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First-year Granger football coach Doyle Holt knew the obstacles that were ahead when he took the position in the spring.
Granger had gone 2-8 last season and the program was in need of some changes and Holt wanted to be the one to bring them. On top of having to get to know his players, getting them to buy into his philosophies and building a strong foundation, he had to worry about the small things like getting new helmets and pads.
He went to athletic director Garrett Clark late in the school year and told him what his team needed. There was just one problem: there was going to be no money for athletics the next school year.
“I’m a new coach coming in and I need all this stuff and he said, ‘Good luck with
that. How are you going to pay for it?’” Holt said. “[The coaches] were told we better be able to fundraise because the district was tightening the belt.”After district and school cutbacks, there wasn’t much money left in the athletic budget for hardly anything. When soccer coach Hyrum Okeson first heard the news, he thought about all the things his team might have to go without in the fall.
“There would be no soccer balls, no trophies for the end of the season and no extra uniforms if I needed it,” Okeson said. “I knew it would be difficult for my players to come up with the money. It was a scary thought that the school wasn’t getting us any money.”
But the coaches at Granger didn’t stay idle. They rallied and
Holt and Clark devised an idea to have a staff-wide event called Knight of the Lancers, a catered dinner featuring a silent auction and a keynote speaker, former BYU and NFL player Reno Mahe.It’s an event that is not only intended to raise money for all the teams at Granger but to invite alumni to return to the school and see that the programs are headed in the right direction.
The event will be held Aug. 19 at the high school. The silent auction is at 5:30 p.m. with the dinner at 7 p.m. Tickets are $20.
“We want to bring our alumni back. We need to get them involved,” Clark said. “We want the community to see the direction we’re going in. We want the alumni and the community to come to our football games. We want to bring school spirit back like it was in the ’80s and early ’90s. That’s my hope and that’s my vision.”
All the coaches have had a hand in helping out. Each coach is responsible for getting 10 items donated for the silent auction. Coaches have volunteered to set up the event and clean up afterwards. The entire athletic staff has committed to raising money so that their players don’t feel as if they’re lacking when the seasons roll around.
Having a small athletic budget to begin the year was not an ideal situation but it has helped unite the coaches at Granger by giving them the same common goal. Coaches who may have been competing for the same athletes in the past are now working together.
“As a group of coaches, it has brought a sense of unity,” Okeson said. “It’s been great to work with other coaches and come up with ideas. We all need to help each other out for the school to succeed.”
