North Austin Soccer Alliance has only a very small paid staff - the real reason NASA happens is because of families that put in dedicated volunteer work. Recently, NASA players Schaefer, Klein and Baden Russell (supervised by dad Jeffrey, a NASA coach) took it upon himself to make some badly needed repairs of our storage shed at Cook Elementary. Here is an update on their work. Thanks, Russell family!
The Cook shed cleanup and organization started as a need for community service hours for Schaefer Russell (age 12), a member of Scouts BSA. (It’s no longer “Boy Scouts”, as girls are now welcome.)
After shoveling out the shed, tossing the pile of used paint cans and evicting various critters, the cleanup morphed into a Russell family project to rehabilitate the Cook shed. The three Russell boys, including little brother Klein and big brother Baden, all enjoyed Division 4 soccer with NASA. The family decided to show their gratitude by fixing up the Cook shed so it lasts another decade. Even mom Liz Moorehead spent a day power washing the shed!
About half the floor was replaced because it had rotted through in several places. This involved pouring a few cement “pads” to support the wooden floor, as the existing metal frame had rusted away in several places. One source of rust was water leaking from the rusted out holes in the roof. The roof has a few dents, which were pooling water such that waterproofing the existing roof was pretty much impossible. So they (ok, dad) decided to build a new roof to protect the top of the storage shed. For the boys, building the roof was both educational and a lesson in heat endurance. While installing the final roofing layer one afternoon, Schaefer commented, “it’s hot. Can we go home?”
Inside, the existing shelves were reinforced and new ones were installed to organize equipment for game day. Instead of a net pile resembling an overdue, dirty laundry heap, the goal nets are now stored in baskets on the shelves, and the goal movement wheels are stored on special hooks. With all those upgrades, they decided the shed needed a new paint job to both protect the metal walls as well as make it look nice for the Cook campus. The cleanup started Memorial Day weekend, and the final coat of paint was finished the first weekend of August. It was a perfect family project—except for the 100 degree days!
Click through the gallery below to see the Russell family in action: