By CATHERINE LEGG/Community Columnist

Students in the Montevallo Middle School athletic programs are giving back to their community, playing hard, working hard, and earning their own way.

Athletics Director Sheila Jett explained that she asked the head coaches to come up with different community service projects each year. Some of the completed projects were: the cheerleaders have helped out in the city library; the football team cleaned up trash; and the cross-county team held a run to raise money for diabetes where all of the students had an opportunity to collect pledges and to do some laps for a good cause.

Another successful project was one Jett coordinated with the coaches at Riverchase Middle School. It was a competition to see which volleyball team could bring in the most canned goods to donate to Shelby Emergency Assistance. At the last game of the season both teams had collected, and brought in huge boxes of food.

“The real winners are our young students who are learning to work together to do good things,” said Jett, “ and all of the community service projects are hopefully teaching them how important it is to help others.

In addition to the community service projects, the various team members are offered ways to earn the money to pay for their own involvement in sports. One of those opportunities is offered basketball team members with their “Shoot-a-thon” when all proceeds go to pay for their personal spirit pack items (shoes, warm-ups, etc.).

“We have been doing these fundraisers for several years,” said Jett. “None of our sports charge more than $135.00 for spirit items, but I always get so disheartened when the first words out of a kid’s mouth about playing sports are “What does it cost?” We don’t want any of our students to miss out on the opportunity to participate in our extracurricular programs because of money, but we live in the real world and have to pay bills too.”

MMS offers cheerleading, cross-country, volleyball and football in the fall; cheerleading, and boys and girls basketball in winter; baseball, tennis, soccer, golf and track in the spring.

 

Catherine Legg can be reached by email at clegg2@bellsouth.net.