Help Rain Athletics Finish The Season Strong!

Hello Fellow Rain Families and Cheer Friends,

As most of you may know the Rain Athletics gym was hit with unforgiving winds this past Saturday while the majority of teams were in Columbus competing. After evaluation, it was determined the current facility would be closed until further notice leaving the gym without a current space to practice. The good news is that with the majority of the gym out of town, it was not a normal busy Saturday with families in and out. However, what makes this even more challenging for us of course is the timing. While there’s never a GOOD time for anything like this to happen, with the gym just being weeks out from Worlds and Summit, things need to be as seamless as possible. These kids have worked too hard all season, and it would be so disappointing for them to be set back with this interruption.

It’s my understanding that while we had an amazing response from so many great people to get the most of the major equipment out of the gym the night this happened, there are many things that were not salvageable, or we were not given the time to remove. This means there are things ranging from some of our gym equipment (our tumble track was damaged) down to operational items such as first aid kits, office supplies, cleaning supplies. etc. which need to be replaced. The gym is working to get into a new, temporary space to hold the teams over until after the end-of-season events as quickly as possible and is hopeful practices will be able to resume next week in some capacity.

The most important thing is that we make this as seamless as possible for the kids. In addition to the hard work they have put into their success, Rain is a second family to most of them. It’s an outlet from stressful days, a step away from school drama, a place to find mentors in coaches and older athletes. It’s a place to make friends and be a friend. Though the space does not make the family, it’s so important that the kids have a reasonable environment in which to function in the next couple weeks.

A group of us have gotten together and decided that it’s important to set up this fund for those who feel inclined to donate. It’s hard to know at this point how they are going to be fully impacted by this move as a program, so it’s almost impossible to say specifically what all is needed. It’s still not clear. and will only be so as the gym moves forward trying to rebuild. There’s no expectation or requirement for anyone to give. We realize every family is in a different situation, every household budget is individual. We know that the sport itself is expensive. However, we wanted to give the opportunity for those who may WANT to give back and do something for our program, a place to do that. As I said above, it’s hard to be specific right now, but any monies received will be used to lost equipment, transportation fees associated with moving equipment around during the next month, supplies needed for everyday operation while in the temporary space (first aid kits, cleaning supplies, etc), and more that will be determined once the space is locked down.

As we know, the Rain Family is extremely resilient and I know will get through this next month the way they always do...with strength and perseverance. It will be an adventure for all, and I know we will be able to look back and be proud of how we all pulled through this situation and helped each other wherever we could. #RainStrong