This and that and - fundraising for Tiyana's Pioneers!

Tiyana Schwinghammer bolts down court in a home game in January 2023 against Upsala.

It's not uncommon for college athletic teams to reach out for additional support beyond their usual sports boosters and scholarship donors. I find it a great way for the public to help in defraying the costs associated with operating an athletic department. For B-B-E Class of 2023 graduate Tiyana Schwinghammer, her Northland Technical and Community College Pioneers women's basketball team is raising money for their 2024-2025 season. This is a message I wanted to share with everyone that includes a link you can use to securely and safely donate funds!

From Tiyana Schwinghammer:
Hello Jaguar Country fans! My basketball team at Northland is kicking off our annual fundraiser today that helps support me and my teammates as we compete this season. If you are able to donate, click https://ddock.co/N12DP2ZKEU. My teammates and I are competing for funds raised so please use the "give in honor of someone" feature and enter my name. Each donor will be mailed one free admission pass to a regular season home game and 5 random donors will be drawn on Nov. 1 to receive a Pioneers shirt. Any amount helps. Thank you so much for your support!

The official homepage for the Pioneers women's basketball team is https://northlandpioneers.com/sports/womens-basketball. They are a NJCAA Division III school, which means they do not offer athletic scholarships for their players, much like NCAA Division III.

This past July, Schwinghammer earned a prestigious NJCAA All-Academic award for her dedication in the classroom. She was named to the All-Academic First Team with a GPA of 4.00. That is impressive! She did this in addition to being named to the NJCAA Division III Women's Basketball All-America Second Team for the major impact she made on the basketball court. You can read the full press release plus see her 2023-2024 season statistics at Northland by clicking here: https://shorturl.at/qG9fK.

It's hard to believe, but her college sophomore season's opener is just over a month away. A preseason basketball jamboree at Anoka-Ramsey Community College is coming on October 20.

I've got more updates to add here regarding local news/sports...but that won't get posted until Wednesday morning. I am currently attempting to expand this week's Bonanza Valley Voice to 16 pages. God help me! You can see part of what I'll be writing about in the newspaper by clicking here: https://shorturl.at/MhzYj. The trip to the Renaissance Festival on Sunday was well worth it! Even if it got me off track on getting the newspaper done.