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Friday, May 7, 2021

Idy Match for NEO Kids expands field, doubles fundraising goal - Sault Star

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With larger field and a little more time to prepare, Evan MacLean and his golfing buddies hope to deliver an even bigger boost for NEO Kids later this month.

The second annual Idy Match for NEO Kids Foundation will be held at Idylwylde Golf and Country Club in Sudbury on May 27, with a fundraising goal of $5,000 — roughly double what MacLean, Tommy Vlahos, Alex Fowke and Brett Jacklin were able to raise at the inaugural event.

“It’s kind of funny, because last year, it started out as one of those games you just want to play with your friends,” said MacLean, reached in Bowling Green, Ohio, where he studies business administration and plays golf at Bowling Green State University and works as a caddy at the nearby Inverness Club.

“We were at my grandma’s house and I said you know what, we could probably do something better than just play for money. How about whatever we win, we donate to charity? We came up with the idea for this match and it kind of blew up from there.”

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And the growth continues, with Vlahos’ partners from the Behind the Bench Podcast, Alex Cimino and Mason Savage, joining Josh Hayes and Tristan Renaud as new participants for the 2021 edition of the fundraiser.

The group has launched a GoFundMe page to raise money before they hit the course.

“Last year, we ended up with just over $2,500, so I said we might as well raise the bar until the bar can’t be raised anymore,” MacLean said. “We’re trying to raise $5,000 this year and I think, with the help of the community, we’ll be able to do well. It’s all going to a great cause, so you can’t beat it.”

Even a charity such as NEO Kids, which enjoys a relatively high profile in the community, has seen its fundraising efforts curtailed significantly during the year-long COVID-19 pandemic, so initiatives such as the Idy Match have been more than welcome.

“We had some really positive feedback on their end, so we wanted to continue to do it,” said Vlahos, a sports administration student at Laurentian University.

“We decided to run it at the last minute, only had four or five days to get it up and running, but we raised a lot of money in that short amount of time. It was great to see everyone donating, but the event itself was just so much fun, being out there with three of my best friends and it was for a great cause, which was the main point.

“We wanted to get my podcast guys involved, because the platform we have created in the last seven, eight months has been really good and the viewership has been trending upward, and we wanted to raise the goal a little bit more, too, so creating a group of eight is hopefully going to help us reach that goal.”

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The Idy Match will include three matches in total, with defending champs Vlahos and Fowke teeing off in the morning against Renaud and Cimino, while Savage and Hayes face MacLean and Jacklin.

Winning tandems will meet in the final at 1:39 p.m.

If they can continue to build on past success, Vlahos would like to see the event expand again in the future, perhaps to a field of 16, and to run like a tournament.

“It’s actually going to be kind of crazy, because golf courses are closed until the 20th now, so we’re going to have a week to prep for it and have the event at the end of May,” he said. “It’s going to be pretty rushed, but we’re looking forward to it.”

“I didn’t want it to be a one-and-done thing after the success we had last year,” MacLean added. “I really wanted to make it an annual thing and I know a lot of us are super busy, but with all the money we raise staying in the North, helping this foundation close to home, it’s something that’s really important, not just for me, but for everyone who is participating and everyone who has donated so far this year. We just want to make this as big as possible.”

For more information or to donate, visit www.gofundme.com/2nd-annual-idy-match-for-neo-kids-foundation.

For more about the NEO Kids Foundation, head to www.neokidsfoundation.ca.

bleeson@postmedia.com

Twitter: @ben_leeson

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Idy Match for NEO Kids expands field, doubles fundraising goal - Sault Star
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