Some of the comments I have heard over the last week deserve some explanation. It might not be an explanation that some want to hear, but it is the reasons why we, the varsity basketball program, fundraise. I think sometimes that people see us in our uniforms, travels suits, team shoes, team shirts, hoodies and everything else and assume that the Athletic Department pays for everything for us...that is not true.I want to take this time to thank our Athletic Director, Bill Niece, for what he does do for us. He takes care of us when it comes to game books for the program, new basketballs each season (which are not cheap), new uniforms every few years (which are not cheap), and paying for our transportation to away games (which is really not cheap). With that being said there are few sports who are self-sufficient in buying their uniforms and other equipment (baseball and softball, I believe are the only ones). The basketball programs, boys and girls, will bring in about 95% of the athletic budget during the course of a school year, but they do not get 95% of the revenue spent on them. Those two programs, 7-12, pay for many non-revenue sports and their transportations.
So, why do we fundraise? Because of the things I posted earlier, if we want to look nice and run a first class program, there are certain things I believe we must have. There are extras that Mr. Niece will not or cannot pay for, and we use the money for those items. We try to keep the prices down for our high school basketball players with some of the money. The money is spent on the student-athletes. Rarely, do we have very much money in our account. The money comes in, it is spent and we move on.
What costs do we keep down? To run a first class program, it probably would cost our basketball players $300-500 per year. We have kept that price down under $200 more often than not. The price they would pay is for travels suits, shoes, team t-shirts, and summer travel tournaments just to name a few things.
How do we fundraise? We run two camps that not only helps with the high school, but also helps to teach our younger players the game of basketball. They, too will someday be in high school. We have a FT-a-thon to help pay for shoes, we sell t-shirts making a very low profit from them. We are going to have Hornet Hysteria in a few days to help with some costs.
Where does the fundraising money go? We have used it to buy many things for the high school program, we have used it to donate to charities in the name of Henryville Basketball, we have donated money to other programs including the Band. That money that is raised by us is being used in positive manners.
As for the elementary program, the varsity boys' program runs it. We have some input to who coaches, we schedule the games, we work the games (book, gate worker, clock keeper, officials, supervision), and then we use that money to help with the elementary boys' program. Each game, roughly, we save $200 by working the games, and scheduling the games ourselves. Items we have bought for the elementary program (K-6) include smaller basketballs, new basketballs, nets, game books, score cards and when asked and if needed, we will buy their uniforms.
No one is getting rich off our fundraising projects, and we still don't do everything that I would like to do for the entire program due to lack of funds. It would be nice to have an alumnae donate large amounts of money each year, but it just doesn't happen. Instead of me going out and begging for money, we work for it. I think it is important, too to reward those who come up with the ideas, work to put the ideas to work, and then do the work.
Finally, let me close by saying "thank you" to everyone who has helped with the basketball program from the bottom to the top. Many do it for no pay which is in essence a donation. Thank you to all of the community members, teachers, players, former players and parents who do buy the shirts, come to the games, and donate money to help us run a first class program. We could not do it without you!
