Central’s soccer team is working hard on the field this season, but their work off the field has made an impact on the community and the culture of Central athletics.

The team started a GoFundMe campaign in August to help the Community Foundation of North Central Washington fight against this summer’s record-breaking wildfires.

Just after they made a donation to support the state firefighters, the team was named as a recipient of a National Soccer Coaches Association of America College Team Academic Award for a sixth consecutive season.

The team earned the award with a 3.46 cumulative GPA. This is the seventh time the team has won the award since the awards’ inception.

Sophomore Alyssa Navlet came up with the idea to support Washington firefighters after talking to her grandfather, who works as a firefighter for the Seattle Fire Department.

Head coach Michael Farrand was happy to see the women trying to make a difference.

“I thought it was a great idea for them and us, as a group, to do something within the community,” Farrand said.

The girls reached out to friends, family and alumni to donate with a goal of raising $1,000. The team passed the goal, raising over $1,200.

“It just kind of blew up and everyone started donating,” Navlet said. “It was really cool to see friends and family contribute to that.”

Smoke from the fire was bad enough this year to cause the team to move practices indoors due to poor air quality.

“It’s an inconvenience for us,” Farrand said. “But nothing like what they had to go through up north.”

Farrand wants the women on the team to improve themselves off the field just as much as they do on the field. He believes the work in the community and the academic success sets an example for incoming players.

Balancing student and an athletic responsibilities can be strenuous during the season.

“It’s an expectation for us as a program,” Farrand said.

The team has had to make stops at hotels on road trips so players can submit tests on time.

On the team’s recent trip to Simon Fraser, a 15-hour round-trip bus ride, the team was lucky enough to get a bus with wi-fi so they could do homework on the bus.

Farrand said that academics is something that is stressed to the girls as part of being successful student athletes.

“He reinforces it constantly,” senior midfielder Reilly Retz said. “He cares a lot about us and who we are, not just as student athletes and soccer players, but who we are as people.”