On April 5, the widely popular student section of WHS, Dubfield Athletics, announced its new online store along with a $100 cash giveaway. Not only did the current managers of the account, seniors Matt Goldman, Trevor Tanella and Colin Freer, help with the new business venture but WHS graduates Michael Leniart and Brendan Cox were also major contributors.

Leniart, the previous manager of Dubfield Athletics in his junior and senior year of high school, was extremely excited to get back to work with Dubfield Athletics. “I haven’t been too involved ever since graduation, but I always like to keep an eye on it and make sure things are running smoothly,” said Leniart.

An entrepreneur and the founder of Cox Visuals, his graphic design company, Cox was eager to give back to the WHS community. The giveaway was funded by Cox and promoted on the Dubfield Athletics Instagram account. All students had to do in order to win $100 was tag two people on the post, follow Cox on Instagram and repost the picture on their Instagram story. 

“I teamed up with Dubfield Athletics as I saw the potential for the page since it has lots of followers and a specific targeted niche. I felt it was only right to give back to the Westfield community, especially in this odd time,” Cox said.

Cox contacted Leniart with an interest in opening an online store, since there was no new merchandise recently. “Our team reached out to Leniart a few weeks ago in order to strategically team up with Dubfield Athletics in order to revamp the brand with the students’ vision in mind,” Cox said.

 Lauren Kamienski, creative director at Cox Visuals, worked with Cox to design the new logo and apparel. Leniart then bought the domain, dubfieldathletics.com, and linked it to the company TeeSpring, which manufactures and ships the apparel. 

“I believe the Dubfield Athletics Store is a great opportunity for not only current high schoolers, but also past WHS and future WHS students to be a part of something bigger. Dubfield Athletics will grow because of this store and allow people to show off their Westfield pride,” said Goldman.

This is not the only apparel drop in the works, as the team plans to sell holiday themed clothing, flags and more items in the future. 

In addition, the team also plans to give back to the community in a meaningful way. “We will be donating 15 percent of all sales to COVID-19 relief. The money will be donated to Outta Hand Pizza, a Westfield restaurant whose owners are sending hundreds of pies to local hospitals every day, so workers and patients in need have a meal,” Leniart said. 

The future of Dubfield will be in new hands starting next year as this year’s crew will all be graduating. Goldman, Tanella and Freer have just begun the process to choose the next three people to pass on the torch. The next managers will have the difficult task of continuing the recently made improvements with the help of Dubfield managers past. “We hope to give the account to three awesome students who show their dedication and love of Westfield sports. We are super excited for the future for the best student section in the state,” said Goldman.