|
Dear Neighbors,
October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and the CARE Walk and CARE Tennis Challenge Teams would like to thank the community from the bottom of our hearts for all of its support. This past year CARE Walk raised $11,573.25 and CARE Tennis raised $7,200 for the Breast Cancer Foundation of Dayton.
Over the past five years, these two teams have raised over $70,000 in the fight against cancer. Besides the CARE Walk and CARE Tennis Challenge, they have also participated in other fundraising events, including the Susan G. Komen 3-Days (60-mile walks) in Atlanta, Chicago, and Detroit, and the American Cancer Society’s 24-hour Relays for Life and the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer annual five-mile walks.
Since 2003, 100% of the proceeds from CARE Walk and the CARE Tennis Challenge go directly to the underserved and uninsured right here in the Miami Valley. This year monies raised will create a fund to help buy medical supplies and equipment required by those going through chemotherapy and other treatments that are not covered by medical insurance.
Our CARE teams believe children should grow up in a world without breast cancer. Our hopes are fourfold: Cure for breast cancer; Access to mammograms, treatments, and support groups for families of all income levels; Research to prevent and stop the progress of breast cancer; and Education to spread the word about this “silent disease” that affects 1 in 8 women.
our volunteer base of service groups, such as Oakwood High School’s Women’s Issues and Oakwood Giving, various church youth groups, local boy and girl scouts, and the City Safety Department. We would sincerely like to thank our sponsors without whom the continued growing success of this walk would not be possible: Whispers and KTC Quail Tennis Club (our lead sponsors), Alley Cat Designs, the Asian Arts Center, Blue Turtle Toys, Clark’s Mr. Prescription, Deck the Walls, Fazel Rug Gallery, Get Into Gear, Laura’s Cookies of Dorothy Lane Market, Nancy
Chifala Design, and Dr. Danny Reveal and Dr. Rudolf Hoffmann.
Our next event will be the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk on Sat, Oct 21, and we are offering free CARE Walk t-shirts to all who join us.
Our next CARE Walk will be held on Saturday, May 12, 2007, at Oakwood High School’s Stadium and the next CARE Tennis Challenge will be at KTC Quail Tennis Club on June 16, 2007. We welcome all citizens and businesses to join us and step up to our challenge of creating a world without breast cancer. If you are interested in joining one of our teams, volunteering, donating, or sponsoring our events in any way, please contact Leigh Ann Fulford 294-3816.
Our sincere thanks,
The 2007 CARE Walk Team:
Linda Berutti
Kathy Blossom
Nancy Chifala
Amanda Cole
Leah DeAloia
Laura Enzbrenner
Mary Beth Evans
Debbie Fannin
Leigh Ann Fulford
Connie Guyer
Kathy Hensley
Julia Judge
Lisa Klus
Mary Linzmeier
Gina Lofquist
Mary Lee Moberg
Denice Moberg
Sandy Mudry
Carolyn Noonan
Amy Redden
Carolyn Reveal
Tracy Riley
Beth Stelling
Barbra Stonerock
Ann Thompson Pepper
2007 CARE Tennis Challenge Team:
Cindy Edwards
Debby Gershow
Colleen Greer
Gina Lofquist
Elany Mauls
Ellen McMahon
Gigi Mueller
Janet Schweitzer
Patsy Ziskin
This letter is being written on behalf of a group of seventh grade parents who support their kids and the three coaches who have donated their time to the team. We would ask the parent who expressed criticism in last week’s letter to step back and try to look at the situation the three coaches are in from a different perspective.
While it is true that there is a “core” group of boys, you must remember that these boys have been playing the game of football for quite awhile. Most of them are in their fifth season of playing and have also attended numerous football camps and clinics. It was a pleasant surprise when a group of an additional fifteen to sixteen new players came out to play this year. As you know, we are very lucky that there are no tryouts in football at Oakwood. If you go out for the team, you are on the team.
Having half of the kids on the team with no football experience, presented the coaches a serious challenge this season. How do you give everyone experience, win games, and not get anyone hurt? Football is a sport that takes some time to learn. Many of us went through years when our kids also sat out most of the game. We have also experienced this in other sports. It is a way of life in sports and a good lesson in life in general.
When an inexperienced player plays football with an experienced player, there is more of a chance that someone will get hurt than there is in any other sport. The coaches are doing the best that they can and parent criticism does nothing more than make a difficult job more stressful and divides the team. In an attempt to alleviate the complaints coming from some of the new players parents, the coaches have now announced that no player will start on both offense and defense. Taking this step proves that the coaches are clearly more concerned about a positive experience than they are about winning. They deserve an apology and a pat on the back from those who have been critical.
The “core” group has never lost more than one or two games in a season, so this year’s losing streak is new to them. Hopefully, this season will be a learning experience for everyone involved. However, we believe the experience would be better for all without criticism of the coaches and certain players. They don’t deserve it!
Jeff & Nancy Breidenbach
Bill & Beth Farris
Reggie & Leighann Godbolt
Jamie & Colleen Greer
Brian & Lynne Hoecht
John & Lori Jervis
Mike & Pam Matejovsky
Tom & Cindy Shafer
Bob & Lisa Tramontano
Robert & Abby Wagner
I am writing this letter to thank the Pee Wee Football coaches for their commitment to, and support of, the youth of Oakwood. The coaches put in an incredible amount of time and are solid role models.
I have read some of the recent letters to the editor concerning playing time and would like to offer a different viewpoint. This is not intended to be disrespectful of the opinions of others, but simply to provide an alternate perspective.
The games themselves are only a part of the overall Pee Wee Football experience. I believe that practices are the more important part. It is here that the boys learn about commitment, dedication and hard work. In addition, they develop a strong sense of team. I believe this is reflected by how the boys on the sidelines cheer
and support their teammates.
On every youth sports team, there will be some players who are on the field more than others. This is true for unorganized sports (sandlot teams and pick up basketball) as well as organized sports, but life is not entirely even or fair. The boys who get less playing time can still have a positive experience and, with a good attitude, contribute to the team. Every parent, myself included, wants to see his or her child on the field as much as possible during each game, but, in the long run, the lessons learned will be far more important than time in the game.
Overall, the coaches try hard to get everyone playing time. This may not work out every single game but, from a season-long perspective, I believe everyone in the end gets a meaningful amount of playing time.
The Pee Wee Coaches are all volunteers, some with and some without children on the team. But, in all cases, I believe they are sincerely devoting their time and talent to improve the lives of all the kids who choose to participate.
Again, I certainly mean no disrespect to anyone who sees it otherwise, but that is my perspective.
Dave Reed
top of page
|
