Bellefonte girls basketball team continues ‘Shoot-A-Thon’ tradition to give back to community
Five years ago, the Bellefonte girls basketball team was looking for a way to give back to the community and provide financial assistance to those in need.
They called it the Shoot-A-Thon — a fundraiser where the team shoots free throws to raise money for a cause. For every free throw made, parents, coaches and other members of the Bellefonte community donate money. That money goes directly to the Centre County Veterans Assistance Fund.
The tradition continued on Jan. 15, with Bellefonte’s Shoot-A-Thon raising $750. The veterans showed up before the varsity team’s military appreciation game on Friday and were presented the check. Dark green shirts were sold to the public to raise additional funds for the veterans, with the team wearing them on the court as warm-up shirts and fans wearing them in the stands in support.
“It was a great atmosphere,” head coach Marcus Toomer said. “We had a few veterans that were able to come out to accept the check. So, it was really nice for the crowd to be able to come out and really recognize them for their service and things like that. It’s really nice to be able to give back to the community, especially one that supports us. It’s always really nice to be able to support them as well.”
The Lady Raiders were not able to hold a full event last season for the veterans, due to COVID-19. Bellefonte instead presented the check after one of its practices during the 2020-2021 season.
When deciding what type of fundraiser to have this year, it was an easy decision for Bellefonte girls basketball booster club president Suzi Cotter and the rest of the club’s members. Other ideas were floated around, but they came back to the Shoot-A-Thon, which typically raises $500-$1,000.
“We started last June and had a sort of fundraising brainstorming meeting. Man, I think we walked out of that meeting with like 15 to 20 ideas. Through the course of the monthly booster club meetings, we really tried to wind down. ‘What are going to be our final objectives for the year and for the season? Where are we going to focus our efforts?’ Thankfully, it was the Shoot-A-Thon because it’s always been a consistent, successful fundraiser,” Cotter said. “We just knew from the get go that we were going to do it. The groundwork was laid. It was just a matter of carrying it out.”
Involvement from players and coaches
The players have been a key part in promoting the fundraiser. Sophomore Keira Whitman has been involved with the Shoot-A-Thon since her seventh grade year and understands the importance the Bellefonte community places on giving back. She also believes that with the responsibility of aiding others, comes enjoyment.
“It’s been a lot of fun because it all benefits the military veterans,” Whitman said. “We all have a lot of fun — we listen to music, we shoot around and it’s enjoyable. When we first started, we were not good at shooting foul shots. So, we listened to music, recommended songs, we danced in the middle of the court and we had a lot of fun with it. We get to bond, we have fun and we all get to hang out together. That’s a big part of being a team is being able to have this environment where we can just start dancing all together.”
Bellefonte junior varsity head coach Marissa Ward has been one of the coaches at the forefront of pushing the Shoot-A-Thon forward for the past four seasons.
“I was a part of the basketball program whenever I was in school,” said Ward, who is a 2013 Bald Eagle graduate and coached with the Eagles for a few seasons before arriving at Bellefonte. “So, it’s kind of fun to relive it and help the girls to enjoy it as much as I did whenever I was in school. This is another type of bonding. We’re not super focused and competitive — well, they are focused shooting foul shots. ... It’s a bonding time for the girls.”
This will be the last time that many of the seniors will participate in the event. Seniors Emalee Neff, Angelina Aviles and Hana Rados were with the program before the Shoot-A-Thon’s inception. As they’ve seen it in its infancy and the development of the event, they are now excited to see the next generation of players take it to new heights.
“It’s very special to me to know that this is always going to happen because it benefits a really good group of people,” Rados said. “I think that having the junior high kids come and rebound is good for them to learn ‘Hey. It’s literally just us shooting foul shots over and over again.’ I think it’s good for them to get used to that because once they’re in high school, they’re doing it for four years until they’re done. I definitely think it’s great that we’re keeping it running from generation to generation. I think it’s really cool.”
This story was originally published January 29, 2022 at 2:30 PM.
