 It has been awhile since we’ve heard from Peyton, she has been doing well since the TCS World Series in Park City, Utah. She has been enjoying some very much-needed down time. During this down time she has really just been enjoying being a kid! Currently getting some free weekends to spend time with her family, friends, some nights having sleepovers, days next to the pool and sleeping in.
Her initial plan was going to be taking a break from softball, since she has been playing year round, non-stop. She is taking the opportunity to explore what other sports she might be interested in playing. She is signed up for Volleyball! She is super excited about her season starting on September 11th and running through November 1st. Her softball break didn’t go as planned. She went to a practice one day with a few of her friends and realized how much she missed playing already and didn’t want to take the fall season off, so she is playing both sports this fall and will be busier then ever! She is looking for other teams to try out for, so it’s unknown what sport she’ll be apart of next. She is also looking forward to getting back to school. It’s funny, she probably would’ve gone back to school a month ago or earlier if given the choice! We will be sure to let you know how volleyball is going along with juggling multiple sports!
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 Recently the Randy Jones Foundation has added to its accolades! We are happy to share that we received multiples awards and recognitions for being one of the top Nonprofits in San Diego who support military families.17 awards were given to us by multiple senators, congressmen and several other high-ranking politicians, the awards are listed below.
We are extremely honored to receive all of these and will continue to do our best to help support all our local military families. Thank you to everyone who has volunteered and helped as well as those who have contributed as sponsors, without you non of this would have been possible.  Late last month Austin was taking some time with his family for a little R & R before his tournament at the Azusa Pacific University. All the extra training and hard work Austin put in paid off in the Youth American Open on the 29th.
Austin had two competitors in his bracket, he needed to win both matches in order to win first place! He fought super hard and managed to place second in his first ever tournament. He was incredibly excited to have the opportunity to compete and is looking forward to his next tournament in late September in Los Angeles. Austin has learned a tremendous amount during this experience and already has made a plan with adjustments for his training in order to have better opportunities for victory in September. The Ray Squad (Austins’ family) and everyone here at the Randy Jones Foundation are beyond proud of all the hard work and perseverance. Great job, we’re excited to see how well do you do in your next competition. Thank you to everyone who showed Austin support! Keep up the good work and let’s help push him to first place! If you enjoyed this little update on Austin, be sure to check back in with our blogs and social media to find out the latest information about all three of our scholarship recipients. Also, if you or someone you know wants the chance to be one of our next scholarship recipients, head on over to the application form and submit one! Application submissions end on December 31st!  If you are just joining the Randy Jones Foundation, recently we have been working to highlight 3 amazing student athletes that come from military families. There is Peyton, Austin and Sienna, they all compete in different athletics however all have extremely high drive, passion and intelligence. They all also happen to be the Randy Jones Foundation first scholarship recipients. A few weeks ago we shared a story about Sienna recovery from a painful hip injury but doing everything possible to continue to push herself and not let her team down during both her CIF swim prelims and her track and field finals. Sienna also attended a Nike Track and Field Camp at Stanford University where she was able to learn a lot more about her specific events ( 400m, 800m and the 4x400m relay). It was incredible experience with many guest speakers including some Olympic athletes. Sienna has been working extremely hard in her school work, athletics and more. We just wanted to announce that Sienna has managed to maintain a 4.0 GPA the entirety of her training for cross country, track and field, and swimming! How incredible! We are unbelievably proud of her and know she is going to continue to impress us and everyone around her. We are happy to be a part of her journey and here to help her grow through the scholarship. If you enjoyed this update on Sienna, be sure to check out our other blogs and find out more about Austin and Peyton. Stay tuned for more updates. Also if you or someone you know wants to have the chance to be one of our next scholarship recipients, head on over to the application form and submit an application. The application period ends December 31st.  If you missed our last blog post about Austin, we mentioned him training extremely hard for his first tournament. We wanted to take the time and show him some extreme love and support as he enters the final few days before he competes. Please go leave him some supporting comments on our Facebook and Twitter so we can build him up, any competitive event or tournament can be stressful especially if it is your first ever.
The match will be held on July 29th at the Azusa Pacific University. We know Austin will do his best and we can’t wait to hear how the Youth American Open went “We all put in extra training along side Austin to support him during the upcoming tournament” said his father. With all focus being on training recently, Austin and the rest of the Ray Squad (his family) decided they need a little time to relax, have some fun and get in the right mindset so they headed to Oceanside Strand for some much deserved and overdue R&R. Austin, Good luck! We know you will do amazingly.  We all have different strengths to share in the fight to provide opportunities and resources for kids from military families and getting them involved in sports and outdoor activities. Whatever your strength there is a way for you to help.
So how can you help us to support military families here in San Diego? What can you do to help our scholarship program? The answer is simple; we just need your support! By following the Randy Jones Foundation on social media, spread the word about all our future events for military kids such as the VIP Padre games, deep see fishing trips and of coarse our Youth Scholarship Program. RJF Facebook Page RJF Twitter RJF Instagram Thank you for all your support!  Sienna being a passionate multi-athlete occasionally puts her in the situation where injuries may occur more so than other athletes. Sienna is constantly on the move whether she is running cross country, participating in track and field or swimming competitively. Recently she sustained an injury to her hip. The pain extended all the way from her hip to her knee.
Taking her role on both her swim team and in her relay team for track & field, she didn’t want to let her teams down. First at her CIF swim prelims she swam through the pain, managing to complete 3 of her 4 events ( the 100 backstroke, the 100 and 200 freestyle relay). She placed 2nd in her individual event and helped get her team 2 first place wins for the relays. Only days later did she have track & field finals, needless to say she pushed herself and earned her CIF patch for her letterman jacket as a result of the day. Although she pushed through the injury, she did what she could to heal, resting between events, icing when possible, physical therapy, acupuncture, x-rays and follow ups with orthopedics. Sienna has proved to be a driven athlete and a trooper. Not many will brave the pain and swim/run full speed with an injury. She knew the extent she could push herself and chose not to swim in all her individual events, rather choosing to participate in the relays in order to not let her teammates down. She is healing well and just attended the Summer Nike Track & Field Camp and Stanford University. There she learned a lot about her specific events ( 400m, 800m and the 4x400m relay) from many guest speakers including Olympic athletes. Nothing seems to come in-between Sienna and her training!  Fourth of July is a great holiday to spend quality family time, creating traditions or just relaxing and catching some fireworks. Some of the typically traditions include: hanging American flags, going to parades, cook outs, block parties, and wearing red, white and blue. Although our scholarship recipients are anything but typical, check out what they were doing!
Austin and his family went to watch the fireworks all-together in Oceanside after hanging out and bbqing. Peyton and her family didn’t have anything planned for this year but typically they either watch the Harbor fireworks from the flight deck of her fathers ship or go out to Santee. Sienna and her family were taking it easy because she is participating in the Nike Track & Filed Camp at Stanford this coming weekend. What were you plans? We’d love to hear what you did! Check us out on facebook and leave us a comment on what you and your family did for the holiday. Regardless of what you did, we hope you had a safe and fun filled day. Thank you to all our scholarship recipient's parents (Tawanna, Joshua and Bryan) for taking the time to share with us. We are grateful for all that they are willing to share. Another big thank you to all the who serve and who have served our country. Dedication, determination and passion; three amazing qualities that our young scholarship recipients all have in common. Last week we dove in deeper and told you more about Peyton, this week it’s all about Austin.
Austin started participating in Jiu Jitsu last year in May. For the past year he has been training extremely hard. Most weeks he takes classes 6 times a week on top of doing extra work with a personal trainer twice a week. We were told Austin’s’ most amazing qualities are his memory and ability to learn so quickly. He is able to truly focus on the techniques and movements, which in Jiu Jitsu need to happen quickly. We are excited to hear how Austin does during his first competition this coming month on the 29th in Azusa. We will be sure to let you know how he does but we are expecting nothing but wonderful outcomes because of all his hard work, enthusiasm and want to be a good role model for his younger siblings. Thank you to his father who took the time to talk to us about all of this. We are looking forward to talking to his coach and trainer to learn even more to share with you!"  Each of our scholarship winners work extremely hard both academically and athletically, they've had a lot of love and support from family, friends, teammates, coaches, and trainers. We are happy to be a part of the support now! We wanted you to get to know each of them a little more now so we went a step further and wanted to take the time to talk to some of those supporters, specifically the coaches and trainers.
Peyton Dowdy our softball player and pitcher has been involved in the sport more than we realized. She has been playing since tee ball, went on to AAU and is now playing on a travel team. Her former Coach and President of the Tierra Canyon Girls Fastpitch Softball, Zach Lemley shared with us that him and his wife and seen her grow so significatnyly and have been coaching her since tee ball. Zach has also even coached Peytons' little sister. But Peyton is a natural athlete and has one of the prettiest bating swings, she won't hit a home run or bunt and try to get to first, Peyton hits it in the perfect spot in the outfield and really moves runs. Yes we know her as a pitcher but Zach continued on to tell us she's an easy id to coach and doesn't complain, if you put her in a different position, she knows her job and gets it done. Her current coach, Antonio Zuniga, for the Factory Fastpitch has been coaching her about a year now and she keeps improving, she's continuing to grow and said "Give her another year to develop and she'll be outstanding". He's extremely happy with her performance especially coming off the injury she had about a month ago while she was practicing diving. Him, Peyton and the team are on their way to Utah in about 3 weeks to play in the Nationals Tournament. We'll be cheering them on from here and try to let you know about how it goes! Antonio has been coaching for over 18 years and wants all his players to grow as athletes and individuals, but to make it the college level. Both Antonio and Zach said Peyton has what it takes, she's extremely intelligent and has expressed going to college already. She watches certain college teams already and has a few preferences but we can't tell you where just yet!" |
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