Sports
Centreville HS to Host Benefit Game for Servicemembers
Charity baseball game will benefit the Wounded Warrior Project.
The Centreville High School Wildcats baseball team will play a home charity game on April 8 against Herndon high school to raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project, which helps injured servicemembers in the transition to civilian life.
The Wildcats will wear special camouflage jerseys for the game, much like the tradition of the San Diego Padres, who wear camouflage uniforms during some home games to honor the military services. Admission to the game will be free, but any donations at the gate will go to the Wounded Warrior Project, said Morgan Spencer, Centreville High School varsity baseball coach.
“We all wanted to do something to give back to those injured,” Spencer said, “and this seemed like a good idea.”
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The team will reserve bleacher seats for wounded servicemembers and their families who attend the game, which starts at 6:30 p.m. And, the team is trying to arrange for a wounded servicemember to throw out the first pitch.
The charity game, which is a joint effort by the two schools, has created quite a buzz in the community, said Jimmy Sanabria, Centreville High School director of student activities. The local salon is going to pitch in and will have hair dressers at the game to cut hair for free with donations going to the project, Sanabria said.
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“We are trying to do our part,” Sanabria said. “Whatever we do, it really isn’t enough. But we are trying to do something to honor our heroes.”
The WWP was founded in Roanoke in 2003 by a group of veterans and friends who wanted to do something to help the injured servicemembers returning home from the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. What started as something simple, backpacks stuffed full comfort items (such as clothing, toiletries, playing cards) delivered to the bedsides of the wounded, has grown into a national program which offers a range of benefits from counseling to advocacy.
“What we raise won’t be able to repay for what they have done for us, but it’s at least a start,” said Centreville High School Principal Michael Campbell.
