SPRINGDALE — Springdale athletic director Wayne Stehlik came up with the idea after reading about a college that did something similar with its football team.
Rather than boosters donating to an unknown cause, why not let them “adopt” a player? If such an unusual idea could work at a major university, why couldn’t it have success at the high school level?
Stehlik recently introduced the “Adopt a Player” program that asks people to pay for either all or part of a football players’ uniform at Springdale High and Springdale Har-Ber.
Donors can select a specific player at either school to “adopt,” so they’ll be able to see on Friday nights who’s wearing the $150 shoulder pads or $75 cleats they purchased.
“When you’re an athletic director in these economic times, you’ve got to be creative in trying to find a way to raise funds for your programs,” Stehlik said. “We have people in our area that they want to help, but they want to know it’s going to go to a specific thing.”
Stehlik said Springdale Public Schools isn’t in such a dire financial situation that boosters must pay for the uniforms in order for Springdale and Har-Ber to field football teams in the fall. Still, Stehlik said extra funds could help. It costs $800 to outfit a football player in Springdale, though the helmet can be reused for several years.
The helmet is the most expensive part of a player’s uniform at $250, according to a chart distributed as part of the “Adopt a Player” program. Pants with pads cost $125, and home and away jerseys go for $100 each.
“We’re always looking for ways to come up with money to fund our program, to provide the equipment our players need,” Springdale coach Shane Patrick said.
While coaching at Mountain Home, Patrick said he had a fundraiser in which alumni could pay for the jersey number they wore when they played at the school.
“We were successful. We raised a little bit of money,” Patrick said. “Obviously, we didn’t raise enough to cover everything, but it worked out.
“Every little bit helps when you’re trying to raise money.”
Stehlik said the reception to Springdale’s “adoption” program has been growing since it was unveiled within the past two weeks.
To show his commitment for the program, Stehlik said he and his wife intend to buy a home jersey for a player at Springdale and Har-Ber this upcoming season.
“This is just another way for us to help with our football programs,” Stehlik said. “We have our budgets, and we’re very frugal with our budgets.
“Our coaches do a great job of using their budgets wisely, and this is just another way of creative thinking to get more people involved with Springdale football.”