Donkey Basketball in North Gem
North Gem gym was host to a 4 teams of donkey riders last week.
It hasn’t quite made its way into the Olympics yet, but Donkey Basketball is a sport that is certainly entertaining enough for it. As a fundraiser for the senior class at North Gem High School, a four team donkey basketball tournament was put on in the gym, featuring faculty and staff, North Gem alumni, and two student teams. At the end of the night, the students came out on top of the on court action, but no one went home without having been entertained! In addition to the event tickets, funds for seniors were raised through an auction of desserts contributed by members of the community. While three figures for two loaves of bread would be a bit exorbitant under normal circumstances, in this case the generosity of the students’ supporters will go a long way toward their senior trip fund.
There are rules to Donkey basketball, which referees Bruce Wick and David Fenton explained to the players before the games started. The most important were to make sure the animals were treated well, and that everyone had fun. Both of those rules seemed to have carried the day, as most of the riders were comfortable on their mounts, and the enthusiasm of the crowd made it clear how much fun the sight was. For the curious, the ball is tossed at mid court, where one representative from each team jumps for it, and then passes to a teammate, staying inside the prescribed area. From there, the players must stay mounted on their donkeys as they make their way to either end of the full court. They have to remain on their donkeys to shoot, which leads to most of the entertainment as players attempt to drag their…well, stubborn donkeys across the court to chase after the ball.
The majority of points came as a result of layups, though there were some shots from outside the key and one amazing 3!
Ken Christensen served as the announcer, and took his own shots from the sidelines.
“All the donkeys are Democrats,” he said at one point. “You should be able to control them better than that!”
The dessert auction was organized by Hailey Hatch, who was assisted by Shirley Cook, Rusty Hatch, and many of the North Gem students who proudly modeled the cakes, pies, cookies, and bread.
Donations to the seniors for the senior trip can also be made be contacting the school at 208-648-7848.
