By Saesha Bhat (‘24)
Wintertime at South Brunswick High School is always exciting as many sports events take place during this season. The girls' basketball team has just begun their winter season, having their first game and win of the season away on Dec 15, against Monroe, hoping to have an undefeated season. Apart from their games, one of their events this season was the Foul Shot Marathon which occurred on December 29.
The Foul Shot Marathon was a fun and productive way of raising money for different causes. Players from the varsity and junior varsity teams shot 100 free throws that are sponsored by different donors across the community. These donations were as little as one dollar per shot the sponsor pays for.
Although donating is great, knowing that the donation is rightfully used is important. The team recognized this and kept track of all money given and shots scored to earn this money honestly.
The head coach of the varsity girl’s basketball team Mr. Jeff Johnson shared some reasons as to why they fundraised this money.
“Beyond it being something that would help the girls’ basketball program because we are going to use it to buy equipment as well as some other things we are doing throughout the season, we are going to donate 10% of the gross to charity, most likely St. Judes or the Children’s Aid Society,” he said.
What do the players think?
Junior and varsity basketball player Trisha Reddy gave her thoughts on the importance of this event for herself and others.
“We have not done a fundraiser like this in recent years, so I like that we are bringing it back. I think that this event is a fun way to help our team meet our goals and also give to a charity that means a lot to us,” she said.
All players arrived at the school on Thursday morning at 8 AM, ready to shoot their 100 shots for the day. Boxes of donuts were welcoming players as they entered the gym as a way of thanking them for contributing their time to this fundraiser. They were scattered all around the gymnasium at every basket, taking turns to hit the 100 as quickly as possible. The room was filled with hype songs and throwbacks from artists like Rihanna and Shakira. Parents were invited to watch the children from afar and take part in the counting of shots made to assist the players shooting.
The district is known for holding events to fundraise money for many different causes. The 4th annual Suicide Awareness Walk occurred back in September in collaboration with Rutgers School Based Youth Services.
In October, SBHS held the 2nd annual Ray Fantel Cornhole Tournament to raise money for a fellow student who needed handicap equipment.
The school continuously has club and team sales of merchandise and food such as boba tea, shirts, active merch, and bake sales.
With the effects of COVID-19, many of these fundraisers had been put on hold, rescheduled, or canceled. Now that life is returning to normal slowly, people are hoping to continue holding these fundraisers in the town to promote awareness.