As the head
boys’ basketball coach at Gardiner High I am constantly trying to find unique
ways to motivate my boys both on and off the hardwood. We take great pride in what we have
accomplished over the course of the past three seasons on the floor with big
wins come tournament time; but it is our efforts off of the court that gives me
the greatest sense of fulfillment.
One of the things
I love most about coaching is how interconnected the work is to my efforts with
YCG. While the topics range widely—basketball
and Yellowstone Country—the ultimate goal of fostering the development of the
region’s youth and empowering the leaders of the future, is much the same. With a number of players on this year’s team
who are also participants in YCG’s Youth Wilderness Leadership Program I was
excited to propose to the team a project that we could conduct during the final
weeks of our basketball season.
After
witnessing the enthusiasm from my boys regarding the proposal, I began to court
other coaches and schools from around the conference who were equally excited
about participating. Thus, what began as
a thought during a sleepless night before a big game, mushroomed into a
conference wide effort that we named the Hoops
For Haiti Relief Fund.
Each night around Southwestern Montana, members of our District 11/12 C
Conference worked together in support of something far greater than us. With the support of each school’s administration
and student body, we set out during the final three weeks of our conference
season to raise money for those struggling in Haiti. While some schools collected money at the
doors—encouraging donations to support our efforts—others worked together to
conduct 50/50 raffles.
Witnessing members from competing schools—typically two boys from each
team during the girl’s game and two girls from each team during the boy’s game—walking
side by side, working together to sell raffle tickets towards a common goal of
helping people a world away is something I will forever cherish as a basketball
coach.
This cooperative effort took on a life of its own. Our Hoops
For Haiti Relief Fund signs read “50 for Haiti and 50 for you.” But on most nights the winner of the raffle—including
one night when the pot swelled to over $700 during a game between fierce rivals—opted
to give their winnings back to our relief fund.
Most of the schools from our conference represent small, rural Montana
communities where much of the town turns out on Friday and Saturday night to
witness a basketball game. But our Hoops For Haiti efforts transcends
athletics and speaks to the heart of working together for something far greater
than basketball.
Next week we
will mail the American Red Cross Haiti Relief Fund a collection of checks from
the seven participating schools totaling $2,246. This
is in and of itself testimony to what can happen when a group of inspired and committed youth are organized together, working on behalf of a common cause. And though this was not a YCG program, the success
of our Hoops For Haiti Relief Fund will
further inspire us to develop programs in the future that both resonate with youth and impact the
world around us.
~Michael
Leach, Director
