A University of Wisconsin freshman has announced that he will bike from Wisconsin to Florida this summer to raise funds for sports equipment for underprivileged youth in third-world countries.
Matt Stolz will bike from Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., to West Palm Beach, Fla., to raise money for the National Alliance for Youth Sports’ “One World, One Team” initiative.
The Badger Herald visited Stoltz during a training session at the Shell to discuss his campaign to raise awareness and funds. The following is an edited interview.
The Badger Herald: Why are you taking on this campaign, and why did you choose this specific program?
Matt Stoltz: In high school I collected sports equipment for the organization, and my community gave $3,000 worth of sports equipment, which was awesome. Now, being a college student, I wanted to continue my involvement so I thought of this alternative method to raise funds.
BH: When did you officially decide you were going to do the trip this summer?
MS: In the summer I had been thinking about it. So I called the organization in August and kind of let them in on my idea. They were all on board, so from there I started planning.
BH: Have you ever done anything like this before?
MS: Other than the drive to collect sports equipment I did in high school – which is similar but not entirely – no, not anything of this magnitude.
BH: What kind of feeling do you get when you think about what you’ll be doing this summer? Are you nervous at all?
MS: I’m excited for promoting this worthy cause and to meet people on the trip. Right now my main focus is helping raise funds to offset the cost of the trip to make it possible.
BH: How are you going about fundraising?
MS: I’m going to a lot of local businesses trying to get sponsorships and also getting donations from people and selling T-shirts. I have a website at oneworldoneteamoneride.com for people to donate as well. Overall I’m really excited and definitely welcome anybody’s support.
BH: What training regimen are you on, and will you continue to do until this summer?
MS: During the school year I’m just trying to work three workouts a week into my schedule, and then once summer comes along I’m going to try and get up to my pace that I’ll be doing during the trip – which is about 60 miles a day.
BH: Has biking been a passion of yours?
MS: Not really. I was just kind of an average biker before this, and I just started training.
BH: Then why did you choose biking as your fund raising method as opposed to running or something else?
MS: It’s faster than walking, and I felt if I put my mind to it and got into good shape it was definitely something I could accomplish.
