FIGHTING BULLYING
Hooptourney aids Crusader Bullying Prevention Fund
TROY, N.Y. » People from 7 to 70 passed, shot, rebounded and dribbled for a good cause at Catholic Central High School on Saturday.
The Box- Out Bullying 3- on- 3 Basketball Tournament raised money for the Crusader Bullying Prevention Fund, which supports anti-bullying efforts and student-athlete leadership training for area high school students.
Nowin its third year, the program provides scholarships to students that have been bullied at other schools, want to attend Catholic Central, but can’t afford the tuition.
The Crusader Fund was launched by former Catholic Central teacher and 2010 graduate Lexi Cuomo, who heard about a student experiencing difficulties elsewhere.
“I was running the Social Media Club at the time, and members decided to raise money for the kid,” she said. “They started doing random acts of kindness around the school and started a GoFundMe page with a video.”
When 2013 Catho-
lic Central alumnus John Reilly heard about the effort, he decided to support it by starting the Box- Out Bullying hoop tourney.
“There’s not a more critical issue for high school students than bullying right now,” he said. “The key difference between now and five or 10 years ago is the widespread use of social media. Now there’s no escape for students. People can be anonymous online. When they’re anonymous, they’re more apt to say things they wouldn’t otherwise.”
“So students now have to deal with in-school incidents like comments in the hallways or being shunned at lunch,” Reilly said. “Then when you go home, which used to be a break from that, you’re still plugged in. You turn on the computer go to Twitter, Facebook or Instagram and it’s there. It’s verbal and you can’t escape it.”
The basketball tournament had three different levels of play -- a middle school division for grades 6-9, a fun- oriented open division, and a competitive division for more serious athletes. The latter two groups were for high school- age people and above.
Daylong activities also included live music performed by Catholic Central students, a bounce house, dunk tank, face painting, and assorted lawn games.
Mike Schongar, of Troy, graduated from the high school in 1966 and taught there during the 1970s.
“My kids went here, too,” he said. “I’m just glad to be back doing something for the school.”
High School senior Lili Van Vorst said, “It’s not just the school community. We’ve got a lot of new faces here this year. It’s important because bullying can be stopped.”
In addition to providing scholarships, some of this year’s fundraising will be earmarked for educational programs, such as bringing
in speakers to talk about bullying prevention.
During warm-ups, Catholic Central student-athlete Zephaniah Cooper tried to stop his friend, Troy High hoopster Makai Cruel, from making a three-point shot.
“It’s great being here to help the cause,” Cooper said. “Even if you don’t know people you’re playing against, basketball is a friendly sport. So you just find new people, get along and play the game.”