Bulldogs raise $1700 for Cancer in the community
Ribbons and brochures created by players for different types of cancer were available for students, families, and community members during the game on Feb. 2.
Each basketball on the wall is in honor of someone who battled or is battling cancer.
Every year the Williams Bay varsity girls basketball teams pick a cause geared towards showing gratitude to the community, last year they honored teachers with an appreciation night and this year they raised money for those in the community with cancer at the home game on Feb. 2.
“It's important to teach kids that to be able to get something out of it beyond, you know, what's in it for me,” Head coach Paul Schneider said. “We want to raise young women that are thinking of other people first.”
The team wanted to expand their platform to the rest of the community this year, teaching and encouraging the kids and student athletes to “look outward instead of inward” to the bigger picture of community.
Each player was able to honor and play for either a member of the community, a family member, or a family friend at the game.
“It's just something that has kind of hit home to a lot of us,” Schneider said. “It's just something I think that's universal, unfortunately. But it was a way that, I think, we could tie a lot of people together towards a common cause.”
The three coaches, Schneider, Dean Odling, and Britany Goodman were the ones to come up with the list of ideas of causes to honor, with the three talking ideas and then ultimately bringing it to the players.
“The girls did all of the cutting of the ribbons, the making of the ribbons, and cutting out basketballs, and we had an arts and crafts night one night after practice. They did a little bit of everything, probably as much or more than the coaches did, to be honest.”
There were several ways for families and students to contribute to the cause: bake sales during the game, purchasing a spot on the temporary memorial wall, and specialized t-shirts created for the event.
“The kids did all the selling of the [memorial spots], they gave up their lunches, sold to the middle school kids, so they also gave up study hall time,” Schneider said.
Schneider explained that the youth program players and families also got in on the cause by volunteering time to man the bake sale booth during the game.
“They're great kids,” Schneider said. “They don't get phased when you ask them to do things, and being a good person is more important than being a great basketball player.”
With some left over baked goods, the girls varsity team sold them the following day at the boys game, raising another couple hundred dollars.
“I think the district was phenomenal in supporting, or just saying, hey, can we do a miracle minute? Absolutely. Can we take some tables and set up a bake sale? Absolutely,” Schneider said.
The community, district and even families from the opposing team, Delavan-Darien High School, really stepped up to help support this cause.
“We did really well. I came out after halftime and talked with one of the main parents that was running the bake sale, one of our youth coaches, and Michelle said, Oh, we made X amount of money. I'm like, Oh, wow. Like, it surprised me even. So, I don't know how it compares, but I would just generally say, I think for a one night event, essentially, I think that's a pretty big sum of money,” Schneider said about finding out how much they raised.
The team raised $1,700 overall and will be donating it to Breathe, Inc. in Lake Geneva, a nonprofit that helps adults navigate their cancer diagnosis and journey.
“I think the girls were pleasantly surprised. And I think maybe they surprised themselves a little bit,” Schneider explained. “And I think that's part of our role, as adults, to be able to teach them the value in this. I think generally, they were appreciative and proud.”
Schneider said that the team is still building the program, with a tough record this year, he wants to make sure that they focus on the little things such as thinking of others first and selflessness to make the bigger picture of the program a success.
“The entire Williams Bay community, whether it's the boys' players, the parents, the community members, again, when you're in a high school that only has about 175 kids, and you fill the gym, that doesn't happen just by our parents,” Schneider said. “That happens by our community being supportive. And so I just think that it's a nice show of unity for Williams Bay.”
