By Henry Luzzatto

Correspondent

Lakeland High School’s field hockey team spent Saturday washing cars in the summer heat to raise money for the upcoming season.

The Lady Cavaliers ran their second annual car wash fundraiser from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday to raise money for their field hockey program. Though the team spent the day working in the heat, coach Cortney Parker said the girls had a good time working together.

“We had a good time,” Parker said. “The girls were excited to raise money for the program.”

Parker said the team washed about 50 cars during the course of the fundraiser. She said between donations and the cost of the car wash, the Lady Cavs raised more than $1,000.

“It went really well,” she said. “It was definitely a success.”

The funds raised by the fundraiser will go to replace old equipment, fix problems with the goals and buy warm up uniforms for the team, Parker said.

The car wash fundraiser was first held last year, as the team looked for a way to raise extra money. In 2015, the team raised about $1,400, mainly because they stayed outside for two extra hours last year. Parker said the event has been a success so far, and they hope to repeat it in the future.

Though the event was volunteer based, Parker said the entire team came out to work.

“They’re very committed to the program,” she said. “It all comes along with being part of a team.”

While the work was being done by the field hockey team, Lakeland’s football team came to the site of the car wash to support their fellow athletes.

“That was awesome of them to do,” Parker said. “It means a lot for them to support us.”

Parker said football players piled in cars and came to give moral and physical support.

This gesture from the football team was the latest in a long line of acts of kindness between the football and field hockey teams, she added.

“Last year, we started writing motivational quotes for the football team before the first game,” she said. “And when we have games, they’ll come and cheer us on after practice.”

After the car wash, the football and field hockey teams joined on the track at Lakeland for the school’s Family and Friends Day. Lakeland activities director Gregory Rountree said the theme of the day was unity among all of the school’s athletes.

“When our teams win, we want everybody to be able to say ‘we won the game,’ not ‘they won the game,’ ” Rountree said. “We want to show the unity between all our athletes.

While the teams showed the unity of the school at the event, they also displayed in a small gesture at the car wash.

“Them showing up means everything to us,” Parker said.