Author Archives: jlkube

Fundraising time! We need your donations

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TL:DR send $50 to help pay for field reservations @Josh-Kube

I know this is a bad time to ask for money as we’re all being bombarded by donation requests from political campaigns, kids walk-a-thons, hurricane relief, and your own team dues.  But I’ll put it out front that we’re looking for $50 from everyone that is able to donate.

DC touch rugby has been around for over ten years, and for as long as I’ve been involved we’ve been a place for people of all skill levels to get fit and have fun.  It’s become a fantastic community that draws people from every corner of the rugby community, and makes it fun to get involved.

This was a record breaking year for attendance over the summer!  For several weekends straight we had three fields going, with full teams waiting on the sidelines.  This is a tremendous success, and we owe it to everyone that participates.  Collectively, we’re creating a positive, welcoming community, with competition that rivals anywhere in the country, without taking ourselves too seriously.

Another big success this year is the level of play that continues to improve dramatically.  We’re starting to see some exciting matchups as individual skills are improving and overall touch knowledge as a group grows.  There is clearly some momentum to get more strict enforcement of FIT rules and create a more competitive atmosphere.  Potentially setting up for league-type play for those that want to get more serious about the game.  But we won’t abandon our roots as a social pick-up group.  People of all skill levels will always be welcome.

You may not realize it, but aside from having all of you wonderful people show up, we need a place to play.  We are in heavy competition with VOLO for field space, and more often than not we’ve been successful in securing the necessary permits to use our preferred fields at JFK or Wallenberg.  A huge thanks to Ian, who faithfully navigates the national park’s website to get the fields before VOLO or DC Fray.

This brings us back to the money.  As this group grows, dedicated field space becomes more important.  And with the growth of VOLO and other social sports leagues, that field space becomes a valuable commodity which comes at a cost.  We don’t charge a drop-in fee like your per class yoga studio, we don’t have a membership like your gym, and we don’t have dues like your regular team.  But I am requesting a donation of $50.  

The goal is to make touch accessible to everyone.  If you come once a month, maybe give less.  If you have three kids, $50 might be needed elsewhere.  If you’re a starving college student, I have sympathy.  But if you are showing up 3 times a week, $50 is not a lot to cover the months of field space and opportunity provided to play touch.  For less than a cup of coffee a week…less than Netflix per month…less than the cost of a single parking ticket…you keep this organization going.  Installment payments welcome.  And just a reminder that all the money goes directly to field reservations.  No overhead, no middleman, no processing costs, no profits.

DC Touch has been a great outlet for me, and I genuinely appreciate everyone that helps make this what it is.

Venmo: @Josh-Kube