Spring Classic Softball Tournament

On April 30, 2011 the Texas Iron Spikes will be hosting our Tenth Annual Spring Classic Softball Tournament benefiting Special Olympics Texas (SOTX).  

     When: Saturday April 30th, 2011 10:00 am 
     Where: Havin's Fields, 12138 North Lamar Blvd. Austin, TX, 78753  
     Entry Fee: $150 per team (up to 12 people) 
     All players receive: T-shirt, BBQ, and beverages 

     Through various sponsorships and donations, we have raised nearly $100,000 for our philanthropy.  With your participation, together we can help Special Olympics Texas continue to provide those with intellectual and physical disabilities opportunities to achieve.  If you are interested in submitting a team, or would like to make a donation, please visit our website at springclassicsoftball.com. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Jake Thompson at (832) 385-9877 or txspikesvp@gmail.com.

Texas Iron Spikes Basketball Championship

Back Row (L to R): Chris "Coach Cook" Davila, Ryan Betori, Matt Horgan, J Traylor, Andrew Frosch, Zach Shirley;

Front Row (L to R): 

Ben Shoemaker, Jon Sterling, Steven Kilbride, Craig Borque

 

Texas Iron Spikes is proud to announce that our basketball team recently won the Intramural B-League Championship to cap off their undefeated season. The outcome of the game was hardly ever in question, as the Spikes team pulled ahead early and never looked back, which resulted in a 67-48 victory. Ben Shoemaker led all scorers with 29 points on 10 out of 12 shots, while Senior Andrew Frosch had a game high 5 three-pointers. The play of the game however was a gym shaking block by Senior Center Steven Kilbride. We are extremely proud of our basketball team for bringing us our second championship this semester, and we hope many more are to come.

Betori at the line

Zach with the 3

Final Score

Player	2pts	3pts	Rebs	Steals	Blks	Total Pts
J	0	0/1	2	2	0	0
Frosch	0/2	5/7	2	2	0	15
Jon	2/2	0/1	2	0	1	4
Craig	0	0	1	0	0	0
Kill	4/6	0	11	0	1	8
Zach	1/1	1/2	1	0	0	6
Betori	1/1	0	1	0	0	3
Horgan	0	0/1	2	1	0	0
Ben	7/9	3/3	6	1	1	29

ALUMNI WEEKEND

 ATTENTION IRON SPIKES ALUMNI: 

Gentlemen, this year's Alumni Weekend will take place on the weekend of April 15-17. If possible, please join the Facebook group "Texas Iron Spikes Alumni Weekend" and RSVP if you are able to attend. If not, please confirm via email. The following is a general itinerary and description of the weekend's events.

2011 Alumni Weekend Itinerary:

Friday (4/15):
- 6PM: Baseball game - UT vs. Texas Tech @ Disch-Faulk Field
- 7-9PM: Special Olympics of Texas: Victory Dance & Award Ceremony 2011*

Saturday (4/16):
- 11AM: Tailgate @ Disch-Faulk
- Food, Drinks, Friends & Family
- 2PM: Baseball Game – UT vs. Texas Tech
- All-Day: Lone Star Jam @ Waterloo Park (Not our event but a good time, and several actives will be in attendance. For more info: www.lonestarjam.com)
- 9pm: Downtown**
 
Sunday (4/17):
- 9AM: Golf Tournament @ Riverside Golf Course***
- 1PM: Baseball Game – UT vs. Texas Tech


*Special Olympics Victory Dance – Texas Iron Spikes has rented out Phillips Event Center for SOTX and are sponsoring the event. The Victory Dance is SOTX’s big finale to the year and an awesome event where everyone dances and celebrates the athletes' accomplishments. This is a great opportunity to see the direction of community service has taken, and we would greatly appreciate the support. Spouses and children are encouraged to come. It’s going to be a lot of fun.

Phillips Event Center
8140 Exchange Drive
Austin, TX 78754-5236

**Downtown Saturday Night – We are currently hoping to have a bar tab (funded by the alumni) at one of the following locations: Sholz Garten, The Blind Pig, The Ranch, or Qua. If you are interested in donating for the tab, please contact Neil.

***Golf Tournament Sunday - The Golf Tournament will take place at Riverside Golf Course         (1020 Grove Blvd). 9 AM is an approximate start time. We will set up tee times after we know who will be participating. We will have prizes for the top finishers, and possibly one for the bottom finisher. The rates are: $39 to share a cart, $22 to walk. If you plan on participating, please RSVP via the Facebook Group (2011 Iron Spikes Alumni Golf Tournament) or email, and please email both Neil and myself with your foursome.

We sincerely hope to see you all in Austin to celebrate 17 years of Texas Iron Spikes. If you have any questions, concerns or suggestions you may contact myself or Neil Going.


Neil Going, Fa ‘07
neilsgoing@gmail.com
281-773-2111


Tyler Joseph, Sp '10
tyn022mite@yahoo.com
713-409-7760

Best Buddies Festival 3/6/2011

The Texas Iron Spikes recently hosted a booth for the Best Buddies Festival of Friendship. Best Buddies is an organization on campus that places college students in mutually enriching friendships with “Buddies” from the Austin community who have intellectual and developmental disabilities. During the week of February 28 - March 6, Best Buddies UT-Austin in collaboration with Longhorn Volunteers for Special Olympics hosted Spread the Word to End the Word 2011: Real Texans Don’t Use the “R”-Word (visit http://www.r-word.org to learn more about the national campaign), an event dedicated to raising awareness of the fight to end the use of the “R”-word. The week culminated in a “Festival of Friendship”. At the festival, Spikes held a softball toss booth, and cooked hot dogs for the patrons as well. This was a great opportunity to help out the Austin community, UT, and our philanthropy, the Special Olympics of Texas.

Mason Hooper and Patrick Noe

Patrick looking for a strike

7-on-7 SOCCER CHAMPIONS

On Monday March 7, Texas Iron Spikes defeated Don't Messi With Us 3-0 to win the A-league 7-on-7 IM Championship. This capped off a wonderful undefeated season for our soccer team, and was an even sweeter for accomplishment for the seniors. We are extremely proud, and hope that this is the first of many IM championships this semester. Congratulations!

The roster for the championship team is:

1. Cory Van Loozen
2. Craig Borque
3. Patrick Guevara
4. Alec Gagnon
5. Tim Krahel
6. Patrick Warwick
7. DJ Kinneman
8. Matt Horgan
9. Alex Lubojasky
10. Andy Newton
11. Austin Wozniak
12. Spencer Crum

Baseball/Tailgates for the Week!

We play a 3 game series vs. Stanford this weekend.

Friday 3/04
-We will be tailgating with the TAC (Texas Athletic Council)
-We will be having Schlotzsky's catered
-Tailgate starts at 1:00, game starts at 3:00

Saturday 3/05
-Will have  hamburgers or sausage on a stick.
-Tailgate starts at 11:30. Game starts at 2:00. THE TAILGATE WILL END PROMPTLY AT 2:00.

Sunday 3/06
-Tailgate starts at 11:30ish. Game starts at 1:00.
-We'll be grilling sausage's for sausage wraps.

Tuesday 3/08
- vs. UTSA
-Tailgate starts at 4:30ish. Game starts at 6:00.
-Sausage wraps.

Special Olympics of Texas Basketball Tournament 2/26/2011

This weekend, the Texas Iron Spikes volunteered at a SOTX basketball tournament held at Texas State University. It was a great opportunity for us to see our philanthropy in action, as well as a very hands-on way to give back. Most Spikes assisted with keeping score, logging player statistics, and - of course - cheering on the athletes. Witnessing the desire and ability of the athletes was an amazing experience; it only furthered our motivation to raise as much money for SOTX as possible.

Ben Shoemaker and Patrick Warwick keeping score

Zach Shirly, Jon Sterling, Stephen Hopkins, and Saunders Lin helping track player stats

A video of one of the tournament's biggest nail-biters, including a truly clutch performance by one of the athletes: