By GRACIE LEAVITT
The Progress
A large crowd of children, teens and adults alike braved the wind on Tuesday, Aug. 17 for the All Sports Kick-Off event hosted by the Moapa Valley High School Booster Club.
The annual event is meant to get Pirate fans excited about the upcoming sports season. Each MVHS athletic team organizes its own activity at the event. There was plenty of fun for everyone in attendance.
Members of the Moapa Valley Rotary Club were grilling up hamburgers and hotdogs for the crowd. The food was being served up by members of the Booster Club.
Everyone appeared to be having a good time being together in the community event.
“It has been a lot of fun,” said MVHS junior Jorja Freeman. “There are lots of activities and things to do. And despite the wind, it has still been pretty great so far. I love the volleyball.”
The girls golf team was set up with two golf practice mats, clubs and golf balls given to anyone that wanted to try and make a shot into one of the holes. Team members Paige Harter and Deni Jarrell enjoyed supervising the booth and were excited for the season.
“This year’s team is going really good,” said Harter. It’s the biggest team we’ve had in awhile.”
Members of the MVHS Football team offered football skills activities and even a pickup game or two.
MVHS football head coach Brent Lewis appreciated the community-building event. “It’s awesome and very well attended,” Lewis said. “We definitely need this kind of community support at the games every Friday night. We hope the fans will turn out to rock the house and the crowd.We’d appreciate that; and on the road too.”
A group of foreign exchange students were playing football in the middle of the field. Logandale resident Brooklyn Redd, who is a local coordinator for foreign exchange students, said that for many of these kids, it was their first time holding an American football.
“They’re all doing really well,” Redd said. “All of them are doing sports. They are excited to be a part of the school spirit and to have a normal school year again.”
The MVHS Cheerleading team offered a face painting booth at the event. “This has been a standing tradition,” said Cheer Coach Desiree Stastny. “Ever since I’ve been coaching and long before that, the cheerleaders do face painting at the kickoff.”
Stastny said that practices for her team have been going great. “The girls are excited to be able to do what they couldn’t last year,” she said.
The MVHS sports programs were not the only ones being represented at the event. Other organizations also had booths at the kickoff to seek community support.
In addition to getting the MVHS fan base excited, the real purpose for the All Sports Kick-Off event is a membership drive for the Booster Club.
Booster Club President Nicki Staheli was pleased with how the evening was going. “We are excited that things are going so well, despite the wind,” Staheli said. “It is fun to have everybody out and kind of get the community together and excited about the school year and about sports and get some Moapa Valley Pride going. I think it is great to see the community together here and building each other up.”
Staheli expressed appreciation to Simplot Silica and Lin’s Market who made donations that made the free dinner possible.
The Teen Leadership Corps (TLC) also had a booth at the event to raise money for an upcoming Mental Health Resource Fair to be held on Sept. 9 at the Clark County Fairgrounds. TLC members Faith Kelly and Shaylee Adams were manning the booth and handing out fliers throughout the entire event.
Adams said that she loved the event. “It has been really fun,” Adams said. “We have been raising money for the Mental Health Fair and it has gone really well.”
Kelly said that the group was grateful for the community support they had received. The TLC has been able to raise over $17,000 for the upcoming Fair event.
