Seven of the 10 Chasing Gold athletes are currently in Cancun, preparing for the unprecedented back-to-back-to-back Bubble-style tournament series that begins on Thursday and extends through May 2.
Not a single one will have to pay for their travel to get there.
In quite a momentous start for Chasing Gold, enough funds were raised — much of this due to its non-profit status, making all donations tax deductible — to cover the flights for Tri Bourne and Trevor Crabb, Emily Stockman and Kelley Kolinske, Sarah Sponcil and Kelly Claes, and Bill Kolinske. Flights from Los Angeles to Cancun averaged around $700 apiece.
That’s a burden the athletes will no longer have to bear, thanks to the many individual and private donors who have contributed to Chasing Gold, and its mission to alleviate the heavy financial toll exacted upon the athletes representing the United States of America.
It isn’t just the flights, either. The hotels for four of the athletes under the Chasing Gold umbrella have also been covered. The FIVB is responsible for hotels and food for the main draw athletes.
With the finances no longer being an issue for this string of tournaments, “it’s time,” Bill Kolinske said, “to go win some volleyball matches.”
That right there is the ultimate goal: No more focusing on how a trip is going to be paid for, if it’s affordable or not, if it’s possible to continue chasing this dream of representing the United States.
The focus will be exclusively on winning volleyball matches, bringing back some hardware for USA Volleyball.
For Cancun, thanks to you, the beach volleyball community and its supporters, that mission has been accomplished.
“Wow, wow, wow is all I can say,” Chasing Gold Executive Director Matt Callahan said. “I could not have imagined a better start than this. All of our athletes’ travel is totally covered, and now they can just focus on doing their job and playing beach volleyball. This is going to be such a great thing for American beach volleyball players as they make a run at the Olympic Games.”
The mission has only begun. For three tournaments, at least, the athletes can focus on one thing and one thing only: Chasing Gold.
