Courtesy of Daryl "Spinner" Howland
The Jacksonville Office for Republic
Services of Florida, which is a part of the National Republic Services Family, has partnered with the Jacksonville Axemen, and the USA Rugby League, with two incredible initiatives.
The first is to provide new uniforms for all game day officials in the entire USA Rugby League, and the second is to allow all children under the age of 15 into Axemen games for free by asking them to place a recyclable item into bins, which will be provided at all home games.
Republic Services provide the essential service of Household and Commercial Waste removal for over 13 million customers across the United States, and haul over 100 million tons of waste each year. This essential service is often overlooked, or never really considered, by most people in their daily routine. It is a fitting partnership that will see the Republic Services Logo placed on the “Essential Service” of Rugby League, for a group of dedicated game-day officials who are also sometimes overlooked when it comes time to provide support. “The truth is that most of us rarely focus on how our referees and sideline officials are provided with the things they need to do the job they do on weekends in our sport”, said Spinner Howland, who facilitated the partnership. “Too often we forget about the Refs when it comes time to find sponsors, or ways to get them new gear, yet without them games can’t be played. It was during the meeting with Republic Services that I started to think about the similarity of how much we take for granted each week with our trash being picked up, and how we sometimes take for granted that the ref will show up and look professional for our games.”
Officials in the USA Rugby League are a small group of dedicated and committed guys, who have just as much passion for the sport as the players. John Freeman, who helps administer the Officials in the Southern Conference said, “We are paid a small amount each game to cover basic expenses like gas and other minor items, but to replace uniforms for the entire league would have been self-funded through fees, or it would have been put off for another season. This partnership to provide new uniforms will go a long way to allowing more Officials to be trained and certified, and to look professional at every game. I don’t think you can over emphasize the perception this will provide when we are trying to attract more people to consider officiating as a way to be a part of the sport.”
The Axemen piece of the partnership is designed not only to allow all kids to enjoy Rugby League events at no charge, but also to educate them about the responsibility of recycling. “Not only do we want kids to bring one item of recyclable material to our games to get free entry”, added Spinner Howland, “We will also be looking at ways to reward those kids who embrace the idea that recycling is not only smart for the planet, but can also be cool. We are working on potential contests, or other incentives, that will promote collection of recyclable items used during our games, that rewards the kids with Axemen Merchandise.” Spinner went on to explain that the Axemen Players will be expected to lead the charge in delivering the message that recycling is not just smart and responsible, but it actually makes you a cooler person.
Republic Services is a Fortune 500 organization that is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: RSG). Their nationwide operations combine decades of best practices and experience from the most successful companies in the industry. Their oldest company has been proudly serving customers for nearly a century.
We encourage all Axemen fans to embrace the planet and recycle, and to consider Republic Services for any business needs they may have in the Waste and Recycling management area.
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