Clash Found Cash Was No Great Barrier
Local politicians take note:
You won’t find a better example of fund-raising and entrepreneurial enterprise than that done by the West Valley Clash girls’ soccer club.
Faced with the daunting task of raising $2,500 per person for a trip to Australia, the team put its monetary mind to work and came up with the cash, thanks to a persistent letter-writing campaign.
Relatives, friends, and friends of friends, were targeted.
“I wrote to everyone I knew,” said center-midfielder Megan Zwoyer, and who could blame her?
The trip, from July 14-Aug. 1, includes snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef and a day at the Koala Bear Sanctuary on the Gold Coast.
There will be tournaments in Cains and Toowoomba.
On the way back, the Clash will stop in Hawaii for three days, where they will kayak and visit Pearl Harbor.
Small wonder why Zwoyer and her teammates peddled anything they could. T-shirts. Candy. Cookbooks that featured recipes from team parents.
Zwoyer’s mother, Bonnie, an office manager for an endocrinologist, displayed a poster at work with Megan’s school photo and an appeal for a donation.
“She had patients that I’d never even met giving me $100,” said Megan, who will be a freshman at El Camino Real High. “They were very generous and supportive. I couldn’t believe it.”
The Clash worked hard. Now it’s time to play.
*
The success of the U.S. women’s team in the World Cup will have a direct effect on the West Valley Clash.
The Clash will be the U.S. representative in its two girls’ soccer tournaments in Australia next month.
“The better we do in the World Cup, the more they expect out of us [in Australia],” Coach Mike Evans said. “Even though we’re a small club team from a small town, we’re representing the USA.”
The Clash will wear T-shirts and warm-ups with USA insignias at the tournaments.
*
The quest to impress begins today for the Renegades, a girls’ volleyball club team.
The Renegades, second at the Junior Nationals last year, are seeded No. 6 for the tournament in the 18-and-under division this year at New Orleans.
The Renegades’ roster features Courtney Guerra and Teresa Russell of Royal, Brooke Niles of Calabasas and Krystal McFarland of Buena.
