Before sunrise on Tuesday, Washington Township High School's girls volleyball team traded the gym for a disaster zone, turning what would have been an early practice into a full-on cleanup mission at the Werner family farm in Morgan Township. By about 6:15 a.m., all 32 players were on-site, and for roughly two hours they hauled twisted metal, stacked ruined lumber and helped neighbors pull what they could from the wreckage left behind by a tornado.
Coach Alisha Brown told the players "we really got a lot done" after the morning's work, noting that the team had funneled proceeds from a recent golf outing into the effort. As reported by the Chicago Tribune, the group focused on clearing debris and moving salvageable equipment so larger crews could follow up.
What The Team Found At Werner Farm
Players described the century-plus Werner farm as heartbreaking to see after what was reported as an EF3 tornado that wiped out the farmhouse and several outbuildings. "The century-plus farm was heartbreaking to see," said player Kylee Campbell, capturing what many on the team were thinking as they picked through the debris.
Josh Martin, who rents roughly 170 acres of the property, told reporters that volunteers had been helping since the day after the storm. Even with that steady flow of help, there was still a long list of work to do after the teenagers wrapped up for the morning, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Players, Neighbors And The Bigger Picture
The volunteer crew included sophomore Emma Goetschel and incoming freshman Alexa Taylor, along with teammates who said the scene left them searching for the right words. "There's just no words to capture what it is," said player Addison Peres. Fellow player Rachel Frederick summed it up more bluntly, calling the damage "it's unreal."
Coach Brown said both the hands-on work and the financial donation were ways for the team to give back to a community still reeling from the loss. For a lot of these students, it was a crash course in how fast a familiar landscape can change and how quickly neighbors can mobilize when it does.
A Weather Reminder
Forecasters warned that the severe-weather threat was not over, with a Wednesday forecast calling for strong to severe thunderstorms and the possibility of more tornadoes. That outlook added urgency to the cleanup and salvage work, as neighbors and volunteers said they wanted to get as much cleared and covered as possible before another round of storms could hit.
Washington Township Middle/High School lists its athletics program and contact information on its website, and the district's involvement here underscores how often school teams are among the first to respond in rural volunteer efforts. For background on the school and its sports programs, see Washington Township Middle/High School.
