Saratoga News
News
Photograph by Dennis Farmer
Football players congregate at the center of the Saratoga High School on the night the new lights were switched on for the first time. The Saratoga sports boosters are working hard to raise the funds needed to continue to improve the athletic facilities at the high school.
Supporters giving a boost to Saratoga athletics
By Michele Tjin
The football field, bleachers and sports facilities at Saratoga High School do not belong just to the student athletes. Mark Linsky, a volunteer at the school, makes the case that the recent field upgrades at the school are also for Saratoga residents at large.
"We look at the field improvements as something for the community," Linsky said. "At football games, you see mothers and fathers bringing young children for half a game. You can also watch the band at halftime."
Linsky and other members of the Saratoga sports boosters are appealing to community members who have ever used the school's facilities on a recreational basis to consider attending the group's March 24 annual dinner fund-raiser. The boosters raise money to pay for uniforms, assistant coaches' salaries and equipment, and they have been overseeing the growth of the new fields and facilities.
"Not only do we find a way to raise money for the operations of the school, we provide volunteer leadership [for managing the projects]," Linsky said.
Without the group, parents would have to pay an additional $250 per student athlete per sport, boosters say. Currently, families pay $150 per child in each sport, which does not include individual uniform needs, such as socks and swimsuits.
For more than 20 years, the sports boosters have held a dinner and auction to raise funds, but this year the group is trying a new format. The auction is being replaced with a raffle, and organizers hope attendees will be willing to contribute with flat pledges.
"We're looking for alternatives," said Paula Thoren, boosters president.
Planners hope with a dinner, dance and raffle, they can provide more opportunities for people to participate in the evening. Raffle items include vacation getaways, a Giants luxury box for eight at AT&T Park and graduation packages at Saratoga High and Redwood Middle schools. Another item that will be raffled off is a portrait of former San Francisco 49ers tight end Brent Jones by Greg van Hoesen, a 2003 graduate of Saratoga. Van Hoesen, an art major at UC-Berkeley, is also a linebacker for the Cal Bears.
The sports boosters hope to raise $150,000 through the dinner and the raffle.
"The big reason people come to Saratoga is that it's a nice place to live," said Dennis Farmer, another member of the boosters. "The schools are excellent. They're blue-ribbon schools. If you raise kids, you need to put money in for the facilities."
In the last three years, the boosters have been responsible for renovating the football, softball, baseball and soccer/field hockey fields. The pool and scoreboards were also made possible by the support of the boosters, who say there is always a new need. The group's project this year is to resurface the track, which is deteriorating. Holes in the rubberized track surface pose a safety issue, Farmer said, and having a new surface would allow the school to hold track meets.
Another project the organization would like to tackle is to purchase a new public address system for the football field.
Other items on the boosters' wish list include a roof on top of the batting cages for the softball team, end-zone and sideline cameras for the football field and a new surface for the tennis courts. "We're known in Saratoga for academics, but we'd like to be a well-rounded school," Farmer said.
The dinner fundraiser will be held March 24 at 6 p.m. at Villa Ragusa, 35 S. Second St. in Campbell. Tickets are $85 each. For more information, contact Dennis Farmer at 408.483.1689.
