STEAMBOAT SPRINGS — The idea of children laughing, running and playing on a soccer field that bears his late wife’s name is something that Brett Shaw described as very fitting.

“It’s something that is extremely touching for sure,” Shaw said. “It’s very humbling, and it’s an incredible way that her memory and her legacy can continue.”

Honoring Sancy Shaw is one of the reasons the Rotary Club of Steamboat Springs initiated an effort to raise the projected $200,000 needed to build the field, which will be built adjacent to the North Routt Community Charter School in Clark. Sancy was killed in a car crash on Interstate 70 near Genesee on Christmas Eve.

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Sancy was a teacher at the school, and this effort reflects her passion for soccer and the school she loved.

“I didn’t know Sancy Shaw, but that story kind of rocked us all,” said Ashley Kane, who is leading Rotary’s efforts to raise money for the field. “She was a teacher at the charter school, and all four of her kids go there, and when I talked to Brandon (LaChance, school principal) initially, I asked what could we do. I told him that we would love to build something at the school in her honor.”

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Kane first suggested building a new playground, but LaChance offered the idea of an athletic field — a place where children could play the game that Sancy loved.

“It was something that our school and our community was in need of, so it was two different entities coming together just to kind of see what we could do to honor Sancy,” LaChance said.

Sancy grew up playing the game of soccer as part of the Olympic Development Program in Denver and then as a member of the University of Wyoming women’s soccer team from 1999 to 2002.

“Soccer was a huge part of her life, at least all the way through college,” Brett said. “She also played recreationally after she got out of college.”

LaChance said the school currently mows a nearby field where children can play different sports, but it is not ideal. When finished, the new field would be the community’s first athletic field and would be used by children to play soccer and other sports in the fall, spring and summer.

Kane is optimistic that Lobsterfest, a new Rotary Club event, will raise enough money to make the field a reality.

“We have never really had a Lobsterfest, that I know of, in Steamboat, and it’s just a different cause that people have really rallied around,” Kane said.

The Rotary Club of Steamboat Lobsterfest will be held from 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 10, in a tent in Meadows Parking Lot at the base of Steamboat Resort. The tent is being provided by Christy Sports, and Steamboat Meat and Seafood will provide the food.

Kane said there are a limited number of tickets available at Elevated Olive. The cost is $110, with tax, per person and includes dinner and an open bar. The event will also feature music by Buffalo Commons. Go Alpine shuttles will be available after the event.

Kane said plenty of great items have also been donated for the live and silent auctions that will be held in conjunction with the event. The North Routt Charter School has also set up a website for people who can’t make it to Lobsterfest but still want to donate toward the cost of constructing the new soccer field.

LaChance said fundraising for the field is in its early stages, but if all goes well, he hopes to start construction in the spring of 2020.

“We are just so thankful for where we live and for the place that we call home,” Brett said. “I’m seeing those good things happen on a regular basis, and it’s encouraging for me.”

To reach John F. Russell, call 970-871-4209, email jrussell@SteamboatPilot.com or follow him on Twitter @Framp1966.