Members of Liberty's Division I men's hockey team thank their supporters who donated close to $150,000 to the program on Wednesday's Giving Day. (Photo by Simon Barbre)
Club Sports teams benefit from wealth of generosity on Giving Day
10/23/2025 7:32:00 PM | General
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The 42 distinct Club Sports programs raised a total of $678,957 to help cover travel expenses and accommodations as well as missionary outreaches.
Liberty University's Club Sports department was once again abundantly blessed on Wednesday's annual Giving Day. In its sixth year participating in the event, the program raised more than $100,000 more than it did in October 2024 and exceeded its goal of $600,000 by $78,957. Team-by-team totals with matching gifts and challenges are available online.
"It was incredible," Club Sports Assistant Athletic Director of Development & Alumni Ben Hughes said. "It's extremely humbling to be a part of something like Giving Day where we get to experience other peoples' generosity. It's been evident now for years that God goes before us, and He is working on the hearts and minds of other people to live generously."
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Triathletes Elijah Barker, Kendall Leininger, and Jack Donohue stand atop the Monogram on Giving Day. The team won three different challenges and earned a $2,000 bonus for receiving the most gifts of any Club Sports program.
He said that Giving Day has a profound impact on the Club Sports administration, the coaching staffs of its 42 teams, and the more than 700 student-athletes.
"What Giving Day does for us is remind us of what a good God He is and how He is the Ultimate Giver," Hughes said. "We want to raise funds and operate at a high level, to provide exceptional resources for our student-athletes, and we want to go on mission trips and execute special projects. Ultimately, it's about understanding and experiencing God's character to the fullest. He is a Giver of life, He is a Giver of salvation, and He wants us to also give generously with our time, treasure, and talents, to love God and to love other people."
As was the case last year, nearly 10 percent of all the money raised for the university on Giving Day was donated to Liberty's Club Sports programs.
Eight out of the top 10 fundraisers on the Ambassadors leaderboard were representatives of Club Sports. CJ Sehlke, a junior goalie on the Flames' DII men's hockey team, topped that leaderboard with $25,385 raised for his team through his personal contacts. He also earned invitations for him and a guest to attend both a VIP Convocation Lunch and an Ambassador Dinner with Liberty President Dondi E. Costin.
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DI women's Head Coach Chris Lowes, who ranked sixth on the Ambassador leaderboard for raising more than $5,000 through his own contacts, had his office decked out in LU swag, including the Lady Flames' championship trophies, by his players, earning an additional $250 challenge bonus.Â
The seven-time national champion ACHA Division I women's hockey team earned a $250 bonus by decorating Head Coach Chris Lowes' office with Liberty paraphernalia most creatively in the university-wide challenge. Lowes also ranked sixth on the Ambassador leaderboard, raising more than $5,000 individually for his team.
Matching gifts included a $25,000 donation by Cliff and Jackie Pemble to the equestrian team after it reached the $10,000 mark in total donations; a $20,000 bonus to the Flames' men's wrestling team once they eclipsed the $15,000 donation mark; $10,000 gifts to the DI and DII men's hockey teams once they received contributions from 100 and 25 distinct donors, respectively; and a $5,000 surplus to the DI women's hockey team after it received donations from 75 givers.
Those bonus gifts helped the DI and DII men's hockey teams rank first and second overall among the Club Sports programs with totals of $145, 222 and $79,520 raised, respectively. The Flames' DIII men's hockey team ($38,462), men's and women's triathlon ($37,466), and men's wrestling ($37,444) programs rounded out the top five.
The triathlon teams earned the most bonus prizes by winning university-wide challenges for most individual gifts (a $2,000 extra incentive for receiving 244 unique donations), most money donated by parents between 5:30-6:30 p.m. (a $500 bonus), best pet photo wearing Liberty swag and best throwback photo of a Liberty student ($250 for both).
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Liberty's Division II men's hockey team ranked second only to the Flames' DI squad in raising more than $79,000 under first-year Head Coach Christian Garland, who serves with DI Assistant Coach Ben Hughes on the Club Sports Development staff.
The DII men's hockey team, which earned a $1,500 bonus for receiving the second-most donations (234), also won a $250 challenge for having the best photo taken at the Liberty Monogram.
Hughes said the funds will be used to cover teams' travel expenses, provide mission trip opportunities, pay for capital improvement projects, and facilitate discipleship within teams by giving additional resources.
"Some teams raised funds strictly so they could engage more intentionally with student-athletes, bringing in other ministries to work with their team or speakers to talk with them," Hughes said.
As a whole on Giving Day, Liberty University raised nearly $7.5 (a $1.8 million increase from last year) with more than 7,000 donations. The Athletics Department was pledged more than $1.5 million to go toward mission trips through the Tom & Christine Dewberry Athletics Missions Fund. It also raised close to $1.4 million with nearly 600 donations to the Liberty Flames Club.
