August 22nd, 2025 – Stories of Olympic generosity, flood recovery, and breaking down barriers from our friends at GoFundMe
This week’s Feel Good Friday showcases the beautiful cycle of sports: how athletes who have achieved success turn around to lift up the next generation. From Olympic medalists pledging prize money to former professionals starting scholarship programs, these stories prove that the greatest champions understand their responsibility to keep the doors open for those following behind them.
This Week’s Inspiring Headlines:
🚣♀️ Oakland Rowing Program Raises $18K to Keep Sport Accessible to Public School Students
🚴♀️ Olympic Medalist Pledges Prize Money to Send Junior Women Cyclists to World Championships
⛵ Marquette Rowing Club Battles Back from Devastating Flood Damage
⚽ Former MLS Player Creates Scholarship Fund for Madison Youth Soccer
🏈 Georgia Youth Football Team Faces Financial Challenge They “Can’t Tackle Without Help”
🚣♀️ Making Waves in Oakland
Oakland United Rowing’s 2024 Ergathon raised more than $18,000 on GoFundMe, helping the program provide scholarships, cover nutritional needs, and fund essentials such as swim lessons, equipment, and transportation. The support allowed dozens of Oakland Unified School District students to take part in rowing this year, many for the first time.
The event set a $35,000 target, and while the funds raised made a lasting impact, the program continues to face growing costs to keep rowing accessible. Each season requires new equipment and ongoing financial assistance to ensure that no student is turned away because of expenses.
One of only three programs on the West Coast recruiting directly from public high schools, Oakland United Rowing was established by the East Bay Rowing Club to serve Oakland-area 8th graders and high school students. Beyond competition, the team emphasizes leadership, collaboration, and resilience, offering young athletes opportunities that extend well beyond the sport.
The success of the Ergathon showed what community backing can achieve. Continued support will be key to keeping doors open for the next generation of Oakland rowers.
🚴♀️ Olympic Champion Pays It Forward
Olympic bronze medalist and three-time Junior World Champion Megan Jastrab has launched a fundraising campaign to help ensure junior women cyclists can compete for Team USA at the 2025 UCI Road World Championships in Kigali, Rwanda. The event will be the first Road Worlds held in Africa, making it historic but also significantly more expensive for athletes and their families.
Jastrab, who credits her own appearance at Junior Worlds in 2019 with shaping her career, has set a goal of raising $10,000. She has pledged her summer race prize money to the effort and is calling on cycling fans, former racers, and community supporters to contribute.
“Now I’m asking you, whether you’re a cycling fan, a former racer, or just someone who wants to invest in the next generation, to help support these young women as they take on the world,” she wrote on GoFundMe. “Whether it’s $10 or $500, your contribution helps make their dream a reality.”
All donations will go to the USA Cycling Foundation to cover travel, equipment transport, and national team fees for junior women athletes. The goal is to reduce financial barriers so riders can focus fully on racing.
For Jastrab, the effort is about giving back to the sport and creating opportunities for the next generation. She hopes the campaign will allow USA Cycling to field a full team of junior women and ensure young riders gain access to the same life-changing experiences that helped launch her career.
⛵ Rising Above the Flood
The Marquette University Rowing Club has located one of the docks swept away in last month’s flash flood in Milwaukee, but the discovery comes with new challenges. The dock is currently suspended six feet above the river by a rusty hook, and the team fears that an entire ramp, estimated at $10,000 to replace, may already be lost.
The flood caused more than $30,000 in damage to the student-run club, which relies on its docks and ramps to train and compete. Recovery will require towing, repairs, and possibly replacing major sections of infrastructure, costs that quickly add up for a program without university funding.
“This is our race for survival as a club,” Katie Fletcher wrote on GoFundMe.
For Marquette rowers, the loss represents more than equipment. The docks are the foundation of their daily training and the community they build around the sport. Without them, practices and competitions are at risk, putting future seasons in jeopardy.
The club is turning to alumni, supporters, and the wider rowing community for help. Donations will go directly toward restoring docks and ramps and repairing equipment so that athletes can return to the water.
“Whether you’re a rower who knows the magic of those glassy-water mornings, a parent who’s cheered from the shore, or someone who simply believes in the resilience of student-athletes, you can help us rebuild,” Fletcher wrote.
Despite the setback, members remain determined to rebuild. Each contribution, they say, brings them closer to getting back in the boat and moving forward, stroke by stroke.
⚽ Home is Where the Heart Is
Former Major League Soccer defender Aaron Hohlbein, now Director of the Forward Madison FC Youth Club, is using his platform to give back to the next generation of players in his hometown. A Madison native, Hohlbein grew up playing youth soccer locally, starred collegiately at the University of Wisconsin, and went on to a professional career in MLS before returning to help develop young talent in the community.
Hohlbein has launched a fundraising campaign to provide scholarships for families in need of assistance with the costs of youth soccer. Donations will go directly toward expenses such as registration fees, uniforms, and travel, helping to ensure that financial barriers do not prevent players from joining teams or participating in opportunities the sport can provide.
For Hohlbein, the effort reflects both his personal journey and his passion for giving back. Soccer, he says, has shaped his life, opening doors and teaching lessons he now works to pass on to the youth of Madison. Through this initiative, he hopes to expand access so more children can discover the joy of the game and the skills it fosters both on and off the field.
🏈 A Problem They Can’t Tackle Alone
For the young athletes of Coweta County Cobra Youth Football, the game is about much more than touchdowns and trophies. The team has become a second home where players learn discipline, teamwork, and perseverance, and where families come together to support their children’s growth.
Many of the players come from households working hard to make ends meet, and the program has stepped in to provide not only a place to play but also a source of encouragement and community. This season, however, the team is facing financial hurdles that go beyond what determination on the field can solve.
To give every player the chance to compete with pride and safety, the Cobras are raising funds to cover new uniforms, essential equipment such as helmets and pads, and travel expenses for away games and tournaments.
“When you give, you’re not just helping a team… you’re helping a generation believe that with hard work, dedication, and the support of their community, anything is possible,” Philip Williams wrote on GoFundMe.
The campaign is designed to ensure that no child is left behind due to cost, and that each player has the opportunity to build confidence, create lasting memories, and experience the benefits of competitive football.
Organizers say every contribution, no matter the size, helps sustain not just the team’s season but also the spirit of community that surrounds it. With support, the Cobras hope to give their athletes the season they’ve been working toward and keep the dream alive for the next generation of players.
The Circle of Giving Back
This week’s stories beautifully illustrate the cycle that makes youth sports so powerful: today’s champions become tomorrow’s advocates. From Megan Jastrab pledging her Olympic prize money to Aaron Hohlbein returning home to create opportunities for the next generation, these athletes understand that success comes with responsibility.
Whether it’s making rowing accessible to Oakland public school students, helping a rowing club rebuild after natural disaster, or ensuring that financial barriers don’t prevent young athletes from taking the field, these stories remind us that the sports community takes care of its own.
The most inspiring part isn’t just the individual generosity, but how it creates a ripple effect. Young athletes who benefit from these programs today will likely become the champions giving back tomorrow, continuing the cycle of opportunity and inclusion that makes youth sports truly special.
Want to share a feel-good youth sports story? Send it our way for next week’s Feel Good Friday!
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