Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Drive

We received the following letter from our player's family, and wanted to pass along the information. Several of our players are teaming up to take on this challenge, and we're certainly proud of their competitive spirit for a good cause.

Owen Ogle is one of 20 area high school students competing for the title of Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Student of the Year by raising the most money during a 7 week campaign which ends with the Grand Finale on Saturday, March 14th. Owen is the only Westfield candidate, competing against 19 other candidates in neighboring communities (Carmel, HSE, Noblesville, Brebeuf, Cathedral, etc). But, he isn't doing this alone, a team of 10, including several teammates, are all working to help him reach his goal of raising $125,000 for LLS. We would love for the entire community, especially our football family, to rally behind Owen's team: "Owen Tackles Cancer" and help a Westfield student WIN!!! 

You can read more about the campaign and leave a donation by clicking one of the team member's link below (all team members count toward Owen's campaign):

• Owen Ogle’s page

• Kyle Atkisson's page

• Aidan Parker's page

• Jacob Riddle's page 

• Dane Wheeler's page 

Thank you for helping make a difference!

-The Ogle Family

Hurricane Relief

Second posting of the day is an announcement for this Friday. We're trying to fill a semi with food and supply items in support of the folks affected by hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Please see the flyer below and consider bringing a few items to the game Friday in addition to your standard Rocks gear. You can also bring donations to the other drop-off locations listed below up until the 25th.

Special Olympics Football Clinic

Each year, one of our favorite events for the pure love of the game is the Special Olympics clinic. This year, the event will be held on Saturday 9/16. For more information, see the flyer below:

Two Items of Note

There are two events coming your way this week that we wanted to post a reminder for:

1. On Thursday, July 14th is the annual Colts Leadership Challenge Blood Drive. We have historically collected a lot of blood for this worthy cause, and would like to keep it up. The blood drive is at Westfield Middle School from 3pm-8pm.
2. On Friday, July 16th, the Rocks will be washing cars to raise team funds at the First Merchants Bank in Westfield from 10am-2pm. Stop by to support your Rocks and leave with a shiny car.

Hope to see you there!

Social Media and the Student Athlete

I'm going to lead this one off with a stereotypical "back in my day" comment. But before you go looking for gray hairs, you should know that I'm one of the coaches that doesn't have very many (if any). Social media has blown up really in the last 10 years or so. So when I say: Back when I played, I never had to worry about my social media presence, it's not like I'm talking about Coach Gilbert's day when everyone had leather helmets (just kidding, Coach).

Yet, the reality of being a student athlete today is that social media is huge. And there are definite pros. Social media, when done right, can create an incredible platform with which to spread messages of encouragement or inspiration. When I first started coaching, social media was still really in its infancy, but being a bit of a geek, I was familiar with the potential and wanted to harness it for our program. I was very fortunate to find a sympathetic ear in Coach Gilbert (despite being a pretty "old school" kind of guy). If you'd been around Coach G, you know that he's pretty big on using your platform properly. We both see social media as a powerful extension of this.

The cons can show their ugly heads unexpectedly. In a lot of ways, social media is like an open mic in a huge stadium filled with people. If you step up and shout into it, people might pay attention. Say something good, and you can affect people. Say something bad, and you can affect people. Anyone can step up. Our social media accounts as coaches are no more special than any other social media account. We may not have as many followers as Andrew Luck, but its the same technology.

We try to encourage our student athletes to be aware of this. It's not always easy because, honestly, we don't have all the answers. Ask us about football plays, and we have years (decades) of experience to draw on. Social media is still relatively new, and we never had to deal with it. We're learning right along with the rest of you in a lot of ways.

To that end, I wanted to share a short little video put out by the folks at Hudl. You can find it here. The big take home here is a reminder that, when you shout into that microphone, you never know who might be listening, and the echoes of what you say may stick around for a lot longer than you realize. We all have to remember that the Internet is a public place with a long memory. You cannot expect things you put out there to stay private.

Our rule of thumb is really to keep it genuine. Nothing we say on here or other outlets is anything you wouldn't catch us saying in a room full of athletes or parents. Taking that approach seems best. Before you post anything, think about if you'd say the same thing in person to those who are most important to you. If you're an athlete and you have aspirations of playing at the next level, keep in mind that that important person may be your next coach. What do you want them to know about you? How will you use your platform?

Pints for Sophie

Coach Zimmer caught wind of a community Blood Drive happening at nearby Carey Ridge Elementary School in honor of Sophie Collier and had this to say:

Please pass this on to anyone you know that will be near CRES on October 7th. There isn't a person that has walked into this middle school building that has more of a positive influence on those around them than this young girl. I know we've already done a blood drive but maybe our 100+ guys can just tell their families/community about this one.

We're suckers for service opportunities, so we wanted to pass along the full details...

The Indiana Blood Center along with our PTO is sponsoring a blood drive on Wednesday, October 7 from 2:00-7:00 p.m. We are honoring, former CRES student, Sophie Collier, with this blood drive. Sophie is having heart surgery in October and we are hoping our blood drive brings in lots of "pints for Sophie." Please see below for more information.

Carey Ridge Elementary School Blood Drive

Wednesday, October 7, 2015 

2:00PM - 7:00PM

Multi-Purpose

Click here to sign up!

Eligibility: The donation process takes less than an hour.  It is recommended that donors have a light snack before donating.  Most people are eligible to donate.  There are very few causes for deferral and very few medications that are not acceptable.  Not sure if you are eligible to donate?  Email Eligibility.  Indiana Blood Center must see 550 individuals each and every day in order to meet the patient needs at the 60+ hospitals it supplies.

More questions?  Feel free to contact: Courtney Howay (choway@indianablood.org).

Actually, We Won

It didn't feel like it, but we still won on Friday. While the football game score was unpleasant for us, a more important score was being kept that should be much more heart-warming. We, as a community, raised $2500 for the IWIN charity! Not only that, but for a smaller, local charity, the exposure was worth more than money can count.

Our football family has been heavily touched by this and other cancer-related diseases, and we absolutely consider it a victory when we can make a difference like this. I already shared the channel 13 special report via Facebook, but it bears linking here again if you haven't seen it.

Proud to be a Shamrock. #RocksMakeADifference

P.S. - Thanks to any Avon Orioles that may have made a donation. We truly appreciate any help that you provided. At the end of the game, we're all Hoosiers that have likely been touched by cancer. "Love your neighbor..."

With IWIN, We Win.

Rocks, Parents, and Supporters,

This year our football team is supporting Indiana Women In Need (I.W.I.N.) foundation which provides financial grants to women statewide currently receiving treatment for breast cancer. I.W.I.N serves approximately 500 women each year. Sixty percent (60%) of the foundation’s recipients earn $30,000 or less annually and 61% are single or widowed, so these financial grants make a direct and big impact on the lives of Indiana women undergoing breast cancer treatment. Most recipients use their financial grants for essential expenses, such as groceries, gas cards, and childcare costs.

As you may know, our football family has had a number of families impacted by breast cancer over the last few years, so this is a cause that touches our football family directly. At Friday night’s football game, I.W.I.N. will be raising awareness and funds for the foundation. WTHR Channel 13 will be broadcasting live from 5-6:30 at Riverview Stadium to bring attention to our support of I.W.I.N.  Please let your friends and family know that Indiana Women In Need is there to help them if they are enduring breast cancer treatment, and please consider donating to the foundation at Friday’s game.

Look for a Freshman football player holding a donation jar outside of the stadium entrance gates. Checks can be made out to the I.W.I.N. Foundation. You can learn more about I.W.I.N. at iwinfoundation.org, and you can follow them on facebook and twitter.

Thank you for your support. Let's make a difference!

Coach Gilbert

Colts Leadership Challenge Blood Drive

It has been quiet on here as we gear up for the start of the season. Summer workouts are in full swing and we only have 43 days until opening kickoff. That's 43 days until your Rocks take the brand-spanking-new field for the first time in what promises to be a very exciting season. There's a lot of work to do before then, though.

Here's something that everyone can help us with. We've got a Blood Drive Dynasty going on here in Westfield. Our community has consistently been tops when it comes to raising your sleeve and donating to the cause. We would really like to continue that trend.

On Thursday, July 16th, the Indiana Blood Center will be at the high school for our blood drive. The minimum age to participate is 16, and all minors need a consent form signed by a parent or guardian. If you need a copy of the form, shoot us an email (see: contact information).

The IBC team will be onsite at 2pm on the 16th, ready for the first donor at 3pm. We hope to storm the doors and fill the bank, defending our reputation as the top community in the state of Indiana for giving blood. Winning a contest on a field is great. Winning at saving lives is even better.

We hope to see you on the 16th with a high sleeve, helping Westfield to Rock the Blood Bank!

Relay For Life Update

We're just over a week away from the Westfield Relay for Life, and we only have 20 people signed up. That can't be right. We know our family is bigger than that.

So just in case you missed the first announcement, I'm going to throw it out there again. Our community (not just the school!) is holding a cancer fundraiser (Relay for Life) on May 15. We want to raise $10,000 by then. We have almost $1,000 right now, with only 20 people signed up. I would wager that there are more than 200 people involved in our extended football family. We need everyone to hit this goal.

Please consider joining the team, donating if you'd like, and walking/running if you can. With cancer touching so many lives these days, we all have a vested interest in seeing this disease stamped out.