Community Spotlight: CECI wrestler turned head coach spearheads successful $18,000 fundraising initiative for new mats

For head coach of the Central Elgin Wrestling team Jayden Murray, going from student athlete to leading the team was probably the biggest impact he thought he’d make on the school.

But after 5 years of coaching under his belt and with a successful and growing wrestling program at CECI, came the need for new mats for his athletes to thrive.

There began a passion project for the young coach who lead a fundraising initiative in order to purchase this vital equipment for the school.

Murray takes us back to how a call from a friend still in school at the time, led to his role with the Central Elgin Wrestling team.

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Murray notes that the mats were in rough shape when he started as an athlete back in 2011, which meant the time was now to replace the ones that are decades old.

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But little did Murray know that the price tag would come in the tune of approximately $18,000.

Thanks to the hard work of the students athletes, a freezie sale during their track and field meet, a school wide buy-out, other smaller fundraisers and funds given directly from the school, helped to make a big impact on the total.

But as a smaller school with an equally small budget, the contribution from CECI just couldn’t get them to where they needed to be.

With a ton of money to fundraise, Murray hit the ground running and began reaching out for local monetary and raffle donations.

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And that amounted to roughly $8,000 in cash and $7,000 worth of raffle prizes to be handed out. With the addition of raffle ticket purchases and money raised through the school, approximately $20,000 in funds will now  support CECI wrestling.

Murray notes how mind-blowing the community support has been.

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With the extra money raised, Murray shared that all tournament fees for the upcoming reason will by covered by the team.

And while they have met and exceeded their goal, Murray says that those wishing to purchase tickets for the draw taking place Friday evening (Aug 4) can still do so. And they have some pretty epic prizes.

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He adds how exactly the raffle will work.

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Murray thanks all the staff, students and community members who helped out behind the scenes and assisted the wrestling team in meeting this amazing goal.

Those who wish to purchase tickets before the draw Friday evening can reach out to Murray by phone or email at 519-281-2323/ceciwrestling@gmail.com.

Tickets are 1 for $10, 3 for $25 and 8 for $50!

Written by: K. Freeman