As much of the nation focuses its attention on the happenings at the Winter Olympics this month in Torino, Italy, the Club Sports office at the University has decided to focus on raising money for another competition: the Special Olympics.
The organization will hold its second-annual Club Sports Ball Saturday night, with the proceeds from the event supporting the Special Olympics general fund. The dance is being held as a masquerade ball and is semi-formal. It will begin at 8 p.m. in Gerlinger 220.
“It’s awesome to donate to the Special Olympics,” said Jeff Frank, the coordinator for Club baseball and a player on the University’s team. “To be able to give them that opportunity to do something they enjoy, it’s awesome.”
Because this is only the second year that Club Sports has organized the ball, organizers are still finding ways to change it and bring in more money for its cause.
Tana Byrn, the former executive board chairwoman for Club Sports, was largely involved in creating and organizing the event for last year, its inaugural year. She said that the initiative came from both the social and fundraising benefits for members of Club Sports teams.
“People on the teams don’t really know each other,” she said. Byrn explained that the dance is also a way of bringing different teams that wouldn’t otherwise interact together. She also said that the purpose of it is more for the charity contribution than for Club Sports.
“We didn’t really feel a need to bring more money to our program,” she added.
Sandy Vaughn, coordinator for Club Sports at the University, said that the Special Olympics is a relevant cause for the donations to go toward, especially with its connection to the organization through athletics.
Byrn said that the first ball was successful, and that she hopes it will remain so in the future.
“For our first year, it was definitely a success,” she said. “We’d like to make it a tradition, something people look forward to each year.”
The executive board will continue to use different themes each year to draw more participants to the event, Byrn said.
As part of the fundraising effort for this year’s ball, the club baseball team is holding a silent auction this week to sell its players as dates to the dance . The minimum bid for each player is $5, and the auction will end today at 5 p.m.
Frank said that the winning bid for each guarantees the bidder flowers from the player as well as one slow dance with him during the ball. Frank also said he expects that the highest bid for a player will go well past the $5 minimum.
“I’m guessing upwards of $25 to $30. Nothing spendy, but enough to guarantee a good night,” he said.
The cost for the event is $5 for tickets in advance and $6 at the door.