Lake Zurich Athletics supports 24 sports with 63 teams across three seasons to both both man and female students of all grades. As a result of the numerous sports offered, funding is imperative to the success of all teams now that the school cannot financially support all expenses.
Fundraising is used by teams to bring in a profit from the support of the community. Almost all sports participate in some form of fundraising to pay for equipment, field rentals, tournaments, and in some cases, a whole team. Athletes of nearly every sport help support their team by fundraising using campaigns significant to their sport.
“Every year, we host a cheerleading competition,” Ann Wayne, the head of fundraising for cheerleading, said. “We invite hundreds of schools and it’s an all day event. The girls and their parents are required to work all day.”
On top of that, the team sells funnel cakes at the annual Alpine Fest as well as candles and yard signs. All the money raised goes to funding the JV team, choreographers, music, equipment, aid for families who are unable to support the full cost, and other small expenses.
Among the costliest teams is ice hockey. The hockey team at Lake Zurich receives no money from the school, and has never fundraised before. This year however, the new fundraising chairman, Suzzane Nagel, is working to change that.
“Our first fundraiser is a walk. We are raising money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research foundation (JDR) and the hockey team combined,” Nagel said. “The money goes to paying for ice rentals, the senior scholarship program and other things.”
The walk was held on September 17. The hockey team asks for the community’s support in later fundraising events. The participants walked a two mile course that passes the high school.
Other fundraising efforts Nagel is considering are selling coupon books or even bringing a traveling circus to town, which raised Elk Grove $35,000.
Other fundraising efforts by other sports include the soccer teams selling value cards, the football team selling raffle tickets and the track team selling cookie dough.
“I sold raffle tickets for baseball and football. They were $20 a pop and I sold seven for each sport,” Michael O’Conner, a sophomore football and baseball player said. “It was hard to sell all seven because the chances of winning are slim so many people were not interested in such a high priced raffle ticket.”
The money the football team makes goes to paying for varsity summer camp, upgrading the weight room equipment (which will be used by all LZHS athletes), and weekly team and coach dinners.
Due to the fact that LZHS is one of the few schools in the area that offers third party fundraising outside of the school and pay-to-play funds, most teams are unable to release specific numbers on the exact amount of money earned.
While not always easy, sports fundraising is an efficient way for programs to earn money to support their teams. Through the generosity of the community, Lake Zurich is capable of putting out a strong athletic program year after year.