?Onawayopoly? fundraiser to help the school basketball programs
A board game uniquely about Onaway will soon be “for sale” in the Sturgeon Capitol. Two high school basketball coaches are spearheading a one-of-a-kind fundraiser they would like to make available to the public before Christmas. Cardinal boys basketball coach Jason Larson and girls coach Marty Mix learned of a successful fundraiser in Hillman that they were told, “saved their sports program.” Supporters of Hillman sports sold a board game called “Hillmanopoly.”
Businesses, as well as individuals, were asked to sponsor properties on the game board. The Hillman group went out and sold the game, which was well received. Larson and Mix are hoping for the same kind of results when they go out and seek sponsors for “Onawayopoly,” and eventually sell the game. Budgets in school districts across Michigan are tight and school boards aren’t funding much more than the basics, and that includes Onaway.
IN SOME DISTRICTS, programs are being cut. The Posen Consolidated School District pulled the plug on golf and track before the 2004-05 school year. Larson and Mix believe if the “Onawayopoly” fundraiser works, it could help both the boys and girls basketball programs for the next three to five years.
“What we hope to do with it is to be able to buy any extra supplies that we would like to have for the kids, more equipment,” said Mix. “Obviously, funding is a tough thing wherever you go. “If we have something that will help us pay for camps and not have to do as many bottle drives a year, and not sell as much junk to the parents as we try to sell them, it will work better.” Larson said the fundraiser “will save us so much headache.”
WHILE ONAWAYOPOLY will look like the trademark protected game of Monopoly, with properties and money, Onawayopoly cannot be marketed as a version of Parker Brothers’ Monopoly, which has sold 200 million sets since being introduced in 1935. Onawayopoly will be sold for $25 a set with all the funds going directly to the basketball programs. “What our goal will be is to get (the word out) so the community has an idea of what is happening,” said Larson. It’ll cost a minimum of $50 for a business, couple, or an individual to get their name on the board.
“It’s not just a fundraiser; it’s something you can attach your name to,” said Larson. Mix believes “It’s going to be a great thing for the businesses we have.”
ABOUT 500 sets will be
“Any kid in the boys or girls program that wants to go to a camp, there will be $1,000 set aside that we can help put toward that,” said Larson. “There’s always going to be that money there for those kids.”
Because of Michigan High School Athletic Association regulations there is only a percentage of money they can give to each player, so there are some restrictions. “We can’t just say ‘do you want to go to the Michigan camp, here is $500,’ ” said Mix. First thing is first, the coaches have to go out into the community and sell the sponsors, and they will be looking for support. For more information contact Larson at 733-5085 or Mix at 733-9663.