In the spirit of what coach tried to do as an ambassador, we are back in Australia again, but this time in Melbourne, Victoria. Rather than doing shows, we are here to compete in their very large and prestigious state competition as ambassadors of ASU, gymnastics, and the US. After about 2 years of planning, we were finally able to make it work with 18 team members, plus coaches and spouses. The competition was an amazing experience (more about that in a later email)!

 

Four years ago we took our whole team to South Africa and had another trip of a lifetime with that group. This time, for  Australia, we have had to work feverishly at fundraising knowing that the cost would be great but the experience would be worth it. Raising the necessary funds for a trip like this was not a walk in the park. The team worked diligently all year and at every opportunity we took advantage of stepping up and raising funds. On top of that, everyone who chose to come has put in a minimum of  $500 of their own money to make sure it happened.

We are continuing in our goal to be a fully endowed program, but unfortunately this trip will be draining approximately $23,000 from that goal. I am reaching out to each of our alumni and boosters that understand how important these trips are to the culture of our team and ask that you consider being a part of this trip by making a donation specifically toward it. 

40 years ago coach Robinson took a step of faith and asked the Sun Devil Booster Club for a loan of $10,000 to make his  Australia trip happen. They gave it to him believing that he would not pay it back. But, in fact, we ended up doing fundraising shows and garnering donations from boosters and alumni when we got back to help pay every cent back, quite to their dismay.  As far as I understand, coach said we were the only team to ever pay back a loan to that club.

 

So now you have a little bit of history as we look forward with this team as it continues grows continues to grow and provide opportunities for gymnasts to continue to compete and get an education. Hopefully you have time to follow us on our Facebook page and see some of the highlights of the trip so far. Thanks to all our parents and those of you who have stepped up generously to help make this trip happen. And to those of you who can help support this trip with a donation, please contact Paula Auger at [email protected] or at (480) 820-3774.

Later Mate!