A group of dedicated and soccer-loving girls from University of Utah blazed the college sport trail by establishing the first women’s university soccer club in the entire state. But being the first and only team of its kind in all of Utah, these pioneers have faced numerous difficulties along the way. Some of such difficulties–finances and beyond–were set at ease by something as simple as a restaurant fundraiser they held at the classic pizza joint, Mellow Mushroom.

Trouble on the Road

Because they are the only team in Utah, the U of U women’s soccer club has to travel out of state for all of their games. Needless to say travel costs are super expensive, especially as the team is looking to expand. This is their second year playing together, and team member Hannah Powell said, “we are excited to be getting more competitive and traveling to more and more tournaments,” which inevitably means more and more travel costs.

Another issue they face with being such a new team is exposure. Because they are so fresh, perhaps the word about the club is not spread as far across campus as they would like; there might be some talented players out there who would love to participate but don’t know that the college sport is available at their university.

Pizza, Friends, and Relief

The money raised at the restaurant fundraiser helped alleviate some of the weight of travel costs, giving the soccer club wiggle room to expand and compete with a wider variety of teams. All they had to do was carb out on some mouth watering pizza, and after the dinner Mellow Mushroom donated 20% of the total bill back to the team! But the fundraiser did more than just raise money.

“This is our second year as a club team and it helped us get the word out about our club,” said Hannah. “Every little thing helps when starting a club.”

It is easy to entice college students with pizza, especially in a friendly, vibrant, and artsy environment like Mellow Mushroom. It wasn’t hard for the team to get friends, roommates, roommates’ friends, and more to join in on the fundraiser and eat until they couldn’t eat anymore. The team said that “this was the best fundraiser they had ever been to.”

Undefeated

The University of Utah women’s soccer club had a great turnout for the fundraiser, which not only raised a lot of money but also spread the word about the new team across campus. 

“Because of this we had a lot of talented girls show up at our tryouts. We are now in our season and currently undefeated.” – Said Hannah.

Think that this could work for your college sport?

Here’s all you have to do to book your very own restaurant fundraiser:

1. Search for restaurants in your area (by city or zip).
2. Select a restaurant, date, and time.
3. Estimate the number of RSVPs.
4. Press submit!

Just like that, and you’ll be eating delicious food with your friends, all while raising money.