The Commissioner's Cup Competition winners for the 2020-2021 Academic Year participated in and documented a team or athletic associated group performing some type of service project or community service. Schools had their team or teams identify a need within the community and create a plan to conduct the service project. Each winning program will receive a $1,000 stipend for their respective team or school athletic program.
1A – LINCOLN CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL, Women’s Golf
The Varsity Women’s Golf Team at Lincoln Charter prepared and served food at their local homeless shelter. The Hesed House of Hope is a local shelter that offers a temporary place to stay for men, women, and children, offering support and assistance to their residents. The Women’s Golf Team was able to feed over 40 people through their volunteer efforts and provided individuals in their community with a hot, healthy meal.
1A – PENDER HIGH SCHOOL, Men’s Soccer and Volleyball
A student-athlete on Pender’s Men’s Soccer team organized a stocking drive for Soldier’s Angels. Together with his teammates and the volleyball team, items were collected and packed into stockings in November. The stockings were donated to Soldier’s Angels who sends them to active duty soldiers and soldiers in VA hospitals during the Christmas season. The efforts of Pender’s Men’s Soccer and Volleyball teams led to 100 stockings being collected and delivered.
1A – PRINCETON HIGH SCHOOL, Football
The rising seniors on Princeton’s Football team spent their summer cooking chicken plates for over 600 frontline workers. Throughout last year, this group of young men performed services in order to fund a foreign service trip. Unable to travel due to the pandemic, the team quickly shifted to supporting local heroes at the frontline against Covid-19. The Football team at Princeton’s efforts fed employees at local hospitals, doctor’s offices, the Town of Princeton, and the fire department.
2A – FRANKLIN HIGH SCHOOL
UNIFY March Madness is a basketball showcase for people with disabilities. Students volunteer their time volunteering to teach current students and past alumni with disabilities the game of basketball helping them compete in the showcase event. The event is hosted and co-sponsored by the Franklin High School’s Department of Special Education, local community organizations, and Franklin High School’s athletes.
2A – MOUNT PLEASANT HIGH SCHOOL, Athletes Who Share Unselfish Moments (AWSUM) Club
The AWSUM Club at Mount Pleasant partnered with Cabarrus County Agencies for the National Night out to have a Food Drive, drive-through COVID style. The canned food drive allowed student-athletes to follow the social distancing protocols and collect non-perishable foods to donate to local families through the food bank in Mt. Pleasant. The number of families being served by the food bank has tripled due to the pandemic shutdown, lay-offs, and financial burdens. Ten large boxes of non-perishable items were collected and donated to the local food bank for local families in need.
3A – NORTH HENDERSON HIGH SCHOOL, Volleyball
The Volleyball team at North Henderson hosted VolleyBuff, a volleyball tournament for male students. The girls’ team instructed and coached these teams and officiated the tournament. Most of the men’s sports programs had a team that participated. A faculty team also participated, and this brought in the support of our faculty and administration. Their efforts helped raise awareness and support for Vs. Cancer and the fight against pediatric cancer.
3A – COX MILL HIGH SCHOOL
Student-athletes at Cox Mill participated in Coat the Court, a coat drive to support local shelters. During a week in December, over 100 student-athletes collected more than 2,000 coats. The plan initially started as a Volleyball project, but quickly attracted other teams. The students and volunteers looked for lightly used coats they could donate to four local shelters: Church of God Children's Home, CVAN Women and Children's Shelter, Opportunity House of Concord, and Charlotte Homeless Camp.
4A – R.J. REYNOLDS HIGH SCHOOL, Baseball
RJ Reynolds High School baseball team and their coach, Pat Frail, coached a single A (6-7-year-old) machine pitch team at their local little league. The little league did not have enough head coaches for this single A team and the baseball team at R.J. Reynolds stepped up and took this on. During games, each of the varsity kids was on the field at their position with each kid providing instruction. The little league practice was run with multiple stations with an emphasis on fundamentals and taught by Coach Frail and the varsity players.
