Pins To Play- East Academy Bowling Event

On Sunday, February 24th we held our Pins To Play Academy Bowling Event.  The idea of the event was to get the entire East Academy together and try to raise some money in a fun way for scholarships, the teams, and our summer SPAT Program. 

It is important for us to get each team together in non-soccer settings so the kids can hang out and develop a bond with each other off the field and the more things we can get the kids doing together, the more fun they will have.  It is also important for all the Academy teams to be around each other as much as possible so everyone really develops a sense of pride in the club and the idea that they are taking part of something that is bigger than just their team.  With the help of Lori B, Maricel B, Janet H, and a couple of other parents we were able to pull the event off.

Here is the basic idea of the email that I sent out to everyone explaining the event:
 
Pins To Play

When: Sunday, February 24th from 3:30-7:00pm.  There was no futsol on this day.
Bowling will be from 3:30-5:00pm and Pizza, Games, and Social Time will be from 5:00-7:00pm
 
Where: Flaherty's Bowl in Arden Hills
 
Pins To Play is an opportunity for us to get together as an Academy in a non-soccer setting and have some fun while at the same time we are raising money for the teams.  
 
What Is This For?
Each player will print off the Pins To Play sheet.  It is your goal to go out to everyone you know and have them sponsor you for every pin that you knock down in your first game of bowling on Sunday, February 24th.  We are assuming that all of you are expert bowlers and we can average 60 pins per player.  U9's will get to use bumpers.  U10's and above will bowl without bumpers.  We are asking each player to raise a minimum of $1 per pin. 
 
Our goal was to try and raise $3,400 for the club.   

 
Everything raised on top of your team's goal will go directly into your team's account.  This money can be spent on Dri-Fit Training shirts, Extra Dome Time, Tournament Entry Fees, Trip to to spa for your team manager for all that he or she does:), or however your team decides to use the extra money.
 
How does this work?
 
Tomorrow when you are hanging out with your friends explain the event to them and ask them if they will give you $0.05 for every pin that you knock down.  If one of them agrees to help you out you will now be 5% of the way there.  If you hit down 60 pins this friend will donate $3.00 to the fundraiser.
 
The next day when you are hanging out with your grand parents you explain to them what we are doing and you ask them if they will sponsor you for $0.75 per pin.  When they agree you will now have gotten 80% of what you need.
 
All that is left is to go to one of your parent's friends and ask them to sponsor you at $0.20 per pin and you have reached your goal.
 
Businesses can sponsor you too.  All donations can be written off.
  
You Mentioned Extra Money Going To Our Team?
While our goal is $3,400 if each player gets to their $1 goal we will have extra money for each team.
 
Here is how it will be broken down:
 
Each team has been given a Goal to raise based on how many players that are on the team in relation to how many players are in the Academy.  Once your team has reached that goal, everything on top of that will go directly to your team's account.
 
TeamTeam Goal
U9 Girls$575.00
U10 Girls$325.00
U11 White$500.00
U11 Blue$500.00
U12 Blue$575.00
U10 Boys$500.00
U11 Boys$425.00
 
Total$3,400.00

So if each player raises their $1 per pin minimum here is how much extra will go to each team:
Extra Amount To Team
U9 Girls$385.00
U10 Girls$215.00
U11 White$340.00
U11 Blue$340.00
U12 Blue$385.00
U10 Boys$340.00
U11 Boys$295.00
That is just raising the minimum $1 per pin and bowling a score of 60.  If you raise more per pin or you are an excellent bowler your team will raise much more!
 
Free Summer SPAT Program?
We are working hard to improve our strength, power, quickness, agility, and coordination through the winter and spring, when summer comes we do not want all the improvements that we have made to decrease.  So we have worked it out that Brad will come to us!  One training day per week you will work with Brad for 30 minutes and then train for an hour with your team.  I believe very strongly in what Brad does and the benefits are enormous.  Not only are we quicker, stronger, and more coordinated, we significantly reduce the chance for injury with this training.
 
(I did say it will be free so if we do not raise enough here I will find another way to keep this program free of charge.)
 
Tax Season Is Here!
Luckily all donations are tax deductible so anybody who sponsors you will get a tax write off.  We will provide everyone with the proper documentation so the donation can be written off.
 
I Absolutely Cannot Make It On The 24th
If there is no way you can be present to bowl you can designate a teammate to bowl for you and you will take their score.

As a part of the event we gave out awards for the following categories:
Strike Out King and Queen: Girl and Boy with the Most Strikes
Spare Prince and Princess: Most Spares
Strike A Prose: Player who struck the best prose after their shot
Best Lead Up Dance: Person with the best dance leading up to their shot
High Score: Player with the highest total score
On The Mark: We randomly drew a score and the player closest to that score won
Stick To Soccer: For the person who should not be allowed near a bowling ball again

After all the pins were knocked down and all the money was raised we ended up raising just over $4,700 between all the teams.  Of this money we were able to put just over $2,800 towards scholarships and Summer SPAT Program. 

The Big Raisers:
The U12 Girls were able to raise an additional $443 for their team.
The U9 Girls Blue team was able to raise an additional $682 for their team.
The U9 Girls White team was able to raise an additional $767 for their team!

Final Thoughts:
We have never done something like this before and I did not really talk to anyone else who had done this type of event before but it was a simple event to organize and run thanks to the help that I received from the parents.  All the kids had a great time and for the teams that really got into the fundraiser they were able to raise a decent amount of money for their team.

This is an event that we will plan on for next year and we will get it on our calendars from the beginning of the fall so everyone can plan to be there and we can make it even more successful next year.