By MAGGIE MCMURRAY
Moapa Valley Progress
Student athletes and community members gathered on the fields of Moapa Valley High School last week for the annual MVHS Sports Kick-off event. The event is both an opportunity for the different sports teams to mix with the community and for the community to learn more about the Booster Club while gathering, relaxing, and enjoying a picnic dinner together.
This year the event was bigger and better than ever, with all the high school sports teams providing a family-oriented activity for the kids to participate in while their parents visited and enjoyed the evening.
The fields were full of the young and old all having a great time.
One highlight every year is, of course, the dunk tank provided by the MVHS Cross-Country team. The lines were long for both volunteers to throw the ball and dunk people, as well as for volunteers waiting to sit in the chair and be dunked.
There were, however, many more activities to enjoy. The volleyball team had potato sack races and other relays for kids to try.The dance team was leading group dances such as the “Cupid Shuffle” for people to join in. And the tennis team was running several cutthroat games of table tennis for people to play.
One of the favorite booths for the little kids was the one provided by the MVHS swim team. The swim team brought small kiddie pools and filled them with bubble solution. There were several different bubble devices available to kids. Each made huge bubbles.But the most popular was the pool containing a hula hoop that made a giant bubble, big enough to surround the person in the pool.
Swim team members Jaci Holmes and Haylee Munns were having as much fun as the kids. “We’re having a great time because we love to see the smiles on the kids’ faces,” Holmes said. “We’re hoping to get them excited about swimming.”
Another popular booth was the wrestling team’s chicken sumo booth where participants tried to push each other out of a circle painted on the lawn.
The JV football team had a Rubik’s Cube booth where the more cerebral athletes tried to solve the cube in under two minutes to win a shirt.
The Sports Kick-off event was also a chance for supportive community members to sign up for membership in the MVHS Booster Club. Admission for the year is $20 per person. Money collected by the club goes to support all the athletic teams at the high school.
“We sponsor this event every year to bring the community together,” said Booster Club spokesman Richard Jones. “It’s an opportunity for the boosters to show people what we do and let them join. We support every sports team at MVHS including cheer and band. We donated thirty thousand dollars back to the school last year. Every dollar we make goes back to the school.”
Members of the local Rotary Club were there cooking hamburgers and hotdogs for the crowd. Dinner was free and included all the fixings for the main dishes plus chips, cookies and water.
The meal is one of the biggest the club serves all year. The crowd made short work of the 400 hamburgers and 300 hot dogs cooked by the service club. There was also shaved ice for dessert to make a hot night more enjoyable.
Lots of people came to check out the teams. Brandi Fairchild was there supporting her son and daughter, both of whom play on the soccer teams.
“I’m excited for soccer this year because I have someone on the boys’ team and on the girls’,” Fairchild said. “The girls’ team is always fun to watch and I think the boys have a great chance this year because their offense has improved and their defense is rock solid.”
Girls team member MaKenzie Staheli agreed. ““I’m super excited because I love to play soccer and we have a great team this year,” she said.
Jared Bushman, boys’ soccer coach said, “We’ve got a lot of talent this year so we’re hoping no one gets hurt.”
The cross-country and tennis team members were also positive. Senior Emma Thompson, who runs cross-country, said, “I’m excited for this year. We have a really good team and we get along well with each other.”
Tennis athlete, Grady Call, a junior, said, “I’m looking forward to the year because we have some really great players and we do better every year. We’re excited to start playing.”
The event was a family-friendly evening and both past, current, and future Pirate athletes had a great time. Aisha Bushman, 9, said, “Eating the shave ice was the best, but I really liked the bubbles, too.”
Hunter Landini, 12, said, “I liked the food a lot. The cookies and the chips were great, but there were also a lot of fun games out here tonight.”
