The third annual R.F. Staples Dress-Up Basketball Game will give the Westlock Food Bank a healthy boost this year by bringing in donations of 170 pounds of food and $1,000 in cash donations.
The $1,000 in cash is a combination of $245 in admission donations and local business owner Perry Rebagliati’s promise to add an extra $755 to round out the total.
“I’ve worked with Chris (Willcock, the game’s organizer) for the past three years,” Rebagliati said. “It’s a great cause to help the food bank.”
He said he wanted to give back to the community after helping to support the game the previous two years, including a big donation last year.
“I told Chris to count on another donation this year,” he said. “I thought it would be a good idea to round it up to $1,000.”
Although the numbers of attendees and donations were down from 2010, when the game raised $1,340 and 176 pounds of food, Willcock said he felt the game and evening were very successful.
The main thing is that the kids had fun and were able to raise some money and food for the food bank, he said.
“Anytime you can get kids involved in community events, it means more than anything else combined, even the food or money raised,” he said.
Willcock said he is proud of the kids and the people who came out to watch and took time from their busy days to come out and support a worthy cause.
This is the last year Willcock will have a child at R.F. Staples, so he said he’s hoping someone will step up to keep the game alive in 2012.
“I hope for the kids themselves to take on the responsibility for next year,” he said, adding he is willing to help out if they ask him.
As for the game itself, it’s safe to say it wasn’t the epitome of well-played, well-coached and well-disciplined basketball. The players didn’t play hard on every possession and more shots were missed than made. However, with the goal of the game being to support the food bank, it was all for fun.
The junior varsity girls came out on top of their male rivals, 38-36, with some assistance from referee Len Seatter and his questionable interpretation of the rules. Case in point, there was his decision to award the girls twice as many points for each basket they scored in the second half.
As time wound down, the stands emptied as the crowd descended on the court to take part in the fun.
All in all, the game was a shining example of the quality of R.F. Staples basketball and will stand for all time as the game of the century. Or not.
