by: Garrett Dvorkin
Shootout for Soldiers is adding many new locations this year, the biggest destination being Texas. One team in particular, St.Arnold’s Brewery from Houston, Texas was especially excited to play. Tim Hilbe, the creator of the team, said “I’d heard about Shootout for Soldiers about two years ago, and I’ve just been waiting for it to come to Texas, I mean 24 hours of lacrosse… that’s just the coolest thing.” Everyone knows the saying “Everything’s bigger in Texas” but the St.Arnold’s team is proving that everything is quicker too.
Tim Hilbe was surprised that the team finished their fundraising so quickly, saying “ I wasn’t really thinking about being the first to get (the fundraising) done, it was just ‘I’m gonna send it out to the team see if they will all help.’” Once Tim emailed the team, they shared the fundraising page to co-workers, family and friends. One team member, whose close friend was killed in Afghanistan shared their fundraising page and immediately raised $250 from one co-worker in particular. St. Arnold’s team draws players from all former levels of lacrosse, some players played Division 1 in college, as some played D3 and others played club. True to the spirit of Shootout for Soldiers, the players for St.Arnolds came together for their love of lacrosse. That’s why Tim said, “It didn’t take really any convincing to get the team onboard to do it…I sent out one email about the event and within an hour all 30-40 guys responded that they wanted to do it.”
Although Tim doesn’t have any close connections to the military, he knew his team would be interested. As Tim and his fellow players “stay as up to date as possible” in the world of lacrosse, when Tim saw that Shootout for Soldiers was coming to Texas he knew he had to sign up. He said, “Being from Texas, you really respect anyone who has served, and you grow up respecting the armed forces.” That is why Tim believes that the event in Texas could become the biggest in the country.
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“Being from Texas, you really respect anyone who has served, and you grow up respecting the armed forces.”
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Tim even said “I wanna see teams from all over come out for the event. I know there are some teams from Austin coming down…I’m sure there will be teams from Dallas, but I really know it can be the biggest it’s ever been (here in Texas).” Although St. Arnold’s was the first to complete their fundraising goal, many other teams from the Lone star State are closing in on their respective goals.
