Part one of our two-part series on the positive impact the 1WYO collective is making in Wyoming
By Jeff Bugher
7/20/2024
The 1WYO collective is the official NIL (name, image, and likeness) of the University of Wyoming. Its goal is to provide NIL financial opportunities for UW athletes to use their NIL to help charities and make a difference throughout Wyoming.
We recently had the opportunity to catch up with veteran University of Wyoming running back Harrison Waylee during Mountain West Football Media Days in Las Vegas. Waylee’s eyes lit up, and a smile radiated when asked about his recent work with the Boys and Girls of Central Wyoming. "I had a lot of fun working with the Boys and Girls Club of Central Wyoming. Harrison said he had two opportunities to work with the club over the summer. Waylee continued, "the first one was a big auction." Waylee mentioned that through his work with the auction, he met new people and gained new connections with fans and stakeholders in the community. The second event was a youth football camp with the Boys and Girls Clubs in Casper, Wyoming. Harrison continued, “I enjoyed that because I like hanging out with kids. We all had fun, and I talked to them about being a college athlete. I had a lot of fun with that, just giving back to the community."
Waylee, who comes from humble beginnings, expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to give back. "I know many people don't have much, so I've always been thankful to the guys who always give their time. So I like to be able to give out to the community," Waylee said. "So being able to do that, to hang out with kids who are going through something too, and showing myself out to the community is something that I think is good. God knows that we gotta love people for people to love you back."
Waylee has positively made in differenc with the children he interacted which earned him high praise from 1WYO President Mitch Edwards.
"You know what's real neat? This time, they might have gotten paid to do that," Edwards began. "But you know, as they get older and their careers are better and they're in a better position, it just shows them that, hey, it's worth me getting involved in the community on a volunteer basis, too."
Edwards continued to speak about the youth football camp, stating that he was very impressed with Waylee's engagement and the joy he brought to the event. "Harrison was just... all of them were a joy, but Harrison at that football clinic was just awesome. I mean, they were all super engaged, but he was really engaged, and he was doing backflips for kids," Edwards recounted. "He was taking on challenges whether kids could beat him if he was playing defensive back and one kid actually inadvertently, but kind of intentionally, tackled Harrison and got up over the top of him and clutched over over the top of Harrison and it was hilarious."
The highlight of the clinic, according to Edwards, was during the autograph session. "At the end of the day, when they were doing autographs, the one kid that tackled Waylee asked Harrison if the kid could sign Harrison's shirt and Harris said absolutely. So that was cool because the kid got to autograph Harrison's shirt in addition to getting an autograph from Harrison," Edwards said. "Just the way that Harrison just lit up was... it just said it all. I thought it was cool and I think it really touched me a lot."
1WYO 307 Campaign
The 307 Campaign is a fundraising initiative to get 1,000 Wyoming fans to contribute $307 each to the 1WYO NIL collective. The total goal is to raise $307,000, which will be utilized to support and engage student-athletes in various charities
Mitch Edwards emphasized the 307 Campaign's collective style: "If we're collective together, we can go farther than being alone." While $307 is the target individual contribution amount, fans can certainly donate more. "Our goal is to get 1,000 people to donate $307, but obviously, there are people out there who can do more, like $500 or something like that," Mitch noted. "Anything people can do, we still count towards the 307 campaign."
Breaking down the math, the $307 goal translates to about $25 a month for those interested in making a monthly contribution. Monthly payments are offered to appeal to a broad base of Wyoming fans, making it very feasible for individuals to participate. Edwards explained, "We're not asking everybody to donate $10,000. The idea is to get more people involved and help them realize that together, we can make a significant impact."
Edwards concluded: "At the end of the day, my $307 may not do much by itself, but if we get 1,000 other people to do it, that can help go a long way.
You can learn more about the 307 Campaign here: https://1wyo.org/307-campaign/
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