Brayden, We are so proud of the young man you have become. Work hard and enjoy every second of your senior year! We will be here cheering you on every second of the way! We are and will always be your biggest fans! We love you so much! Love, Mom, Pappy and Grandma Austin, With each match and every save you show us what hard work and heart look like. We are incredibly proud of the young man and athlete you have become. Love, Dad, Mom & Zoe
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Nolan, We are so proud of all of the hard work and the dedication that you have shown over the past three years as a varsity athlete both on and off the field. Stay true to yourself always and have an amazing year as a senior Squire! #9 #42 Love, Mom, Dad, and Evan
Adlih, A dream is the door to tomorrow… And always remember You are braver than you believe Stronger than you seem Smarter than you think & loved more than you know. Congratulations princess! We are so proud of you! With love Mom, Angelo, Dad, Grandma and Uncle
Ryan, We are so very proud of you and all your achievements. You are becoming such an awesome young man! With all your hard work and determination, there is a bright future ahead for you. Have fun and be sure to enjoy your senior year! Love Mom, Dad, Alexa and Ashleigh
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THE SQUIRE ATHLETICS FUND Grit, discipline, determination - these hallmark characteristics of Delone Catholic Athletics not only describe the student-athletes who have represented the School on our fields and courts, they also describe generations of coaches and volunteers to the Athletic Association. With our Athletics Department having grown to include more than 20 teams, and representing a core part of the high school experience, the funding model that dates to the era of only football and boys’ basketball is no longer sustainable. As such, Athletics should be included in the school budget, shifting responsibility for funding away from volunteers and individual teams and onto the School. Traditional sources of revenue from athletics - registration fees, gate receipts, concessions, etc. - do not cover all of the expenses associated with athletics - uniforms, equipment, transportation, officials, coaching stipends, fees, etc. To help fund athletic operations and to provide our student-athletes with a high-quality experience, the Office of Advancement will conduct campaigns for The Squire Athletics Fund, with funds raised directed exclusively to the athletics budget. The Director of Athletics will work closely with head coaches to fine-tune details of team budgets to ensure that student-athletes have access to the opportunities and resources necessary for their success. Other Catholic schools across the country have effectively transitioned to this funding model, which largely eliminates high-labor, low-return transactional fundraisers and gives Delone Catholic alumni, parents, and friends the opportunity to directly impact our programs through philanthropic investment in programs that are meaningful to them. The Office of Advancement has great respect for the coaches and volunteers who have worked so diligently on behalf of their teams, developing relationships with donors, and we will ask for your continued assistance in cultivating these relationships in support of The Squire Athletics Fund. Beginning in January 2025, coaches and student-athletes will be asked to participate in an annual “Support a Squire” peer-to-peer fundraising campaign for The Squire Athletics Fund organized by the Office of Advancement. This coordinated effort will allow us to secure the funding needed to continue our rich tradition of athletics success without a constant barrage of solicitations to donors and geographic restrictions of participation to those who can receive timely delivery of goods. By changing the funding model, we will be able to build a more cohesive game plan and expand the group participating in its execution. In doing so, we can allow our coaches to focus on what they do best, building relationships with their student-athletes and putting them in the best position to succeed.
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SECURING THE FUTURE
OF DELONE CATHOLIC ATHLETICS For the first 85 years of Delone Catholic’s history, the School has relied almost exclusively on funds raised each year to field its athletics programs – meaning that every dollar needed for a given year needs to be raised in that year. Especially when relying on the generosity of volunteers to raise these funds, this can be a bit of a gamble or require teams to forego anything but the bare necessities. One tool that an institution like Delone Catholic has at its disposal to provide a baseline of funding for any purpose is endowment. Through October 2024, Delone Catholic has been blessed to have 20 such funds established – mostly for tuition assistance or general operating expenses. Until now, there has not been a fund restricted specifically to athletics. In the coming weeks, Delone Catholic will finalize the establishment of the Guinea Rineman “Voice of the Squires” Fund. Francis “Guinea” Rineman ’45 was a lifelong Athletic Association volunteer and spent half a century as the PA announcer for football and basketball at Delone Catholic. Late in his life, his family started contributing to this fund, and with his input, determined that it should be used to continue the work he tirelessly did to provide for our student-athletes. With the contributions made by the Rineman Family and supplemented by the recent Delone Catholic Banner and Jersey Auction, we will be able to establish this fund. Along with our other endowed funds, it will be invested, generating interest and dividends which will be used to help provide the operating budget for Delone Catholic Athletics. The Office of Advancement will actively engage in conversations with donors who are interested in securing the future of our Athletics program to either add to this fund, or start additional funds like it to provide a reliable revenue stream, which does not need to be raised each year.
Anyone interested in learning more about helping to fund Athletics now and in the future should be directed to Eric T. Lawrence ’98, Director of Advancement at 717-637-5969, Ext. 201 or elawrence@delonecatholic.org or Matthew L. Thomas, Director of Admissions and Outreach at 717-637-5969, Ext. 216 or mthomas@delonecatholic.org.
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