Hundreds of People Enjoy Donkey Basketball
 | Author:
Mikayla Kraft, School Correspondent
MT43 News School Correspondent |
Hundreds of People Enjoy Donkey Basketball
Mikayla Kraft, School Correspondent
Each year, a group of high school students gets the opportunity to travel out of the country to explore cultures outside of their own. These students fundraise money throughout the summer at fireworks stands and work at concessions to gain the needed money for the trip expenses. This group is called Bulldogs Beyond headed by high school English teacher, Jill Flynn. Once a year, Bulldogs Beyond puts on a town-famous fundraiser called Donkey Basketball in the old gym of Broadwater High School.
As most of the Broadwater County citizens know, donkey basketball is simple. Each half of the game is 5 minutes long and different people are riding a donkey on each half. Every member of the team rides a donkey across the court to shoot the basketball into the teams’ respective hoops. The players may get off of their steed to retrieve the ball, however, they must continue to hold onto the reins as they fight to retrieve the rebound.
The event attracted around 600 people from Broadwater and surrounding counties. A silent auction that lined the main hallway of the high school was also made available to the public as well as concessions. I spoke to Heston Vandenacre and his cousin Clayton Rice who served as pooper scoopers to get their excited input about Donkey Basketball. Heston loved “all of the fans that came to watch it. It’s just really hyped when anybody scores.” Clayton believes that “all of the action” added to the energy that was already surrounding the gym.
Four teams competed; they fully represented the wide scale of Broadwater County. The teachers of Townsend Schools were named the “How to Train Your Donkeys,” Law Enforcement was ironically named “The Outlaws,” seniors of BHS were named the “Donkey Desperado’s,” and the team representing the local businesses of Townsend, and also the 2023 Donkey Basketball winners, “The Good, The Bad, and the Donkeys.” Walker Spurlock was part of the high school senior team commenting, “It was so much fun and I think I did alright… my favorite parts were the fast breaks when the refs would get behind the donkeys and get them to go faster.”
It had taken a long while for Donkey Basketball to be planned and it has been a success. Luci Horne, a help to the fundraising for Bulldogs Beyond stated that they started around October. Even though it was stressful and generally quick planning, it had paid off and the public enjoyed it. The community was a large help to this event, sponsoring the students in large amounts! These students will now have the chance to explore the foreign cultures of Italy and Greece with Broadwater County’s help!
Article Images
Click on Image Thumbnail(s) to view fullsize image
PhotoCredit: Nancy Marks
Image 1 Caption: Broadwater County Business Owners were the winners of the basketball tournament. Left to right: Anthony Smith, Chris Slyker, Josh Sangray, Rusti Hayes, Lynn Reynolds, Amber Kelly, Nathan Kosto, Eric Mannix and Siobhan Flynn, in front.
Image 2 Caption: Now which way is our basket!
Image 3 Caption: Outlaw Donkeys (Sheriff’s Dept) watch as the ball misses the basket, again!
 .jpg)
.JPG)
