Tigers seek funding for state championship rings

Published 8:56 pm Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Class 5A state championship trophy? Check. Class 5A state title game MVP award? Check. State championship ring? Not so much.

The Tigers may have gone 12-3 and earned the right to boast a state championship ring to commemorate the accomplishment, but the work is far from done.

Head coach Tom Causey and the Demopolis Quarterback Club met Monday to discuss various fundraising ideas to help pay for the team’s state championship rings.

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With each ring costing in the neighborhood of $250, the team must raise approximately $23,500 in order to bankroll the keepsakes. Causey and QB club president Kenny Freeman are determined that those funds will come from somewhere other than the parents of the players.

“With all the sacrifices that have been made by our (players’) parents, if at all possible, we would like for them to not have to pay for a ring that their child earned,” Causey said.

In order to help pay for those rings, the team and quarterback club will host a number of fundraisers.

“Were going to sell highlight DVDs,” Causey said of an endeavor that will allow Demopolis fans to buy discs highlighting the season. “We’re going to sell state championship ballcaps. We’re going to sell state championship car tags.”

In addition to selling that merchandise, the club plans to set up a donor program. As part of that initiative, individuals contributing a certain dollar amount will be given a miniature state championship trophy.

“We’re going to have a donor program set up where any company that donates X amount of dollars gets a miniature blue map,” Causey said.

“One thing we’re talking about doing is having a big tailgate party,” Freeman said. “This is not set in stone, but we’re going to try to do that and then maybe get together and watch the game again.” Donations will be take up at the tailgate party.

Other ideas for fundraisers include the possibility of putting together a program which features a recap of the Tigers’ entire season.

While the club is not yet certain on exactly how it will raise all of the money needed, it is confident in one thing.

“They did it in a classy way,” Freeman said of the Tigers’ title run.