Photo courtesy of NYIFC
March 6, 2025 By Shane O’Brien
Bald is beautiful, especially when it’s for a great cause!
Players from New York International FC (NYIFC) are trading their locks for a good deed, as they gear up to shave their heads in support of childhood cancer research at Rivercrest, a popular bar on Ditmars Boulevard in Astoria, next month.
The amateur soccer club, which competes in Division 1 of New York’s storied Cosmopolitan Soccer League, has teamed up with the St. Baldrick’s Foundation for the fundraiser, set to take place at 6 p.m. on Thursday, April 3, at Rivercrest on 33-15 Ditmars Blvd.
Leading the charge—razor in hand—is NYIFC coach and founding member Nick Platt, who, along with three current players, will take the buzz-cut plunge to help raise $5,000 for St. Baldrick’s over the next month.
Participating players and coaches will also take part in “silly and humiliating” forfeits if they reach certain personal and collective milestones along the way.
For example, Platt will dress up as a ballerina when NYIFC takes on the Manhattan Kickers in the Cosmopolitan Soccer League on Randall’s Island this weekend after personally raising $500 for the campaign. If Platt hits his personal target, he will have to pose as a street performer in Times Square, complete with a boombox and donation bucket.
Meanwhile, if the participants reach $2,500 in donation – half of their fundraising goal – they will have to take part in a “team red arse,” a common childhood game played in parks across the UK and Ireland where losers of certain soccer games are required to bend over while their friends and teammates take aim at their backside.
If the club reaches its goal of $5,000, all four participants will take part in a sponsored skydive, with each player paying out of pocket for his own skydive and attempting to bring the collective fundraising total to $7,500.
Platt said each “silly or humiliating” forfeit will help raise awareness for the fundraiser and for the work at St. Baldrick’s.
He added that the fundraiser is at the core of everything NYIFC stands for, stating that the club strives to give back to the community it exists in.
Founded in 2019, the club has partnered with several local non-profits, regularly partnering with food insecurity non-profit EVLovesNYC. Players also regularly volunteer at pantries across the city.
“We’re incredibly fortunate to have managed to build a culture within our club that really speaks to the community,” Platt said. “The players have been amazing. They’ve all bought in.”
Platt added that the current fundraiser is part of the club’s efforts to engage with its local community.
“One of the foundations we wanted to do as a club is not only build a successful, competitive club, but one that was engaged and really focused on giving back to the community, not just taking,” Platt said.
Platt believes NYIFC’s community engagement has helped attract like-minded sponsors, praising club sponsor Rivercrest for always supporting the club’s winter clothing drives.
“Rivercrest has been an amazing partner for us,” Platt said. “They are always first to say yes, to be a collection point (during clothing drives). We’re incredibly privileged to have amazing sponsors and partners who want to help us with what we’re trying to do.”
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