Riverside football seeking donations to keep program alive

Dave Bors lives a full and rich life, raising three daughters — ages 9, 7 and 5 — and … 80 sons.

That's how the Riverside (Painesville, Ohio) football coach, and his assistants, look at the players in his program. 

"We treat and try to teach them like they are own sons," Bors said.

The 16-year coach has been a varsity football coach for seven seasons in Ohio, the last four at Riverside. He also teaches history during the day.

"I take great pride in teaching," he said. "But what I can teach outside of the classroom is so much more considering I'm with these young men 20 to 40 times more than history kids.

"We work so much more than just being football players. We teach them about being young men, about working together and being accountable and competitive. We can teach about coming back from adversity. It's life lessons all the time."

And now he's teaching the young lads about being self-sufficient monetarily.

With the urging and help of the Sports Matter Project from DICK'S Sporting Goods, the Beavers are attempting to raise $10,150 in five weeks to help the football program remain solvent.

If they reach that goal — as part of the project — DICK'S will match the funds.

See Riverside's plight and donate here

Like countless school districts from throughout the country, the Riverside Local School District cut funding for extra curricular activities and when a local levee didn't recently pass, the high school teams were left to fend for themselves.

Bors calculated that it takes between $60-70,000 annually to run his program, at a cost of more than $800 per player. He said one family, whose two sons were three-sport standouts, would be required to shell out between $3,500-4,000 to participate in all sports without assistance.

But assistance, these days, doesn't mean a handout. It's about networking, fund-raising and community.

"When the levee didn't pass, we didn't cry or whine or complain," Bors said. "We thought, ‘it is what it is,' and ‘it stinks.' But we also said ‘let's go.' We're a family and we can get through this."

So on the fundraising trail the Beavers went. There were landscaping projects. Door-to-door solicitations. Mulching yards. Car washes. And more.

Bors looked into grants and found the new DICK'S project, which will match community donations up to $2 million on a new crowd-funding platform provided by The DICK's Sporting Goods Foundation.

Riverside was one of the applications (there were up to 575 of them) accepted between Feb. 3-March 21. Riverside must meet the $10,150 for DICK'S to match, otherwise no portion of the money is matched. It's all or nothing. 

Thus far, with 18 days until the May 23 deadline, Riverside is about halfway to its goal, Bors said.

"We're obviously incredibly grateful to be part of the program," Bors said. "Not only because of the generous donation if we meet the challenge, but because it forces our kids to work for something they love. These kids have a skin in the game. They'll be rewarded for their hard work.

"We're not looking at this like a 'woe is us' proposition. We're not just looking for a hand out. We're willing to roll up our sleeves and make it happen. This is an opportunity to show on so many levels what a neat and special community we live in."