Trophies go by the wayside for charity

A win at an RCS tournament will help the sick and those in need.

Talk about a winning proposition.

Schools and student athletes taking part in athletic tournaments at RCS – including this weekend’s wrestling tournament - are no longer receiving trophies for their accomplishments. Instead, sick children, needy families and researchers battling the latest diseases will be the beneficiaries of the winning field goals, pins or baskets.

That’s because the RCS school district in conjunction with the district’s Sports Association is making donations to charity instead of spending money on trophies to the various tournaments held in the school district.

The district launched the initiative earlier this year at a girl’s volleyball tournament when $150 was donated to fight childhood cancer on behalf of the winner of the tournament, the Niskayuna team.

The donation represented the amount of money that would have been spent on trophies and a percentage of money raised through concession stand sales, Athletic Director Ron Racey said.

The district continued the new practice at the RCS Basketball Tournament on Dec. 27-28 and will continue it this Saturday during the annual wrestling tournament. The $150 in trophy funds from the basketball tournament were donated to the Nothing but Nets Campaign to purchase insecticide treated bed nets to protect Africans from malaria while they are sleeping.

Funds from the wrestling tournament will be donated to research on cystic fibrosis, Racey said.

The RCS Sports Association sponsors five tournaments in the district each year, with a boys and girls track meet this spring completing the lineup of events.

No decision on who will benefit from the charity of the track meets has been made.