LONDON, Ontario — Any family with a child in sports understands how expensive it is to play. It can be easy to brush off youth sports as a luxury, but the pandemic made it clear that children require activity for both their physical and mental health. Unfortunately, many families cannot afford gifts for their children or dinner every night, let alone sign them up for competitive sports. When the 10U Tincaps wanted to express appreciation to the community for the generous support they receive, they decided to sponsor a family for the holidays through LifeSpin.

LifeSpin was created by a group of sole-support mothers in 1989 to provide assistance to low-income individuals and families in London. Its mission is to achieve a stronger community that is resilient and self-reliant without judgement from others. As a volunteer-based organization, it relies on the generosity of the London community to support its efforts.

On November 28, 2021, the 10U Tincaps brought their collected gift donations together to prepare for delivery to LifeSpin. This gave the players’ families a chance to reflect on how fortunate they are and to emphasize with the young players the importance of giving back, particularly during the holiday season and the winter months.

According to head coach Scott Rathwell, “I think it’s important for us as a team to come together and support worthwhile causes like LifeSpin that allow us to give back to families in our community. This also gives our athletes an opportunity to learn valuable life lessons and helps them grow as well-rounded people.” One of the 10U Tincaps players added that, “it felt good to do something nice for a family that needed it. Doing this as a team means we can buy more and help more people.”

The 10U Tincaps hope that these actions serve as a positive example for our community and other sports teams to reach out and show kindness. After the generosity the Tincaps have seen from their community sponsors, they felt it was the least they could do. After all, it does not take much to do something kind for someone else besides the willingness to do so.

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