Saturday October 17th from 8:30am-2pm

Next Level Strength and Conditioning will be hosting a fundraiser to raise money for Muddy’s Buddies! There will be fitness challenges, free demos for our Youth Class as well as Sports Performance classes, raffles, silent auctions and much more. Bring yourself, bring your team, bring your family, all for a good cause and for good health! Stay tuned and hope to see you there!

Check out Next Level’s Website for more details.

 

Plan for the Day

8:30-9:30 FREE ROOTS Group General Fitness Class (OPEN TO ALL AGES/ ABILITY LEVELS!)

9:30-10:30 Group Fitness Challenge (Will be modified for all ability levels)

10:30-11 Free Youth FUNdamentals class (Ages 6-10)
11-1 Lunch
During lunch…11-12 FREE High School and Middle School Demo Session
1-2 Raffles (50/50 etc), Auctuion Items

 

Contributed by Tim Lawrence

 

Well, I have to say I called it. The weather was perfect, and the games were perfect-er.

The MB Lacrosse Festival was a HUGE success, and Billy Fucillo had nothing to do with it. The two-day lax extravaganza was held on May 5 and 19 and over 500 athletes played games on almost 50 boys and girls teams under the sunniest of skies, and some people (no names mentioned here, ahem…you know who you are…) did not heed the advice of yours truly when he so sagely and magnanimously suggested the use of sunblock. Apparently some festival-goers were feeling the sun-kisses for several days after.

The Lax Fest raised over $13,000 dollars this year, almost a 20% increase from the proceeds raised in the 2012 festival.  That is a fantastic achievement and the money goes to the Buddies and their families to support them in their struggles with childhood illnesses including cancer. There are now nineteen Buddies supported by teams and clubs across four counties in Western New York.

The dinero came from team entry fees, T-shirt sales, concessions, and raffles of all sorts of cool stuff, but the MB Fest would not have gotten off the ground at all without the “Best Buddy” sponsors. They were everywhere on those two Sundays in May. They were Doyle Chevrolet and Subaru, Brand Integrity!, Rochester Eye Associates, Dunn Tire, Meliora Advisors, QCI Asset Management Inc., Nancy & Friends–Fighting Cancer Inc., Gauss Sales, Inc.

I cannot believe that there were over 400 T-shirts sold, although I will admit I bought three of ‘em. That hot pink color was ssss-weeet.  I really loved that super-charged neon yellow color, but it made my eyes look orange.  All of the raffles raised over $3000 dollars. BTW I would like to talk to one of the people who won the Abby Wambach balls. I would be willing to negotiate. Call me or text me.

The craziest thing was that they sold over 20 pounds of USDA ground beef for the ever-popular and delish Taco-in-a- Bag. If you were there on the second day of the Lax Fest, you might have seen the dude dumpster-diving for bottles and cans. Well, he came up with over 400 returnable bottles (over $21 worth) and about the same number of sports drink bottles. Ya know there’s no refund for the sports drink bottles (like Gatorade or Powerade) but keeping it green and recycling all those bottles is well worth the effort.

But forget all that, the MB Lax Fest 2013 earned some mad cash for all the Buddies. There were great games, sick goals, 16 hours of sunshine and not a single drop of rain. The Great Mud Man would say “Great Job.  The Buddies won, but don’t forget the sunblock.”

 

 

June 3rd, 2013

It’s a funny position having our end of the season lacrosse banquet before the end of the season but I don’t think anyone minds this year, I sure don’t. Because of our success together, we were able to win a sectional title this year and are fortunate to head to the state tournament this weekend. I think we owe a great deal of our success to Kassidy (our buddy). This year we focused a lot on our mental toughness as a team and Kassidy made that mental “push” so much easier. When I think of Kassidy being on our team this season a few instances come to mind. After our Pittsford game when we lost by 1, is when the mental aspect of our game really came into play. The team received a text from Kassidy shortly after the LONGG bus ride home and it said, “Even though we lost, you guys Rocked! Don’t let this one game bring you down! KEEP PUSHING (All Caps!) and leave the past behind.” This was not the first time Kassidy helped push our team but it surely wasn’t the last.

In the beginning of the season when Kassidy first joined our team and learned about the little treats the captains put in everybody’s bag in the locker room before every game (usually a single wrapped candy of some sort)- Kassidy decided to show us captains up and put a large pack of Starburst in everyone’s bag- So Thanks Kassidy…. I guess it’s go big or go home!!!

We have a joke on our team that Kassidy has a later bedtime than Kenzie because after we beat Canandaigua the other night, Kassidy came to Hungry’s with the team for Garbage Plates but Kenzie didn’t. (Kenzie takes my jokes about being in 8th grade almost every day, she knows we love her). Kassidy gave the seniors a rubber duck before our sectional finals game last week with a graduation cap on its head. I was thrilled she gave me something I could continuously squeeze the life out of on our way to Eastridge, attempting to release my unbelievable amount of nerves. Luckily it’s a short drive though because that duck squeaked every time I squeezed it. .. loud. My teammates around me on the bus were definitely annoyed but I was more thankful for that thing than she thinks.

Kassidy was someone we played for, someone we wanted a sectional title for more than ourselves and I know Kassidy wanted it for us. So Thank You Kassidy, thank you for being such a joy to have around and for pushing us to be the best we could be, we hope you can skip school and come to states with us! We Love you!

Love, The Captains

Written by Carly Randall with help from Meaghan Bowen and Lauren Smolensky – Brighton Girls’ Lacrosse Captains

Manhasset Win

It’s supposed to be beautiful today for the Dude’s Edition of the Fourth Annual Muddy’s Buddies Lacrosse Festival on Sunday, May 19th. The boys’ teams start at 8 AM on the turf field of the Reifsteck Stadium at Brighton High School.

Part One of the MB Lax Festival was two weeks ago, May 5, at the same place, same times. And the girls crushed it– the weather could not have been better, there were some great games and sick goals, the T-shirts this year are killer, and the food rocked. They had taco-in-a-bag, hot dogs and such– comin’ right off your Bar-B-Q grill.

I am psyched, because the weather should be perfect—they’re sayin’ in the 70’s, so not super-hot, but shorts should be good, and it won’t be super sunny.  But you better wear the sunscreen anyway, just to be safe. Muddy would want all of his Buddies to be all over the sunblock, or maybe he would say “Buddies, make sure it’s all over you.”  Ha-Ha.

And all of the proceeds (I am talking about the cabbage, the dough, the rubles, the dollars, yo…) from the games and concessions go to Muddy’s Buddies and their families. Those are the kids that the whole Muddy’s Buddies thing is about– MB helps kids with cancer (or other chronic conditions) by pairing them up with school sports teams for support, friendship, and encouragement. So the Buddies, and there are 17 of ‘em at this point, might go to team events, like games, practices, pasta parties or just for your general hanging out.

Ya know the Great Muddy, himself, was all about kids and kids’ bein’ safe and smart. He was a great athlete and a great coach himself, but an even better teacher. He taught English and he was big on kids expressing themselves in all different ways—like writing in a journal, talking about a poem or a movie, making a sweet pass for an assist, or just takin’ a long bike ride. He believed everybody was an artist AND an athlete!

Watch the video here

article from WROC-TV

A Youth Lacrosse Tournament supported children with serious illnesses.

Sunday was the 4th Annual Muddy’s Buddies Lacrosse Festival at Brighton High School. The Muddy’s Buddies matches children with cancer and other illnesses with high school and college sports teams and clubs.

Sunday’s lacrosse games were played by girls between 1st and 6th grade. The boys will hit the field May 19th.

Muddy’s Buddies has been helping children who have been touched by cancer and other chronic illnesses in Rochester for nearly 4 years now. And as we enter another Spring season, I can’t help to think about how much Muddy’s Buddies continues to grow and evolve. It amazes me to think about how the community has reached out and helped us become what we are today. Thanks to such wonderful and overwhelming community support, we have succeeded in becoming what our motto promises, we increased our numbers and we have become stronger. And, more importantly, we have made others stronger as well.

And the numbers continue to grow. We are stretched across 4 different counties in Western New York. We are connected with 10 different school districts, one college, and one professional sports team. We are 17 different teams, 11 different sports, 1 dance group and 1 amazing jazz band. We have made 17th buddy connections and anticipate that a couple more connections will commence in the coming days.

We have connected with more than a dozen families, we have reached hundreds of athletes, dozens of musicians, dozens of dancers, and a thousands of fans. But there remains plenty of work to do. We show no signs of slowing and the support we continue to receive from the community shows no signs of slowing either. We raised nearly $12,000 in 2012 and anticipate that we will surpass that number this year. We also anticipate more opportunities to support families in need in greater ways and with greater frequency. We are grateful for the support and we remain committed to improving the lives of children and their families whose lives have been impacted by difficult medical conditions. We are “Building Strength in Numbers.”

Contributed by Tim Lawrence- Beat Reporter

I can’t believe it’s less than one week til the next Muddy’s Buddies Lacrosse Festival. The girls’ lax teams play on Sunday May 5th on the turf field at Reifsteck Field at Brighton High School.

There are gonna be games all day long starting at  9 AM.  There are gonna be divisions for first and second graders, third and fourth graders, and  fifth and sixth graders. It’s really cool that they play on that turf field at Brighton, ‘cuz that’s where the high school teams play. It’s especially sweet because it’s not a muddy mess when it’s raining.

Besides the games, and the girls usually have three or four games all day long, there’s fun stuff like face painting , and ridiculous raffles,  a bounce house, and great food (You have to try the “ taco in a bag”—it is sick –in a good way).

You do have to check out the T-shirts too. They  are always so su—weeet.  Every year they’re better than the year before. Last year they were cool with sky blue background and printing in a  dirty, muddy-water brown.

The best part is that it’s all to raise el dinero (the pesos, the Benjamins—the moolah, los dollars) for the Muddy’s Buddies group that supports kids with cancer (and other illnesses, too). Muddy’s Buddies tries to connect kids with cancer   to teams for support, friendship, and general hanging-out. There have been high school sports teams and professional teams (the Rhinos), even a concert band.

There’s a lot more to say about this, but check back in a week and be there on May 5.

The 4th Annual Muddy’s Buddies Lax Fest is 2 weeks away. It is time to begin acknowledging our “Best Buddy” Sponsors. With their support we continue to support dozens of families in need across Western New York. This year’s sponsors are:

Nancy and Friends Fighting Cancer, Inc.

Brand Integrity Inc, “The Experience Management Company”

Dunn Tire– 31 Location in New York and Pennsylvania

Doyle Chevrolet– Family Owned and Operated Since 1939

QCI Asset Management Company

Rochester Eye Associates– Eye Care for All Ages

Meliora Advisors

Gauss Sales– Sportswear Distributor

 

Contributed by Amy Ryan- Muddy’s Buddies Board Member

A few weeks ago, the Brighton Varsity Girls Lacrosse Team welcomed their new buddy Kassidy to the team.  Each of the girls on the team signed a card for Kassidy, and made her  feel as though they had always known her.  Kassidy has loved being at the practices and games (even in the freezing, blowing snow!).  The girls have really enjoyed getting know her and frequently contact her to see how she is and to make sure she knows when they are on the field.  After talking to the girls, it is clear they love having her around as much as she likes being there.

This is the first time that I have personally known a Buddy and it has been a more than rewarding experience.  It has been wonderful to be able to hear the immediate feedback on how this impacts the family’s life and most importantly the Buddy.  One thing I have learned over the past year – it is a truly rewarding experience, not only for the Buddy, but most often for the High School students and coaches who have adopted the Buddy.

The only thing that ran through my mind after leaving the Buddy introduction was, “THIS IS WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT.”  This is why I feel so strongly about the importance of this organization.  We make people’s lives a bit brighter, during difficult times.