As
we prepare to lace 'em up Saturday night, I wanted to quickly provide an update
on where the proceeds from our annual Alumni Tournament donations have been
utilized, and how the fundraising efforts at our event are helping create a
tangible impact in the lives of future EHS students and basketball players.
For
the past several years, the Alumni Tournament Committee has asked our alumni
base to provide a donation to participate in our annual Tournament. Last year's proceeds (approximately $700)
went towards supporting Everett Hoop Club, which is the non-profit organization
that operates the Everett AAU program for both the boys and girls
programs. While your donation may seem
forgettable once you've signed up at the registration table and is just a means
to play in our annual event, I hope that the following Everett AAU program
update helps illustrate that these donations are vital to Everett Hoop Club's
efforts to support our young student/athletes.
The
2016-17 season was a successful experience for all of our program teams. On the boys side, our 7th and 8th
grade boys teams had highly positive campaigns, and qualified for the WesCo
postseason tournament, an event which is reserved for the top-placing teams in
the 20-team league. On the girls side,
all 3 teams (5th, 6th, and 7th grade) finished
near the top of the league standings in the Cascade League. All three teams also traveled to Wenatchee in
March for the Steve Talbot Memorial Tournament, where the 7th
graders won a championship, the 6th graders took 2nd
place, and the 5th graders took 3rd place. It was a memorable experience for all the
girls and their coaches!
During
the spring and summer months, our program continued to build our skill
development platform for our program players.
We held weekly 90-minute skills clinics at Everett High School, where we
would routinely work through a demanding regimen of ball handling and shooting
drills, and on average would get 150-200 shots up per session. The attendance was consistent with the prior
year, where 30-40 kids were turning out on a weekly basis to work on their
games. As we went into program tryouts
in October, you could see the tangible difference the clinics made – they were
flat out better basketball players!
Regardless
of team win/loss records or how we do on the court over the next couple of
months, what I’m most proud of as a Program Director is how hard each of our
teams compete from start to finish.
Whether it’s practices or games, we’ve been successful at instilling a
culture of competition where the kids have fallen in love with the process of
getting better, and it translates to a style of play that we are proud to put
on display on a weekly basis.
Achieving
these outcomes is the result of a communal commitment to our kids that I’m
extremely honored by. As I’ve outlined
in previous correspondence, Everett Hoop Club is a registered 501(c)(3)
non-profit organization that is committed to providing player development and
personal empowerment opportunities for kids in grades 5-8 attending Everett
Public Schools that will one day feed to Everett High School. Our volunteers, financial contributors, and
coaches all play an equally vital role in ensuring that our program
participants receive the coaching and mentorship necessary to be successful. The kids are learning the values of
leadership, collaboration, and hard work.
By instilling these values and placing our boys and girls players on
age-specific teams that compete against the best competition in the Puget Sound
region, we are committed to using basketball as a conduit that not only
develops their on-court abilities, but also teaches valuable life skills.
Most
importantly, Everett Hoop Club believes that all players willing to commit to
our curriculum should have the opportunity to participate, regardless of any
specific family’s financial hardship.
While 33 of our 76 participants are either on a full player fee
scholarship or a reduced fee schedule, we are steadfast in our belief that fiscal
hardships will not be a barrier for participation. As such, the organization subsidizes player
fees for families/households that do not have the means to meet the financial
obligation to play.
This
continues to create an operational challge for our organization. While EHC creates small revenue streams
through tournament game admissions and concessions, fundraising is a necessary
ingredient to offsetting the cost of maintaining a quality program.
For
us to continue making this experience a reality for our kids, I am reaching out
to our alumni base and offering the opportunity to contribute. As was the case last year, your contribution
will go directly to Everett Hoop Club and will help provide the means to
purchase uniforms and equipment, league fees, facility usage fees, player
liability insurance, and other operating costs.
Most importantly, it allows us the ability to continue making positive
impacts in the lives of our program participants.
So
while we are asking for a suggested donation of $10, I'm hoping that each of us
can dig a little deeper tomorrow and give a little extra. Each of us had an experience wearing the Blue
& Gold that enriched our life experience is some capacity, and this is a
way we can give back and ensure the the next generation is given the best
opportunity to have a similar experience when they get to EHS. Additionally, all players/contributors that
donate $20 or more at Saturday's event will receive this year's Alumni
Tournament t-shirt (special thanks to H&L Sports and Screen Printing NW for
their donation of the shirts to our event!).
If you have any questions about donating or about Everett Hoop Club,
please don't hesitate to contact me.
Looking
forward to seeing everyone at The Pit Saturday night!
Regards,
Bobby
Thompson
Class
of 1996
