The Quinnipiac Bobcats field hockey and men’s soccer teams came together this Saturday to host a dodgeball tournament that raised $800 for the “Give Kids the World” Village.
Give Kids the World Village is a resort in Kissimmee, Florida. It’s a non-profit part of the “Make A Wish Foundation,” and its purpose is to provide a weeks vacation, all-inclusive, to families with children who are burdened with life-threatening diseases.
The two teams have been working together since September to establish the 1st annual dodgeball tournament to benefit “Give Kids the World,” and this Valentine’s Day they put that plan into action.
17 teams signed up to compete in the tournament, and they all piled in to the rec center on Quinnipiac’s Mount Carmel campus. The tournament only required two of the four courts, but they made the best of it.
Quinnipiac’s athletes and students alike did their best to congest the gym with loud music, dancing, good vibes and energy. Field hockey sophomore Angie King helped run the tournament, and she was pleased with the outcome.
“At first we weren’t sure if we were going to get a good turnout,” King said. “But everyone showed up and ended up having a lot of fun, so I think it went really well.”
Field hockey associate head coach Cheryl Canada dedicated a lot of time and energy to make this tournament a success, and she thinks that this tournament has a chance to make some positive noise in the future.
“What we’re actually hoping for is to make it a MAAC competition,” Canada said. “I guess you could say we’d be the guinea pigs for running this, and then it would be a competition amongst all the MAAC schools to see who could fundraise the most for this.”
Men’s soccer junior Stevenson Hawkey thought that turning this tournament into a large competition would be a great idea.
“Whenever you put athletes in a room, whether it’s our squad, within our school, or within other schools, it’s going to get competitive,” Hawkey said. “And I think that that competitive nature can bring a lot to these charities and you can really raise a lot of money.”
Canada said the field hockey program and the men’s soccer team would continue to work together to make this fundraiser bigger and better. She added that this fundraiser is great for Quinnipiac’s Positive Play Initiative.
“This is what it’s all about,” Canada said. “There’s a bigger picture than just coming to college to play sports. It’s about giving back to the community and getting involved, so I think this is really what [the Positive Play Initiative] embodies.”
Everyone who played a part in raising the $800 felt good about himself or herself, and it has inspired them to come up with ways to raise even more money. But their original inspiration came from an outside, but familiar source.
Lauren Zimniski is a former Quinnipiac field hockey player who graduated with the class 2012. She is now in charge of fundraising for “Give Kids the World” and contacted her old team in the fall about getting involved with her organization. Field hockey junior Meghan McCullough remembers Zimniski and was happy to hear from her.
“Obviously we’ll do anything to help any type of organization,” McCullough said. “But especially since our former player works for “Give Kids the World”, we instantly said yes and we’re doing everything we can to raise as much money as possible.”
This tournament was not about winning, but Hawkey was able to raise money for a good cause and win the tournament. His team, the Slumdodge Millionaires consisted of six men’s soccer players, including Hawkey.
Nicholas Lasewicz, James Greco, Justin Kody, Kevin Smaller and Simon Brossier made up the rest of the winning team. But they did not want to boast about their win.
“At the end of the day you know it’s going to be a fun event here,” Hawkey said.
“But in the end it’s for the kids,” Hawkey and McCullough chorused.
These two sports programs are hoping that the $800 they raised on Saturday is just the beginning on their journey to give kids the world.
