Lions Support North Leeds U18 Soccer Team and Seek Funding Requests

From the left, Lion Wayne Bent, Jordon Billingham, Reese Clair, Kieran Hanna, Anneke Lake, Coach Scott Halladay and Lion Dale Lyons.

Westport Lions Roar

By Lion Bob Reddick

The Westport Lions are always happy to support youth in our community. This July, 15 young ladies from the North Leeds U18 Girls Soccer Team will participate in the Gothia Cup in Gothenburg, Sweden. The last time a team from North Leeds travelled to Sweden was in 2010, when Anders Carson spearheaded the endeavour. This year’s coach, Scott Halladay, and his team of parents have worked hard to raise funds for this once-in-a-lifetime experience. To raise the necessary capital, the team has organized three volleyball tournaments and raffles, held a successful spaghetti dinner, and will have an indoor yard sale on Saturday, May 11^th at Rideau District High School. To obtain more information about the yard sale and the team, you can contact Scott Halladay through Facebook Messenger.

Coach Halladay expressed his appreciation for the community’s support, saying, “The support from the community has been unreal. We have raised the same amount of money in one year as it took us two years for the previous tournament.”

The Gothia Cup is the world’s largest international youth soccer tournament. Each year, approximately 1,900 teams from 80 nations play 4,700 matches on 110 pitches. The tournament was held for the first time in 1975. Since that time, over one million players have participated, and 147 nations have been represented.

In 2019, 50,123 spectators saw the opening ceremony, 21,819 fans saw the finals, and 460,000 people visited the sporting venues in central Gothenburg. (Gothia Cup website)

Congratulations to Scott Halladay and the team for setting a goal of participating in the Gothia Cup and working towards their dream. These young ladies will cherish the memories and the experience of participating in the tournament for a lifetime. The Westport Lions hope the girls have fun and wish them success at the Gothia Cup.

Lions Accepting Funding Requests

The Westport Lions are now accepting funding requests for the Club’s spring disbursements. Please complete the application form and send it to the Westport Lions by April 15, 2024.

You can find the funding application form on the Westport Lions website, westportlions.ca. Click on the red link entitled, “Application for Funding Requests,” and then download an application form for individuals or organizations. You can either print off the form, complete it, and mail it to Westport Lions Club, P.O. Box 428, Westport, ON K0G 1X0, or you can complete the fillable PDF file and email it to westportontariolions@gmail.com.

All requests must be in writing before the club will consider them. Completing a form allows the Westport Lions to make fair, non-biased decisions that are consistent with the Lions Club mandate and AGCO guidelines.

All requests should meet at least one of the following general criteria:

Youth mental and physical development with an emphasis on one of five Lion’s Pillars: Vision, Diabetes, Hunger, Environment, or Childhood Cancer.
Senior’s mental and physical well-being with an emphasis on one of the same five Lion’s Pillars.
Relief of pain, suffering, and financial hardship due to illness or disaster.
Purposes beneficial to the community.

To ensure the value of our donation dollars is maximized, priority is given to causes that support many individuals as opposed to a single recipient. In terms of community requests, the club considers how the donation will be beneficial to the community.