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Date: 7/8/2020
WESTFIELD – Despite a delay from the coronavirus pandemic, Westfield Youth Football will still hold its annual golf fundraiser on July 25 at East Mountain Country Club.
Melanie McNamara, the vice president of Westfield Youth Football’s Board of Directors said the two biggest challenges this year in terms of the logistics of the event were the current golf restrictions and the dining guidelines.
The biggest issue with the golf guidelines is limiting each cart to one person. “Everybody has to have their own cart in order to keep up with the restrictions. For reference, we normally shoot for 88 players and its two to a cart and we usually have enough carts, so I think they have about 40 to 45 carts,” McNamara said.
In terms of dining, golfers will have to adhere to the state guidelines including a maximum of six people to a table with tables at least 6 feet apart. She said, “We also need to follow the dining guidelines because we do a meal afterwards. So, one foursome can sit at a table but the next one gets split into two tables.”
If the numbers get too large for the typical dining area for the event, golfers will have dinner in East Mountain’s banquet hall.
McNamara also said that the unique financial challenges from the pandemic have been an obstacle to overcome this year, including the amount of raffle prizes.
“We’ve cut the raffles way, way down because we need to space those out and people who have donated in the past may not be able to this year. It’s been challenging just trying to get some nice raffles because that’s usually what attracts players that aren’t true golf players that just want to come fundraise,” she said.
In order to sign up for the fundraiser, McNamara said she can be reached by email at melaniecooper2000@yahoo.com or by phone at 575-0202. As a result of the COVID-19 restrictions she said golfers have two weeks to sign up as opposed to the one week window they typically use.
In the press release on Westfield Youth Football’s Facebook page she also said that golfers should reserve their spots early because space will be limited with the current restrictions.
All the proceeds from the event will go directly into paying for youth football costs for the year. “It goes toward our gear, the insurance, the field usage fees for practice and games and getting the kids the safest equipment. This year our girls were due to get updated cheer uniforms because they’ve had theirs for about five years,” she said.
McNamara said that if the football season is cancelled this year, the funds will be going back to the families.
“If for some reason the season ends up being cancelled, we’re going to refund 100 percent of the registration fees so that’s why we’re still doing this. We want to make sure that families will get their money back, so we want to make sure there are funds there and that is truly the reason why we are still doing our events.,” she said.
McNamara said she is expecting a good turnout from the event and hopes the golfers will adhere to the social distancing guidelines. “Westfield is really supportive and I think people will come out for the fundraiser and listen to all of the safety precautions by wearing their mask and keeping six people to a table as in a restaurant,” she said.
She added that she was happy that they are still able to hold some of their yearly fundraising events. “It was a win-win. The Westfield Youth Football fundraiser could still happen and then the families that could donate could, and we put it right back into the local economy.”
After the golf tournament, Westfield Youth Football will also be holding its annual Purse Bingo event on Aug. 20 to round out its fundraising season.