Despite suffering a heart-breaking loss to #4 Avon, Boys Varsity Basketball was successful in supporting the One Love Foundation at its dedicated game on February 15.

Yeardley Love was a student-athlete at the University of Virginia who was murdered by an abusive ex-boyfriend in 2010. In the wake of the tragedy, her family founded One Love, a national non-profit organization that educates young people on the signs of healthy and unhealthy relationships.

Team One Love is an affiliated group that applies the organization’s mission at the school through workshops and sports games dedicated to the cause.

Maisy Seckler ’23, a co-head of One Love at Hotchkiss, said, “[Team One Love] seeks to educate our peers about healthy relationships and how to navigate sticky situations of toxicity or maybe even abusive behaviors.”

Following up on a successful fundraiser at a basketball game last year, this year Team One Love hosted football and basketball games to raise funds for the One Love Foundation and awareness for its mission.

Will Groot ’23, a co-head of Team One Love and a co-captain of Boys Varsity Basketball, explained that the funds help the foundation produce educational films, fund community events, and equip volunteers with the resources to raise awareness about domestic abuse and relationship violence.

Prior to the game, Groot gave a speech about the responsibility that everyone has to educate themselves about unhealthy behaviors in relationships.

Groot has been involved with One Love for five years, stating that he was initially drawn to the organization because of the language it provided to navigate relationships. He felt that it would be a meaningful cause to promote at the all-boys school he attended at the time.

Seckler first got involved with One Love in sixth grade, as her mom knew the foundation’s CEO Katie Hood. As her interest in social change grew, One Love proved to be the perfect outlet for Seckler to be involved in something bigger than herself.

The One Love Basketball game was successful in raising awareness about the Foundation. Groot said, “It has been really special to watch how Hotchkiss has embraced One Love over the past three years.”