Recent MoCo Refugees to Benefit From Community Volleyball Tournament

A Rockville-based nonprofit, New Neighbors Interfaith Alliance (NNIA), that works to welcome and integrate newly arrived refugees to Montgomery County, is holding a community volleyball tournament August 10th at the Inter-denominational Church of God in Gaithersburg, 19201 Woodfield Road, to raise awareness of and funds for its work.

NNIA will host the Set Them Up for Success volleyball tournament, bringing together up to eight recreational volleyball teams to pass, set, and hit on the court to fundraise for its mission. An interfaith non-profit coalition comprising 28 churches, synagogues, Muslim and other community groups, NNIA leaders hope the inaugural tournament will raise funds to help arriving refugees with rental assistance and other necessary expenses. They also hope to expand their volunteer numbers to help beneficiaries with job assistance, reliable transportation, and tutoring in English.

“These new neighbors, coming from dire circumstances in Afghanistan, Syria and some African countries, need help as soon as they arrive in our country to resettle and start new lives,” said Christine King, president of the board for the New Neighbors Interfaith Alliance. “We hope this tournament will help introduce our community’s residents to the existence of refugees here from oppression, war and mortal danger, while helping acclimate our new neighbors to life in the United States through the universal language of sports.”

Melissa Egan, coordinator of the Set Them Up for Success volleyball tournament, said the idea for the event began with a long-running basketball fundraiser that her church, St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, sponsors annually to raise funds for its sister parish in Haiti. While sitting at this year’s festivities, held at Our Lady of Good Counsel’s gymnasium in March, she thought about replicating the idea for NNIA with volleyball, which she plays recreationally.

“It’s a great team sport that’s very popular in Montgomery County and also has a great following internationally,” Egan said. “And nothing connects people better than a good sporting competition.”

The tournament format will be a two-bracket, round-robin competition, for which eight teams of recreational players who have played organized volleyball are sought. Entrants in an eight-team field are guaranteed a minimum of three matches, best two out of three games, with the top two finishing teams in each bracket moving on respectively to championship and consolation matches.

The eight-team field is nearly filled but still open for interested teams to sign up by navigating to https://ssl.charityweb.net/nnia-maryland/setthemup/. A designated team captain would need to form a team prior to populating it. The team fee is $215, with additional fundraising optional.

Tournament organizers are also seeking additional business sponsorships; interested companies can contribute at https://ssl.charityweb.net/nnia-maryland/event/stutickets.htm. General admission tickets are $5/student, $10/adult, and $30/family and and raffle tickets priced at three for $5 for 20 themed gift baskets can be purchased at the event or at the link above.

The event will also feature concessions for sale; a bake sale; and volleyball trivia between the volleyball matches. The themed gift baskets were donated by either local businesses or individuals.

For more information, please contact tournament coordinator Melissa Egan at megan@sfadw.org or tournament format coordinator Kirk Grothe at kirk@kirkgrothe.com.