People stopped working on their lawns to wave as Tate DeMasco, the head football coach and athletic director of the Ingram Independent School District, passed through Kerr County homes.
Tate DeMasco was driving a truck, and the two San Antonio Spurs reps in the cab were not being waved at. The coach was being waved at.
The two people in the car were so moved by that picture that they told their colleagues about it. They were all trying to raise money for the community following the disastrous flooding in Central Texas.
After hearing the story, Spurs Chief Impact Officer Patricia Mejia stated that “sport is arguably even more important in a really small community because it brings everybody together.” People can sort of unplug from the day thanks to it. And in this instance, I can see DeMasco waving at people as he passes by, giving them faith that they would rebuild together in the future.
The town is developing a plan for reconstruction one month after the Guadalupe River flooded, destroying homes and killing more than 100 people. The San Antonio Spurs and 38 other professional sports teams are offering support for the next phase of the recovery process, while other funds and organizations provided greater assistance in the early phases.
The NBA, the Players Association, the Spurs, the Rockets, and the Mavs first pledged to contribute $2.2 million to the relief efforts. During the opening weekend of the NBA Summer League, the Texas teams raised money and showed togetherness by creating Texas Strong t-shirts to add to that fund.
“Hey, what are you guys doing?” was my message to the Spurs. Sarah Joseph, the Houston Rockets’ vice president of community relations and events, stated, “I know we’re going to want to be involved in this.” After that, it just developed to include more than just NBA clubs.
The Texas Sport for Healing Fund was established four days following the disaster. To discuss how they could generate money, representatives from each of the 39 participating teams joined a Zoom session.
An auction was suggested as a way to engage fans in the endeavor during the conference call. Web development was spearheaded by the Dallas Stars, who already had a website ready for an auction. Over 150 things from current and previous players were donated by all other clubs who consented to participate in the auction.
The teams jumped-started the fund with $6.3 million, but they may never be able to officially put a number on the total amount raised because several teams donated on their own. When the auction closes on August 8, all funds will be donated to the Texas Sport for Healing Fund.
In addition to helping Kerr County recover in the future, the money will benefit the entire state.
According to Mejia, there are people affected by this catastrophe all over the state who may have visited for a vacation. Although it occurred in a single place, the impact was far more widespread throughout the state, and we wanted to ensure that we could be inclusive of that fact.
According to Mejia, that is the power of athletics. bringing supporters and opponents together to help people around the state, raising money for a community, and providing a diversion when people need it most.
According to Mejia, it could be as simple as playing a pickup game to help them stop moving trees or performing other physically demanding tasks, or it could be as simple as reminding the athletic director that there will be another game once classes resume. Even in the most trying times, it might help us remember the simple delight of humanity that there is something else to focus about. We are all connected by something.
