Alex Kehriotis, co-owner of the Ridgemark Golf and Country Club
and whose family is also minority owners of the Sacramento Kings
and Arco Arena, donated 22 basketballs to the San Benito High boys
and girls program last Thursday.
HOLLISTER
Alex Kehriotis, co-owner of the Ridgemark Golf and Country Club and whose family is also minority owners of the Sacramento Kings and Arco Arena, donated 22 basketballs to the San Benito High boys and girls program last Thursday.
Kehriotis said the balls, all of which are either NBA or WNBA regulation size, can be used in any way the Haybalers see fit: for practice, games, or even fundraising raffles.
Many of the basketballs are autographed by members of the NBAs Kings and WNBAs Sacramento Monarchs.
“We had some balls that we were gonna give away to charity. What better way to give them back then to the community where Ridgemark is at,” Kehriotis said last week at Hollister’s Mattson Gym.
The Ridgemark co-owner said he also heard of the recent budget cuts within the athletic department, and of the possibility of freshmen sports being cut as a result.
“So we just tried to help out where we could,” he said. “I was on the freshmen team (in high school). I know how important sports are in terms of development and life skills.
“And they’re fun.”
Varsity boys basketball coach Tracy Carpenter was on hand to accept the donation, as was senior guard Tyler Rickard.
“Every bit helps,” said Carpenter, who enters his second season at the helm of the boys basketball team. “We were gonna use them for practice balls, but with the financial situation maybe we’ll raffle them off. It’s hard to say.”
Basketball season, along with the other winter sports, begins Nov. 1.
The Baler boys, meanwhile, will kickoff their 2010-11 campaign at home to Gonzales on Nov. 29, while the Baler girls will open season on Dec. 1 at home to North Monterey County.
