Give Kids the World, a fundraising and student-run club at West Essex, hosted its annual fundraiser on March 6 to raise money for its members to travel to Florida. This featured Futsal and Pickleball tournaments, and many students split into teams to participate and compete against each other in the tournament.
The Futsal tournament took place in the main gym and featured a six-team round-robin, where every team played each other. After each team played, a single elimination bracket was made based on the number of goals scored and wins each team had. The bracket winner obtained a golden trophy, and team Faggiani Attack took home the championship title. Team captain Kevin Rodrigues shared his positive experience at the tournament and how his team was able to pull off this victory.
“Despite a difficult start we maintained belief, and everyone put in the work,” Rodrigues said. “We played well as a collective group which I think was pivotal to our success.”
The Pickleball segment of the tournament was held in the back gym. Eight teams participated in a round-robin, and like the Futsal segment, the bracket followed the same structure. The Woodpeckers, composed of seniors Aakash Patel and Eli Rosenthal, won the whole Pickleball tournament and earned their very own gold trophy. Patel reflected on his time at the tournament and how well he and Rosenthal worked together.
“It was fun playing in a tournament against all of my friends,” Patel said. “Playing with Eli, who plays tennis, made the game easier, but we all still had a good time.”
After selling tickets to the tournament, as well as food and refreshments, GKTW raised around $500. In May, the group will travel to Orlando, F.L., to begin volunteering at the Give Kids The World Village, where they will work with terminally ill children and their families.
“All proceeds from the tournament were evenly split with the GKTW student volunteers,” Colabelli said. “The money will go towards our travel expenses to help sick children In Florida.”
