SEB Soccer Teams to Donate $3.4K to Safe Haven During State Playoff Game

The Southeast Bulloch High School girls and boys varsity soccer teams will present a check to Safe Haven of Statesboro during the third round of the GHSA playoff game on Tuesday night.

The announcement came from Bulloch County Schools on Monday.

The boys’ and girls’ varsity soccer teams previously voted to donate all of the gate receipts from their seasons’ home games to Safe Haven, a local, non-profit in Bulloch County.  Safe Haven’s mission is to end the cycle of family violence through prevention and education programs. It serves, strengthens, and supports victims and children of domestic violence through the provision of emergency and community-based services.  During the global COVID-19 pandemic, law enforcement and family support organizations in Bulloch County, Georgia, and the nation have noted the marked increase in domestic violence and abuse due to.

Along with the ticket sale donations, the teams also hosted a supply drive at one of the home games where individuals could donate paper products in place of paying admission. Coach Jared Simonin, the boys’ team coach, and Coach Kristin Barnhill, the girls’ team coach, collaborated on the community service project.  The student athletes on the two teams voted at the beginning of the year to select the project and donate the funds. 

“Our athletes wanted to help Safe Haven due to the influx of victims the organization is likely facing,” said Coach Kristen Barnhill. “I think it’s important to show young people how beneficial it is to give back to the community and, in this case, also allow the girls how to become aware of the warning signs of domestic violence.”

Barnhill makes community service a part of her soccer teams’ focus each year.  She believes that it’s important to prepare student athletes to not only use their skills on the field, but how to use their time and talents to serve others in the community. In the past, her teams have also worked with Relay for Life and Bulloch County’s food banks. 

Representatives from Safe Haven will be on site at Fred Shaver Field on Tuesday to accept the donation as the SEBHS Girls Soccer Team takes on Westminster in the Elite 8 of the Georgia High School Association’s state playoffs.  This is only the second time in school history that the SEBHS Girls Soccer Team has advanced this far in the state playoffs.

If you’d like to join, or watch the game, you can catch it at Fred Shaver Field at Southeast Bulloch High School, 9184 Brooklet-Denmark Rd, Brooklet, GA on Tuesday, May 4 at 5:45 P.M.