiest set-up days because UW-L has to be “meet-ready” by Thursday morning when it’s inspected by WIAA officials.”

Source: http://www.wxow.com/story/25685578/2014/06/03/volunteers-play-essential-role-in-state-track-and-field-meet

“On a brisk spring afternoon, members of the CREC Public Safety Academy soccer and track and field teams took some time to give back to the CREC community.

As part of their commitment to community service, student athletes from the public-service themed high school traveled from Enfield to Glastonbury to participate in a collaborative soccer game with elementary-aged students from the Glastonbury-East Hartford Magnet School (GEMS).

Students from GEMS signed up to take part in the soccer game, which was offered as a feature of their afterschool enrichment programming. The young students were excited to show off their skills to the opposing high school athletes. There was a collaborative, but competitive spirit in the air as students from GEMS demonstrated that they were fierce competitors; one was even overheard asking the high school students not to go easy on them. “We’re not kids,” he said.

The afternoon was a time of enjoyment for all, and the students at GEMS are excited for and looking forward to a possible rematch against their bigger foes in the near future. The athletics program at the CREC Public Safety Academy, in addition to four other CREC high schools, was expanded just this year to include junior varsity. The program was carefully designed to be an extension of the district’s academic programming, including using athletics as an avenue to get CREC students more involved in the community. Participating students reside in many surrounding towns, including Bloomfield, Ellington, Enfield, Granby, Hartford, South Windsor, Windsor, and Windsor Locks.”

Source: http://articles.courant.com/2014-06-03/community/hcrs-89760-glastonbury-20140530_1_glastonbury-east-hartford-magnet-school-crec-public-safety-academy-crec-students

Started by former NY Islander, current NHLPA Business/ Communications Advisor, and an active youth sports advisor Steve Webb, Team Up 4 Community (TU4C ) is proud to announce the 2013-2014 School Year L.I. Impact Report.

As we all know, many athletes support philanthropic initiatives that aim to benefit their communities, which make up the backbone of North America. With TU4C, we are continuously creating an environment where our youth athletes and others care about their communities and the importance of being socially responsible.

Since the launch of TU4C in May 2012, TU4C have recorded over $2 million dollars in community service work performed by our youth athletes across North America. In Long Island alone this school year, TU4C has reached close to 6,000 youth athletes participating in over 32,000 hours of community service work. This is valued at over $233,000 given back to our L.I. Communities.

TU4C is a powerful platform that is propelling community service work through athletes here on L.I. as well as across North America. We provide a fun and competitive environment that engages youth athletes in participating in community service work, particularly through our interactive map and online community service video challenges.TU4C also provides online education that teaches the value of HOW and WHY as an athlete it is important to giveback. We then equip the athletes with the necessary online resources to lead impactful community service projects.

To learn more visit: www.tu4c.org

“Student-athletes who shared their time and energy in local communities were recently recognized by the AMCC for a variety of standout volunteer service performances. The honorees represent a small sampling of the many ways in which AMCC student-athletes support a wide range of causes.

Members were invited to nominate community service activities in three areas: one-time events, an array of events, and an ongoing event.

Those recognized included:

ONE TIME EVENT

Bronze Award

Mount Aloysius College- Volleyball Pink Out Game
Women’s volleyball team raised more than $2,600 in the fight against breast cancer

Mount Aloysius College – Irish Basketball Campers
Mountie student-athletes helped raise funds and hosted school children from Belfast, Northern Ireland, a community historically divided by religious conflict, for a week long basketball camp.

Mount Aloysius College – Local Girls Basketball Clinic
Women’s basketball team hosted a clinic for area middle schoolers in partnership with New Day, a Christian Outreach program in Johnstown.

Silver Award

D’Youville College – Project Linus
Members of all the Spartan teams joined with students in the pre-pharmacy program and residence life to make blankets for seriously ill or traumatized children

Pitt-Bradford – Walk a Mile in Her Shoes
The baseball and men’s tennis teams participated in an international men’s march to stop rape, assault and sexual violence against women. The baseball team received the “Largest Team Participant” from the YWCA, which hosted the event.

Gold Award

Pitt-Greensburg – SOPA Hoops Saturday
Men’s and women’s basketball teams partnered to provide a morning clinic followed by afternoon scrimmage between games by Special Olympians

Penn St. Altoona – Souls for Soles Shoes Collection
SAAC collected more than 240 pairs of shoes for donation to developing countries

ARRAY OF EVENTS

Bronze Award

Penn St. Altoona – Mountain Lion Backpack Program
Student-athletes helped fight hunger in local school district by packing healthy weekend take-home snacks provided by the community food bank, and holding several fundraisers for the program.

Pitt-Greensburg – Salvation Army Partnership
Members of the women’s basketball team and coaching staff assisted with Project Bundle Up and serving Thanksgiving dinner to indigent members of the local community.

Silver Award

Mount Aloysius College – Connections LA 101
More than 100 student-athletes performed almost 4,000 community service hours in the local community as part of required Connections 101 class

Gold Award

Medaille College – Women’s Lacrosse Team
The team gave their time to a variety of events, with most of their time spent in a variety of activities benefiting pediatric patients at Buffalo Women’s and Children’s Hospital.

ONGOING EVENT

Bronze Award

Mount Aloysius College – Mercy Youth Initiative
Student-athletes from multiple teams provided sport skills clinics for local middle school students who are potential first generation college students in their families.

Medaille College – WNY Girls in Sports Day
The women’s tennis team has provided clinic instruction to more than 250 Buffalo public school children as part of WNY Girls In Sports Day since the team’s inception.

Silver Award
Penn St. Altoona – Special Olympics
Student-Athletes hosted or assisted with 27 different Special Olympics events this past year in an ongoing partnership with SOPA.

Gold Award
Mount Aloysius College – Salvation Army Project Bundle up
The baseball team has assisted with Project Bundle Up for seven straight years, a program that benefits indigent children and senior citizens in the Johnstown area by providing winter clothing.”

Source: http://www.amccsports.org/community_service/Releases_2013-14/Community_Service_Awards_2014

WICHITA, Kan. – Wichita State student-athletes doubled their community service during the 2013-14 school year.
They increased their total hours served and doubled the total events participated in.

During the 2013-14 school year, Wichita State student-athletes visited 29 different schools and 22 different community events or organizations.

Totals from 2012-2013:

Total hours: 1,298

Total events: 34

Events in Wichita schools / surrounding schools: 15

Events on WSU campus: 4

Events in the Wichita community: 15

Totals from 2013-2014:

Total hours: 2,076

Total events: 70

Events in Wichita schools /surrounding schools: 35

Events on WSU campus: 5

Events in the Wichita community: 30

Total Impact: approx. 56,600 people

Impact in Wichita schools / surrounding schools: 4,700 kids

Impact on WSU campus: 900 students, faculty, staff

Impact in Wichita community: 51,000 people

Schools visited in 2013-14:

Allen Elementary

Anderson Elementary

Andover Elementary

Andover Central Middle School

Caldwell Elementary

Christa McAuliffe Academy

Cloud Elementary

College Hill Elementary

Colvin Elementary

Dodge Literacy Magnet

Holy Cross Lutheran School

Horace Mann Elementary

Isely Magnet

Jackson Elementary

Jefferson Elementary

KIPP Endeavor Academy

Levy Special Education Center

L’Ouverture Elementary

Maize Central Elementary

OK Elementary

Pleasant Valley Elementary

Princeton Children’s Center

Spaght Elementary

Stanley Elementary

Stucky Middle School

TOP Learning Center

Wheatland Elementary

Woodland Health Magnet

Woodman Elementary

Community Events or Organizations Visited in 2013-14:

Augusta Housing

Back to School Giveaway

Botanica

Cerebral Palsy Foundation

Comcare

Down Syndrome Society of Wichita: Buddy Walk

Farmer’s Insurance Charity Golf Tourney

First Pentecostal Church

Girl Scout Cookie Kick Off

Habitat for Humanity

Heartspring

Kansas Children’s Service League – Red Stocking Breakfast

Kansas Food Bank

League 42

Lord’s Diner

Prairie Fire Marathon

Rainbows United

Ronald McDonald House

Salvation Army

SOC Circle of Friends Walk

Susan G Komen Race for the Cure

Wichita Lyons Pancake Feed