Lehigh University Athletics
Lehigh holds dodgeball tournament benefiting Miracle League of the Lehigh Valley
1/29/2014 4:19:00 PM | Baseball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh baseball's two-month fundraising effort culminated in a successful dodgeball tournament Sunday in Grace Hall, benefiting the Miracle League of the Lehigh Valley. The Mountain Hawks raised over $3,000 for the local charity by selling t-shirts and planning and executing the tournament from start to finish.
"As any volunteer event works out, our kids get much more out of it than they'd expect," said head coach Sean Leary. "They realize they're doing something special. The experience was so great that we're already talking about next year's event and other ways we can get involved with the organization."
The Miracle League of the Lehigh Valley was founded in 2006, dedicated to providing children with special needs and other developmental disabilities an opportunity to play baseball.
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The Lehigh baseball team came up with its idea in November and immediately began to materialize a plan and put it into action. The Mountain Hawks began to sell t-shirts with the Lehigh baseball and Miracle League logos on them to their peers and started recruiting fellow athletes to participate in the culminating event, a dodgeball tournament.
Representatives from nearly every Lehigh athletics team came out to support the cause and participate in a three-hour dodgeball tournament. Mountain Hawk baseball players were dressed as refs to officiate the friendly matches and each team was dressed in its own uniform.
"It was such a fun event and a great way for the kids to see all of their hard work materialize into a successful afternoon," said Leary. "I was so impressed with all of the support from the different teams and even a group of coaches that got together to participate."
Melissa Borland, the Executive Director of the Miracle League of the Lehigh Valley, was on hand to see the action and Leary hopes this is the beginning of a long-term relationship with the charity.
"Since this is the first year we've run such an event, there was a bit of a learning curve," said Leary. "The kids are already excited about taking the next step and planning more activities with the organization so we really see this as the beginning of a great relationship."
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"As any volunteer event works out, our kids get much more out of it than they'd expect," said head coach Sean Leary. "They realize they're doing something special. The experience was so great that we're already talking about next year's event and other ways we can get involved with the organization."
The Miracle League of the Lehigh Valley was founded in 2006, dedicated to providing children with special needs and other developmental disabilities an opportunity to play baseball.
The Lehigh baseball team came up with its idea in November and immediately began to materialize a plan and put it into action. The Mountain Hawks began to sell t-shirts with the Lehigh baseball and Miracle League logos on them to their peers and started recruiting fellow athletes to participate in the culminating event, a dodgeball tournament.
Representatives from nearly every Lehigh athletics team came out to support the cause and participate in a three-hour dodgeball tournament. Mountain Hawk baseball players were dressed as refs to officiate the friendly matches and each team was dressed in its own uniform.
"It was such a fun event and a great way for the kids to see all of their hard work materialize into a successful afternoon," said Leary. "I was so impressed with all of the support from the different teams and even a group of coaches that got together to participate."
Melissa Borland, the Executive Director of the Miracle League of the Lehigh Valley, was on hand to see the action and Leary hopes this is the beginning of a long-term relationship with the charity.
"Since this is the first year we've run such an event, there was a bit of a learning curve," said Leary. "The kids are already excited about taking the next step and planning more activities with the organization so we really see this as the beginning of a great relationship."
Like Lehigh baseball on Facebook and follow on Twitter for exclusive updates throughout the season.
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