Maverick (Mav) Hatch grew up in Campbell River and the Comox Valley, and now lives and trains in Toronto.
The 26-year-old is part of Canada’s national beach volleyball program and has competed in international events.
His goal is to make the Olympics and he’d love to return to the West Coast to train, but that means money, something this country’s top-flight athletes don’t have much of.
However, Volleyball Canada now has an Adopt-an-Athlete program which provides tax breaks to donors. In his own words, Hatch explains the need for financial assistance:
Every season there comes a point when I start to see my bank account dwindle away to the point where I track each cent, trying to save as much as possible for my next event.
I supplement my National Team funding by coaching youth athletes on the beach, and calling businesses trying to set up some sort of sponsorship deal. Unfortunately, this point in the season has come sooner than expected for me after having traveled to China for two weeks then across the world to South America.
Building relationships with companies is tricky, and, in the past, we’ve never been able to offer a charitable tax receipt, until now! Thanks to Volleyball Canada’s Adopt an Athlete program, donors can receive a tax break.
Volleyball Canada requires donors to specify a sport (not an athlete) to direct the funds to; the donations cannot be earmarked for any individual athlete.
However, donors can add a note of who they would like to see their money go towards and Volleyball Canada will do their part in providing expense reimbursements to those athletes.
You can download the form by visiting blog.maverickhatch.com
Please do not hesitate to contact me at maverick@maverickhatch.com or our beach co-ordinator Marc Stromme at mstromme@volleyball.ca