Donkey basketball brings huge crowd to Ridgewood Middle School
The gym at Ridgewood Middle School was full of people laughing at staff and students trying to stay on or lead donkeys that had little interest in Donkey Basketball. The event was held Feb. 19 and was a fundraiser for Ridgewood FFA.
Jadyn Art is a junior and is the one who set up the event. She said she remembered seeing it when she was little and that it looked like fun. “Oh my gosh! I got so winded running around. I had to drag him a lot. It was so much fun!”
Logan Pyers is one of the FFA advisors. He said a bunch of FFA chapters in the state use Donkey Basketball for a fundraiser. “It was here a long time ago but died off here. We decided to bring it back.” Pyers said about 400 presale tickets were sold and many people purchased tickets at the door.
“We have two teams – one of junior and senior students and one of staff. The staff here really like to do stuff to support the students, so it wasn’t hard to get people to sign up,” said Pyers. Buckeye Donkey Basketball provided the donkeys for the game.
It is played like regular basketball, but to pass or shoot the ball, the player must be sitting on their donkey. To carry the ball, they can run beside their donkey. The only points that count are ones made while sitting on the animal.
“FFA is so important because it gets kids involved. It’s career tech and agriculture is one of the largest career fields in the world. It prepares the students for careers,” said Pyers.
Kassidy Alexander is a junior and this was her first time playing Donkey Basketball. “I saw it when I was little and always wanted to play. I had to drag him the whole time and I got bucked off and almost kicked, but it was great!” She feels FFA is important because it’s teamwork. “We all get to do things together. We have lots of events and I really like it.”
“FFA brings us all closer and it’s really fun,” said Ashley Green. “We have lots of activities.” She is a junior and really enjoyed playing Donkey Basketball. “He wouldn’t move – I had to try to drag him!”
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