The girls soccer team has been fundraising for their head coach, Jamie Leraas, who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. The team started three weeks ago in preparation for Leraas’s double mastectomy that happened on Sept. 10. All the money they have collected is going towards her medical expenses.

“We wanted to do this for Coach Leraas because she deserves it, she has done so much for us and the school,” Savannah Christain, ‘25 said. “She’s always there on the sideline supporting us, winning or losing. She treats us like family, so we felt like we needed to treat her as family.”

The fundraiser was started due to the girl’s desire to help support their coach. They brought attention to the idea by telling their families and getting in touch with the assistant coach, Matt Owings.

“When Coach Leraas told the team and some of the parents of the team, nearly everyone wanted to help support her,” Owings said. “The shirts idea generated from one of our parents and I helped coordinate. Many members of the girls soccer team also on their own got together to buy Coach Leraas gifts, gift cards and heartfelt cards filled with their support and love.”

The fundraiser consisted of selling t-shirts, collecting donations and gift cards. They also created a GoFundMe and set up a MealTrain.

“In just the first week, we sold 60 shirts, this was limited to just the girls soccer team and their families,” Owings said. “Altogether, about 100 shirts were sold and about $1,500 was raised. If you combine that with the GoFundMe and the meal train, that’s almost $14,000 raised for her in just a couple weeks, not to mention all of the meals already delivered to the Leraas family since her surgery.”

The coaches and players spread word about the fundraiser through multiple platforms.

“The athletics programs in FISD use SportsYou to communicate with athletes and parents,” Owings said. “A lot of the communication was there and through email. I also sent out emails to the staff, and friends of Coach Leraas throughout the district and community and it was posted in the FHS newsletter.”

Leraas is currently off from school for the three weeks following her surgery, and the girls eagerly await her return.

“Coach Leraas should know that she is loved by so many people and that she’s made a difference in many girls’ lives,” Christian said. “Personally, before last season, I had never played soccer before. She was the first person to come to me and tell me that it’ll all be alright and she wouldn’t have told me to try out if she didn’t believe that I couldn’t do it. She teaches us to be hard working and work as a team no matter what is happening, and that we are all a family on the team.”

This story was originally published on The Racoon Rambler on October 4, 2024.