March 5, 2014 at 1:52 p.m.
Donkey basketball show coming to Three Lakes
Donkey basketball show coming to Three Lakes
By Kayla Thomason-
Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. March 13 at the school.
Tickets are $6 in advance, $8 at the door, and can be purchased at Three Lakes High School and Sugar Camp Elementary School.
Proceeds from the event will be split between FBLA, which will receive 40 percent, and Dairyland Donkey Ball, the organization supplying the trained donkeys.
This is the third time Three Lakes has put on a donkey basketball show.
"We wait a little while [about four years in between shows] so that the novelty wears off so the people aren't familiar with it and the kids are excited to see actual real donkeys in the gym," said Bobbi Pulver, business education teacher and FBLA advisor. "They can't believe it."
The rules for the game are the players have to be on their donkeys and the animal has to be moving when they make a shot. Riders cannot dribble.
It was Pulver's idea to bring donkey basketball to the school.
"We used to do it in my high school when I was younger and it was funny so we just started to look on the Internet and researched to find out if there was even a company that still did it," Pulver explained.
Normally Dairyland Donkey Ball brings nine or 10 donkeys to a game.
"We do four on each team and we have a couple of extras that are a little more exciting than the first eight," explained C.J. Cordell, one of the owners of Dairyland Donkey Ball.
The donkeys are trained and wear rubber shoes to protect the gym floor.
"They're just trained to be mischievous and some of them aren't, some of them are nice and easy to ride. You've got a mixture of different types of people playing so we try to match everybody up with an appropriate type of donkey," Cordell said.
During intermission children 12 and under can ride the donkeys.
"It's a good time of the year to do it, a lot of sporting events are ending and the weather is usually not desirable so it gives people something to do to break up the long winter," Pulver said.
There will be concessions and a raffle.
Raffle tickets are $5 a ticket, $20 for five, and prizes include a 32-inch Samsung TV, a pair of Beats headphones, a half-day guided fishing trip, a St. Croix fishing pole and reel, a Kindle Fire, a Keurig coffee maker and a Ninja deluxe professional blender.
Prizes and names will be drawn randomly during intermission.
The show usually lasts a few hours and there will be a little exhibition game prior to the donkey show, where elementary students shoot hoops.
"We are just exited about the event and hoping that many people come and enjoy the evening," Pulver said.
Dairyland Donkey Ball, based in Chippewa Falls, is in its 10th year of operation. Cordell said his wife's family has been in the business since the Great Depression.
"[The guests] are guaranteed to get a good laugh when watching their friends or family members or coworkers try to ride one of these little critters," Cordell said. "They are going to make their life pretty difficult while trying to make a basket. They are very low-scoring games."
Kayla Breese may be reached at [email protected].
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