On Saturday night, August 22nd, we lost one of our own, Cobey England, in a motorcycle accident. Cobey has been a part of Ballroom at Maryland for around a decade, and our team will never be the same without him. Cobey was so passionate about dance. He has done so much for our club and for the greater ballroom community, whether he was teaching classes, cheering on friends on the floor, jumping in to help out TBA dancers, encouraging people to go social dancing, building dance floors at competitions, and so much more. He was always a smiling, positive influence whenever he was around and loved helping out whenever he could. Even when he took breaks from competing, he still tried to be at every competition he could, even the ones he wasn’t working at, to lend a hand and hang out with dance friends. Just at last year’s BAM Jam, he came through at the last minute with professional speakers when we discovered the house speakers in the Grand Ballroom at Stamp were blown. We at Ballroom at Maryland like to call each other our BAMily because we feel like family to each other and often are in each other’s lives long after we leave the University of Maryland. Cobey’s life was cut short far too soon, but he will always be a part of the BAMily. We’d like to offer our condolences to his family and everyone whose heart he touched. You can read his obituary here.
A lot of us have been looking for ways we can help out Cobey's family during this time. His family has asked for emotional support through letters and messages about your friendship and memories with him, with photos attached if you have them. Written or printed messages would be most appreciated and can be mailed to:
The England Family
5620 Detrick Rd
Mt. Airy, MD 21771
Emails with memories, photos, and videos and requests about upcoming memorial services can be sent to RememberingCobey@gmail.com.
His family has asked that those with the means and wishes to help out financially make donations either to our ballroom club or the national motorcycle safety foundation. In addition, friends of his have started a hashtag movement #cleanupforCobey and are picking up trash along roads, public parks, and in their neighborhoods in his honor.
If you would like to make a donation to the club in Cobey's name, you can do so through the university's Recreation and Wellness Sport Clubs Enhancement Fund. Make sure to specify that the donation should go to the ballroom club on the final thank you page.
A lot of us have been looking for ways we can help out Cobey's family during this time. His family has asked for emotional support through letters and messages about your friendship and memories with him, with photos attached if you have them. Written or printed messages would be most appreciated and can be mailed to:
The England Family
5620 Detrick Rd
Mt. Airy, MD 21771
Emails with memories, photos, and videos and requests about upcoming memorial services can be sent to RememberingCobey@gmail.com.
His family has asked that those with the means and wishes to help out financially make donations either to our ballroom club or the national motorcycle safety foundation. In addition, friends of his have started a hashtag movement #cleanupforCobey and are picking up trash along roads, public parks, and in their neighborhoods in his honor.
If you would like to make a donation to the club in Cobey's name, you can do so through the university's Recreation and Wellness Sport Clubs Enhancement Fund. Make sure to specify that the donation should go to the ballroom club on the final thank you page.
ANNOUNCEMENTS!
- We are currently working hard with RecWell to determine how we can practice and run classes safely and in accordance with university policy for the Fall 2020 semester. All competitions and socials have been cancelled for the Fall. We will continue to update everyone as soon as we have more information.
- We will be having virtual classes on Discord, taught by Ike and Steph. These will be geared towards the Bronze level, but will have things for all levels. The Latin class will be Tuesdays at 6 pm and Standard will be Wednesdays at 6, starting Sept. 22nd. These won't be following the usual syllabus as strictly and will be tailored towards whatever the students want to learn and focus on (whether that's solo routines for the virtual competitions this semester or branching out into Rhythm or Smooth!). If you would like to participate, please sign up here so we can send you the Discord server link!
