FINAL DRAFT
Nicholas Cerbone
Mat Wenzel
ENC 2135.142
January 22, 2017
Genres In My Sports Community
From the summer of my freshman year through the spring of my senior year, I was involved in the sports community at my high school. Although I participated in multiple sports in high school, I would say that football has had the greatest impact on me. The activity that I was involved with the most was team funding. Team funding is imperative to having a successful football program. Without the money from team funding there would be no buses to away games, no post-season banquets, and no equipment. I practiced team funding by letting people know that our football team needs help, by controlling fundraising events, and by persuading others for donations.
In order for team funding to work, people need to know that a new football season is beginning and the team is asking for money. The people that must be informed of this news include players, students, parents, alumni, and local fans because all of them care about the team and would hate to see the program collapse. The fundraising begins with the coaches in the summer when all the players come back for workouts and practices. The first week when everyone is back is when the head coach sets an amount of money that we need to raise. This is our goal for the rest of the summer, and it is written up on the board with the numbers written in oversized font. Next to the dollar amount is an oversized scale that is labeled all the way up with numbers and at the top is our goal. The white board is about four by six feet long and is placed in the main part of the locker room. The main part of the locker room is a big open space where the coaches hold meetings. It is also where a majority of the players hang out before games and practices. Because this is such a popular place for players to hang out, the coaches decided it would be the perfect place to put the scale. The scale is drawn in neon green so it stands out more and appeals more to the players. The coaches have a purpose, which is to inform us that we need to raise money and to persuade us by putting a reminder in the locker room in which we will see almost everyday. Next the team takes over by spreading the word through social media and verbal communication. We post announcements on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and we even ask the school to post them on the school website. We also go to other sporting events at the school to talk to parents, alumni, and local fans.
Now that our supporters are aware that the football team is in need of help, we can form fundraising events that will appeal to them. About five years ago we came up with the idea to have shoot-out. The shoot-out is fundraising event in where the participants will donate money and compete to win in a clay-shooting contest. For this event we created an advertisement to encourage people to come out and help out the football program while having fun at the same time. On the advertisement there are pictures of people from all ages having a good time. There are pictures of the trophies and some of the random prizes that will be given out. The top of the advertisement says “Crusader Fun Shoot”. The word “Fun” in the phrase emphasizes that the event will not only help out the football team but whoever participates in it will have a fun time as well. Below the title of the advertisement is where the name of the sponsor is located. It states whom the sponsor is and that they are benefiting the Cardinal Newman High School Football Program. Next are the date, time, and location of the event. Then there is a list of packages that you can select from depending on how much money you want to donate. It begins with the most expensive donations to the least expensive donations. In the middle of the advertisement is a list of sponsor and donor levels. Lastly, there is registration form to fill out for those who want to participate in the event. The advertisement is emailed to all students, players, and everyone that is apart of the sports community at our high school. It is also posted of the football program’s page on Facebook and the players are asked to spread the advertisement through Instagram, Twitter, and other social media outlets. The event includes prizes for first place winners as well as raffle prizes, auction items, and gift bags. This is a convenient event because everyone can participate. In this case our audience is mostly from freshman to parents. Because of such an open audience, we have the ability to appeal to all of them by including raffle prizes, auction items, and gift bags. The first place prizes would most likely appeal to those who are competitive. There are trophies for first place junior boys, first place men’s, first place ladies, and first place overall. The raffle prizes, auction items, and gift bags may appeal more to those who are less competitive and for those who do not wish to shoot.
Not only do we have a main event for our fundraising, but we are also given ten discount cards each to sell to our supporters or to just generous individuals. Each card sells for twenty dollars and each one contains over forty dollars worth of savings. Each card has our school emblem, team picture, and our full season schedule. It is important that our school emblem is on the card because it promotes our football program. So when someone sees the card they now the name of the school and the purpose of buying the card. It applies to the workers who are given the card as well because they will be familiar with the football team just by processing it through the register. A picture of the football team is also important because it shows a group of hardworking student-athletes who are trying to help out their football team. So not only do we receive a cash benefit from the purchase of the card but it is also used as a friendly invitation to come to our games and support the football team. To sell these cards we stand outside local grocery stores, we go to other home sporting events, and we go from house to house in our neighborhoods. When we approach people to buy our card we begin by saying, “Hello, my name is … I am a football player at Cardinal Newman High School. Would you like to help support your local high school football team?” We explain what the card is all about and by using are persuading skills we try to get them to buy a card.
Team funding is not an easy process but it is something that needs to be done. I enjoyed taking part in team funding because I wanted to see the football team reach their goals and to have another successful year. I have been apart of my high school football community since freshman years so I would hate to see it collapse. I learned a lot about advertisements, fundraising events, and persuasion. Designing a fundraising event involves attracting a large crowd by creating motives for all types of people. I learned that advertisements are important physical compositions that attract and inform people. And lastly, I learned how to persuade people in donating to the football team. Not only did I learn how to persuade people for money, but I also practiced an important skill that I will certainly need later in life.