Kenowa Hills — Driveway and street court basketball players have gathered to play in the Grand Rapids Gus Macker basketball tournament for the last 10 years.
On a sunny September weekend, 313 teams from nine states across the country came to Kenowa Hills High School to play for a first, second or third place Gus Macker trophy, or the coveted toilet bowl trophy, which goes to the team who lost the most games.
SNN’s videographer Brett Atwood attended the 51st annual Gus Macker tournament and spoke with players, sponsors, Kenowa Hills Superintendent Jerry Hopkins and the tournament’s founder, Scott McNeal, nicknamed “Gus Macker.”
This year, the event was almost entirely planned by high-schoolers in a sports event planning and administration class, taught by former high school business teacher Padley Gallagher.
The Gus Macker Steering Committee, which also included Superintendent Jerry Hopkins and his former secretary Julie Lanka, met once a month last spring semester to discuss each subcommittee’s progress.
“They got the playbook for how to host a Macker,” Hopkins said. “They learned about marketing and how to go out into the community with promotional material to get sponsorships.”
Hopkins said they also coordinated the rental and delivery of all of the equipment to the site for the event and worked with local hotels to book blocks of rooms for out-of-town participants.
Last March during the class’ meeting with Hopkins, senior Kami Menzel advised her peers about what she learned about how to sell sponsorships:
“Put a smile on your face, act professional, say ‘hi’ to people and then ask for someone in marketing or advertising to talk to.”
Kami and her fellow committee members were also encouraged to practice making phone calls with their friends, to help them feel more comfortable calling local businesses for sponsorships.
Following Gallagher’s leave from the district, the class did not start back up again this fall, but last year’s seniors’ hard work came to fruition this September and funds raised from the tournament help supplement the districts’ sports programs.
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