I don’t have a problem with the local high school teams trying to generate money to help finance their programs. A lot of people may not realize this, but the school system gives very little money to the athletic programs at the schools. Fund-raisers are necessary, or this state might end up, like so many other states, requiring students to pay fees to play sports.
That said, there are only so many golf tournaments, or raffles, people may want to enter. Truth be told, fund-raisers can get old. But fresh ideas are always a good way to generate fresh input of cash. That’s why the Pinecrest High School girls’ softball booster club may have hit upon an idea whose time has come — they are having a softball home run derby.
For $15, a person can go out to Hillcrest Park on Saturday, March 27, and let the rest of the county know they are the best long-ball hitter around. It’s a fund-raiser for the girls’ team at Pinecrest, but it’s also a way to get a little bang for your buck. In fact, if you have enough bang in your bat, you have an opportunity to win a trophy that will sit on your mantle at home, proclaiming to the world that you are the king, or queen, of the long ball.
The fund-raiser has two divisions — men’s and women’s. But the fund-raiser also has a little caveat: it is important that participants pre-register. The booster club wants to know that there will be a good turnout, or there is a chance that it could be canceled.
So let’s make this thing work. It’s hard to get a new idea of the ground, but I think this is one that deserves as much help as it can get, if only because it’s different.
The entry fee doesn’t need to be paid until the day of the event. But the registration has to be done early. The registration deadline is Thursday, March 25. To register, call Pinecrest High School at 692-6554 or e-mail Anne McLean at amclean@mcs.k12.nc.us. During the evening hours, phone Mike McLean at 949-4667.
The format for the thing is pretty simple: Each hitter is allowed six outs (any ball that doesn’t clear the fence is considered an out). Home runs must clear the fence in fair territory. The fence for the women will be 200 feet, while the men will be shooting at a fence 300 feet away.
The softballs will be supplied, but the participants must bring their own pitcher. The pitch can be any style the batter wants.
Now, as for me, this little pitch for the booster club’s fund-raiser is over. But I hope that it’s just the beginning of making this an annual event.
