While there may be nothing that replaces success in the athletic arena when it comes to drawing a crowd, one good trend in recent years has been the idea that sports, even at the high school level, can be promoted for others.
More and more, teams are extending their reach into the community, not just to raise funds, but to donate those funds toward worthy causes.
When Pottsville’s fans journey to Lehighton for their school’s first-ever Schuylkill League Division I girls’ volleyball battle with the Indians on Sept. 11, they will find the concept taken further.
They will see Lehighton’s marching and pep bands performing. They will see Lehighton’s show choir performing the National Anthem, a color guard from Lehighton and a gymnasium elaborately decorated in red, white and blue in support of Carbon County’s veterans.
It’s all part of Match With a Meaning, Lehighton’s annual event benefiting a local charity.
The name’s not new. When Lehighton head coach T.J. O’Connor coached at Blue Mountain, that school held the same event, at that time to benefit breast cancer awareness.
But when O’Connor went to Lehighton four years ago, the idea of such an event for charity took firm root. The coach has asked other school groups to contribute their talents and has worked his organizational magic away from the school.
“We’re getting donations from different businesses, small businesses and large ones,” O’Connor said of raffles items for the Sept. 11 event.
Even in the event’s short life, the beneficiary of Match With a Meaning has changed.
“Last year, we did it for the Lehighton chapter of the Red Cross,” O’Connor said. “The year before that, we did it actually for a student in our building who had cancer, Hodgkins’ lymphoma, and he had missed a lot of the school year.”
This year, the 13th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania offered a ready tie into the sacrifices of veterans, so Match With a Meaning in 2014 will benefit programs working with Carbon County veterans.
“Every year, we rotate the charity because we think it’s easy to focus on one thing,” O’Connor said. “It’s great for individuals and teams to do that, but I think there are so many organizations that do good in the community that, the more we do good around, we show our student-athletes that together we can do a lot.”
Climbing again
The Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association’s preseason polls were announced this week. If history is any indication, Marian may have its Class A statewide rivals right where it wants them.
The Fillies are ranked ninth, but Marian held a low top-10 ranking for much of last season as well and wound up PIAA Class A champion.
Marian head coach John Fallabel said: “Yeah. Do we deserve to be number one? Yeah. We were number one last year. We won it all. Beat us first before you take us out (of the top spot).”
The Fillies made a big statement to that effect Wednesday night by taking down Holy Redeemer, which had entered the match ranked fifth in Class AA.
Fallabel said the Class A rankings aren’t a true indication of strength statewide anyway.
“There are more (Class A) teams in western Pa. Therefore, there are more coaches and there are more votes. And they see each other more,” Fallabel said, but also indicated he won’t completely dismiss the rankings.
“It’s nice for the coaches to communicate with one another,” Fallabel said of the poll. “So I’ll send them a little note this week and tell them, ‘You know, we’re here.’ ”
(Curley covers high school girls’
volleyball for the Republican-Herald. Contact him at ccurley@
republicanherald.com)