Volunteering with your High School Team

Will Simpson,
Virtual Volunteer

So you’re on a high school or college sports team and you want to help out your community, but you don’t know what you can do. You know your teammates would love to volunteer they just need some ideas. Well, here’s ten ways you and your team could do some good and have some fun:

1. Have the team hold a fundraiser like a car wash or bake sale, something to raise money for a charity you all agree on.

2. Have each teammate go into their garages, attics, basements, etc… and find all of their old sports equipment. Collect all the helmets, pads, sticks, balls or whatever else you can find and take it all over to a community nearby that could use it. Donate it to the local high school and help them improve or even start their athletic programs.

3. Try sending your team out into the community to collect sponsors, business owners and individuals who will donate money to different causes the team agrees on. Try something like for every point your team scores, one business will donate $1 and for every game you win, another establishment will donate $5.

4. Most high schools and colleges charge admission to their larger sports events. Take all of the proceeds from a few games (or even an entire season) and donate them to a cause.

5. Your coach will probably agree that the team could, and should, help out the community. Sit down with him or her and see if you could work out some sort of community service schedule with the whole team. Maybe the defense will go clean up a park one day instead of going to practice, or maybe the offense could help out at a local soup kitchen instead of working out one day. Figure out a schedule and rotation that works for everyone, and stick to it.

6. There are probably a few athletic programs nearby (or maybe even your own) that don’t have the best facilities. Maybe the town over doesn’t have a great weight room, or the town down the road needs their baseball field fixed up. One Saturday morning have the whole team get on the bus and head over to that town and help out. Get together with the team from that town and help fix up the fields, gym, whatever they might need. Not only will you help out, you might make some friends in the process.

7. Varsity athletic programs usually hold a lot of power in their schools; kids usually look up to the athletes and really tend to follow them as role models. If your school is like this, have the whole team sign a sobriety pact. Have it say something like if you drink or do drugs, you can’t play on the team. If the varsity athletes say no to drugs and alcohol, a large portion of the student body will say no with them.

8. Try creating team t-shirts or hats or sweats, anything you can stick the team logo on. Get together with a few teammates and put together some cool merchandise. Say your school mascot is the tiger; make some shirts with your school name and a picture of a tiger on them. Sell the merchandise at games, and donate all the proceeds to charity.

9. Have a “Future Players Day”. Get all the youth players in your community together with your varsity team and play with them. Younger players always look up to the varsity athletes, so playing with your team and learning from you will be a great experience for them. Try giving the kids tips and teaching them something, while making it a fun experience for everyone. Maybe have a Future Player Day a few times a month, like every other Saturday morning.

10. Set a fundraising goal for your community. Set the mark at a reasonable amount that you can donate to a nearby athletic program or charity. Have a deal that if your town reaches the fundraiser goal, you and your team will play a scrimmage in dresses or do something funny. Sure it might be embarrassing, but it will give people an incentive to donate.