TC Roberson’s undefeated volleyball team has decided to help fundraise for ALS, a disease that is sentimental to the team.
The volleyball team so far this season is 12-0 and also did very well last year. They have worked very hard this season to progress and keep the streak alive. They have had a lot of support from their coaches on making them the undefeated team they are today. In return for the special support given to them by a previous coach, Pam Sizemore, they want to give back to her as she fights ALS.
“ALS is a disease, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, that affects many parts of your body, including your organs and breathing at some point,” Michelle Wagaman said. It is a disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. Motor neurons that come from the brain to the spinal cord, then affecting different muscles in your body and progressively gets worse.
“We are focusing on fundraising with ALS because it has affected Pam Sizemore, someone that is really close to the volleyball program,” Wagaman said. This disease, along with affecting Pam, has also affected many other people. This fundraising attempt the volleyball team is organizing also goes out to help the people in the community with this disease.
The volleyball players help fundraise in a couple ways. Sophomore volleyball player, Alex Fuller said, “We like to sell T-shirts and organize a volleyball tournament usually held on a Saturday. This raises a lot of money because it's 5 dollars per person to play.” These two fundraising events both proved to be very successful. The main fundraising source was the volleyball tournament. It reached out to a lot of people who don't get to play volleyball very much and just created a chance to play and raise money for ALS while doing it.
Last year was the first year they started this fundraising event. It had a very successful outcome. “It was a really fun experience, we were on teams the volleyball players made and we played a Round Robin sort of game and if you lost a certain number of games you were out,” Caroline Hemphill said. The volleyball players paired up and formed teams of around seven or eight players. “None of the volleyball players played, so it was a really fair game because all the people who didn't play volleyball were playing,” Hemphill said.
Most people just enjoyed the opportunity of getting to play. “Playing with my friends was my favorite part about the ALS tournament, because I don't usually get to go out and play volleyball, because there isn't a men's club team here that allows me to,” Jake Blum said.
The volleyball teams ALS fundraising tournament provided an opportunity that was unique for many people and was raising money while doing it. They will continue to host the tournament again this year and it is scheduled to occur in the near future. They will continue to keep supporting their special coach as well as the local community around them.