Alumni of the University of Essex matchfunded £400
By
Derrick K Hoppe
Colchester
The Essex Blades are a growing American Football team competing in the BUCS South East Tier 2 league and are involved with many events at the University, such as Alumni weekend and Derby Day. We rely on a committed group of volunteer coaches who help us improve as a team. We have a wide and diverse group of players who are and have been very committed.
Our aim is to replace our old less safe equipment with new kit, allowing us to not only kit out more players in the coming years to help us grow, but to also keep players safer after having a number of our players suffer concussions in the last couple of seasons.
I'm the vice-president of the club and my goal is to help this club return to greatness. For this we need to be able to kit more players each year as teams can have up to 50 players on a squad, but each year we lose players due to a lack of kit being available.
Having gone from 0-8 two seasons ago to 3-5 this year we are looking to win our division next season with the amount of experienced players and minimal graduates and as the club continues to grow and improve, we hope that so does our equipment. However, a lot of our equipment is broken or outdated and with a full set of equipment costing a player over £300 its very difficult for players to afford kitting themselves. This is why as a club we try to pride ourselves on kitting up anyone turning up to our sessions and being able to learn a new sport that for many people is the first time.
If we mange to raise the money then this will all be spent on new equipment ordered from our friends over at Football America UK who are the biggest supplier of equipment for American Football in the UK. With many third years on the committee our aim is to leave the team in a position where they can have increased success in the future, but also to keep our players safe.
The equipment we buy would if we reach the minimum of £750 would be:
For those who are generous enough to donate us their money, we will be excited to offer some interesting rewards.
We are also currently building a website -which will be live soon- to show what we get up to during year: http://derrick1509.wix.com/essex-blades
(We are currently in the process of acquiring the domain www.bladesafc.co.uk)
Follow us on social media also to see your donations in action!
We have both a Twitter and Instagram account both under the user name @EssexBlades
Any help is appreciated! Spread the word that the Essex Blades need your help so we can reach our goal!
Derby Day '15
The Essex Blades vs Blunts- our Alumni American football team
Blades vs UEA '15
Select this reward if you just want to donate to the project without receiving a reward.
9 claimed
For your help we will give you a big shout out on our twitter account!
2 claimed
Estimated delivery: 1 July 2016
A pint on us when you're on campus
4 claimed
Estimated delivery: 1 October 2016
A Photo of the current team along with a thank you note from the president
3 claimed
Estimated delivery: 1 October 2016
For anyone that donates anything from £50 upwards will be given the opportunity to have their own initials painted on the back of the helmet to show that they are supporting the blades with every hit!
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Estimated delivery: 1 September 2016
Thank you for your kind donation! For this you'll receive an American Football signed by the committee members or whole team if you wish it
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Estimated delivery: 1 October 2016
Thank you so much for this very generous donation!! You will receive special mention or an appearance in our next recruitment video, plus our sponsors section on our upcoming website. This could be used as a sponsorship if you have a company that you would like us to advertise or anything else you would like to promote.
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Estimated delivery: 1 October 2016