November 28, 2018
The Mayville State University women’s basketball team had a day off from basketball practice on Sunday, Oct. 28. Instead of practicing, they took the day to help members of the Mayville-Portland community. During their “Service Day,” the women visited homes of Comet fans in the community and helped them with jobs that needed to be done inside and outside of their homes.
“Service Day” was advertised for about two weeks prior to Oct. 28. Community members had an opportunity to sign up for an hour of two of free work completed by members of the women’s basketball team.
“One of the things we take great pride in is showing our players the value of giving back, or having an attitude of gratitude,” said Comets women’s basketball head coach Dennis Hutter. “We work hard at teaching players life skills through the game of basketball. We believe these life skills will help them succeed when they leave Mayville State.”
The day of service was an idea that came from the players. They wanted to help the community members.
Player Joelle Ertl explained, “We wanted to find a way to give back to the members of the May-Port community and serve them because they give so much to us. We have unbelievable people in the community. They devote so much of their time to us. Setting aside a Sunday afternoon was the least we could do to show our appreciation. Serving others is a great way to bring a group together and that was an underlying benefit to us as a team.”
The women spent the afternoon raking and bagging leaves, cleaning gutters, cleaning windows, trimming shrubs, vacuuming, and dusting, in addition to a few other tasks.
“I am very proud of this team and their willingness to put others first, finding ways to give back,” says Coach Hutter. “I love coaching this group, not just because they are good basketball players, but more importantly, because they are great people who represent Mayville State at a high level both on and off the floor. We thank the community members who allowed us to come to their homes and offer our help.”
Photo caption:
Members of the Comets women’s basketball team lent their helping hands at the home of Myrna and Merwin Lyng of Mayville on Oct. 28.
Pictured in the back (l-r) are Merwin Lyng, Taylor Reilly, Haley Anderson, Nicole Bunting, Taylor Shamp, Alex Arp, Kylee Heurung, Heather Elfering, and Andrea Skillingstad.
Middle: Myrna Lyng, Cyan Hale, Rylee Heil, and Taylor Skjordal.
Front: Karleigh Weber, Joelle Ertl, Alexis Nice, Alissa Foster, Claire Blascziek, and Sydney Magsam.