Buckeye Valley’s athletic department has partnered with the Driven Foundation in hopes of raising $25,000 for school athletic programs.
“Our goal is $25,000,” said Josh DeVoll, athletic director. “The big thing for me is improvement in our facilities. I want kids to walk by and take a sense of pride in their facilities.”
DeVoll said, like other athletic departments the majority of the departments money is made in ticket sales, but once the overhead costs are paid, “we’re barely scraping by,” he said.
The athletic department scheduled Friday Feb. 17 as an Outreach Day with 10 former Ohio State University football players from the Driven Foundation.
The Buckeyes will visit each school to engage and motivate students on the importance of a good education.
In the evening a charity dinner will be held with the Buckeyes who will speak to community members, parents, and students at 6:30 p.m. Following dinner a charity basketball game with students and staff will be held at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets for the event can be purchased at the four Buckeye Valley schools or through the Driven Foundation at http://staydriven.org/bvoutreachday/ online. The event is open all the communities in Delaware County.
According to the Driven Foundation’s website, it’s a charitable organization founded by former Buckeye and NFL player Roy Hall. He developed the Driven Foundation as motivational tool to encourage others to win.
“It’s all about bringing our community together,” DeVoll said. “It’s been the best season in school history. Our kids have worked tremendously hard in the off the season. Our coaches do a great job; they work tirelessly to improve their programs and we took state in cross country this year.”
DeVoll said he believes Buckeye Valley’s athletic programs are on the threshold of becoming the team to beat in the central district.
“I believe we are very close at taking the next step with all our programs to become more competitive among central district teams,” DeVoll said. “I think we’re at a point right now we’re at the top tier of the Mid Ohio Athletic Conference.”
However, DeVoll said, “I believe that type of success we’ve had in the league has made us somewhat complacent,” he said. “That was the reason to bring in Roy Hall and the Buckeyes who have reached high levels of success athletically and academically.”
DeVoll said he sees the situation as a culture in need of a change to get beyond just the district titles.
“I want to get our parents on board, get our community on board. I want to get our kids to start thinking through what do I need to do to be a better teammate,” he said.
DeVoll brought Hall in to speak with the Buckeye Valley athletes Friday Feb. 10. DeVoll said, Hall told them he had done his research on Buckeye Valley. and the message he had for the athletes was they could do better.
“He told them at best they were mediocre,” DeVoll said. “Half the kids agreed with him and the other half was shocked.”
