With another school year coming to a close in the next few months, the McNary Athletic Booster Club is ramping up efforts to gather more funding for students and needs the community’s help.
This coming summer, the athletic club will host a workout camp, its second year in a row doing so, for McNary student-athletes.
The date for the first workouts will be both June 17 and 19 with two sessions in the morning (8-10 a.m.) as well as evening (6-8 p.m.) each of the days.
With the return of sports fees to Salem-Keizer schools as well as impending budget cuts, Athletic Booster Club president Joey Barros noted this project represents an effort to come together and help ensure that more McNary students are able to participate in school sports.
The summer workout program the club is offering, “Last of the Hard” is an exercise camp for all student-athletes to come and receive guided strength, speed, agility, endurance and metabolic training such as Olympic weightlifting, power lifting as well as using kettle bells and free weights, according to McNary Health and PE teacher Rachel Martin
Martin described how progress for students is tracked and known to be helpful due to creating rubrics for key components of efficient and effective movement. Martin also noted that they gather student feedback on how effective the workouts were as students participate in the sport they had paid for by the club.
In the program’s first year, as many as 100 students were at each workout session throughout the summer, with the largest session having 163 students.
In total, 94 completed the program by attending more than 90% of workout sessions, resulting in all of those student’s first school sport being paid for.
All 94 students went on to participate in a McNary sport.
The club, a school-managed project, is looked after by club president Joey Barros alongside board members: Diana Barros, Brian Kottek, Rachel Martin, Jill Gust, Matt Zeller, Jacqui Zeller and Chaleigh Martin.
Barros indicated that the booster club is actively looking for more community members to join and participate in helping organize activities and volunteer.
The student workout sessions are guided by McNary Health and PE teachers Rachel Martin and Kenny Mace.
The club’s stated goal is to help the students at McNary any way they can.
With 20 days of workouts total, students need to attend at least 18 in order to be eligible for their first sport being paid for.
Students who completed the program also receive an Athletic Booster Club T-shirt as well as being recognized during McNary’s Blue Day event.
The club has based this year’s base donation goal off of the number of students who completed the program last year.
The cost for a student to participate in a sport is $125, making the goal around $12,000, the same amount raised last year, according to Barros.
Anticipating a larger turnout, however, the club has increased its donation goal to $15,000 in order to be prepared to pay should more children attend workouts and earn payment for their first school sport.
The booster club held an auction last year where they earned around $5,000, though, due to unforeseen circumstances, the club auction has been postponed, according to Barros.
In lieu of this, the club is asking for donations from the community which can be given at givebox.com/524650.
Donations can also be sent through McNaryabc.com, the McNary Athletic Booster Club Facebook page, or Instagram at mcnaryabc.
A variety of types of donations are accepted from monetary to equipment and gear as well as providing things such as end of the year ice cream for teams or college bound athlete recognition.
Barros added that teams are encouraged to come together and raise money for themselves through concessions, fundraising and other booster club events.
Donations are welcome from parents, those in the community and businesses alike.
For more information, reach out to Joey Barros via email at [email protected].
Contact Quinn Stoddard
[email protected] or 503-390-105
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