Diggin'Dukes

About Our Campaign

The JMU Men’s Soccer Team will be traveling to California for a pre-season training trip in fall 2024, and we need your help to get there. 

In return for UCLA’s participation in our home tournament in fall 2023, we need to schedule a return game in fall 2024. Our goal is to turn the return game into a full pre-season training trip — with the return game as one of the competition components and training pinnacle of our trip. 

This trip will be an integral part of our development as a team — helping JMU players grow in areas beyond sport, as a team and as individuals. By choosing California for our pre-season training, we’re pushing our boundaries for both personal and group development. This trip not only sharpens our soccer skills, but also cements lasting connections among our student-athletes and coaches — ensuring a meaningful and impactful experience for all of our student-athletes for not only the 2024 season, but experiences and life lessons they can take with them well beyond their college playing careers.

Our goal is to spend 13 days in California, allowing us to provide opportunities for team development beyond sport including: 

• Individual and team growth through travel;
• Cultural engagement and exploration;  
• Training in west coast climate and conditions; and
• Competition against top-tier programs, like UCLA.

How Your Support Will IMPACT the JMU Men's Soccer Student-Athlete Experience

Your gift, of any amount, will help provide our team with both on and off field opportunities that our players never thought would be possible — including travel, room and board, and experiential/team bonding — to benefit our student-athlete experience.

• 1 gift of $500 supports airfare for one student-athlete
• 1 gift of $475 supports meals for one student-athlete
• 1 gift of $350 supports housing for one student-athlete
• 1 gift of $250 supports ground transportation for one student-athlete
• 1 gift of $150 supports field rental for one day of training

Without the support of donors like you, we would not be in the position that we are in and we are beyond blessed for every single donation received. These donations have the chance to change the life of these players as athletes but people as well. As well as make a staple in the program and its rise to push for more trophies in the future.

About JMU Men's Soccer

JMU Men’s Soccer has been an official athletic program of James Madison University since 1968. For over fifty years, our team has competed at the highest level winning 8 conference championships and making 17 NCAA Tournament appearances. 

Winning is something that our student-athletes live and breathe. Waking up every morning looking to be not only the best soccer players that we can be, but people as well. 

As a team, we are always finding ways to push ourselves off the field — whether that is through giving back to the community by participating in community service, or in the classroom. 

About Funds Raised During Diggin'Dukes

One hundred percent (100%) of funds raised in support of Men’s Soccer during the Diggin’Dukes campaign immediately go to the JMU Men’s Soccer Sport Program Fund (restricted-use fund) and benefit the JMU Men’s Soccer student-athlete experience.

Sport program funds are restricted-use funds that can only be utilized by the individual sport program. 100% of gifts made to sport program funds go to the selected sport program and are 100% tax deductible. 

If our goal is achieved, funds that exceed our goal will go to support our pre-season trip, as well as any team operational needs during the 2024-2025 season. 

If we do not achieve our goal, funds raised during the Diggin’Dukes campaign will go to support team operational needs during the 2024-2025 season. 

Funds are allocated at the discretion of our coaches and administration.

Diggin'Dukes Leadership Team Members

Jordan McMillen & Ethan Taylor (Paul Zazenski)