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CYA Basketball: February Round-Up

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February was a busy month for our program, kicking off with our annual Shoot-a-thon Fundraiser on February 4. We raised over $10,000 and collected plenty of non-perishable food for the community. Most importantly, the players had a lot of fun!

On Friday, February 16, we celebrated CYA Night at the Catoctin Lady Cougars basketball game. This was in conjunction with their Breast Cancer Awareness Night, so there was a packed house on hand to see this hard-working group of ladies, who would eventually go on to win the CMC Championship.

February is also a bittersweet month, as players who have been in our organization for many years—some as far back as Kindergarten—prepare to move on from our program to the next level of high school. We held recognition ceremonies for both the girls and boy’s 8th graders from our Mid MD Programs.

The Girls’ Varsity team would go out and defeat Oakdale by a score of 60-23, while the Boys’ Varsity lost in a tough matchup against Smithsburg. We also used the Boys’ ceremony as an opportunity to recognize the contributions of two long-time coaches from within our program: Eric Harvey and Jenn Cregger. Both will be moving on after this season, and they were surprised by returning players from the Catoctin JV team, who presented them with some nice parting gifts. CYA Basketball would like to thank them for their many years of dedicated service!

Speaking of our Mid MD program, we had two teams win division championships this season. The Girls’ Varsity, led by Dwight Baumgardner, went 9-1 to win the Chesapeake Division. While the Boys’ JV, also went 9-1 to win the Piedmont Division in their league. Congrats to both teams on an amazing season, and best of luck in the playoffs!

The month wound down with a rare matchup between two of our U14 MYBA Boys teams. They battled it out in front of a huge crowd of their families and friends at Thurmont Middle School. Coach Kiona Black’s team would come out with the victory, to secure the bragging rights for this year.

And, finally, we closed out the month with CYA Basketball Day at Mount Saint Mary’s University. Players received discounted admission by wearing their CYA jerseys and were invited on court at halftime to participate in a huge game of “Knock Out.” Everyone was treated to a big Mount victory over Iona. It was an exciting way to cap off an extremely busy month.

CYA Shoot-a-thon Scores Big Again

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Ryan Tokar, CYA Basketball

On Sunday, February 5, Catoctin Youth Association (CYA) Basketball held its annual Shoot-a-thon fundraiser. This is the largest annual fundraiser for our program, and proceeds go toward necessities like gym rentals, uniforms, equipment, paid officials, and league fees. With registration numbers up this year now that the majority of COVID-19 restrictions on indoor sports have gone away, it was critical to offset some of the increased expenses incurred by the league. The community came out in support of the program in a big way once again this year, with the Shoot-a-thon bringing in over $13,000 in online and cash donations.

The idea behind the Shoot-a-thon is simple. Players collect money from sponsors for a chance to win prizes. To be eligible for prizes, each player must raise at least $50.00; however, they can continue to raise additional money above and beyond that. Prizes are given out to the top overall fundraisers and to the players who have the highest overall percentage of shots made. The number of shots attempted is based on the age group of the player, with anywhere from 20 to 100 shots being attempted. In most cases, shots are attempted from the free throw line; however, the younger ages are moved in several feet closer and shoot on lowered rims. CYA Basketball programs consist of youths aged kindergarten all the way through high school. The boys and girls high school teams served as volunteers to help record the scores for younger players.

The winners of this year’s highest shooting percentage were: Dallas Baker—Highest Overall Percentage Foul Shooter; K-1st Clinic—Maverick Williams; Girl’s 2nd-4th—Emma Santos; Boy’s 2nd-4th—Cole McCauley; U12 Boys/Girls—Robert Brooks; U14 Boys/Girls—Mason Hewitt; and Mid MD Boys/Girls—Madelyn Myers and Chase Cregger. Overall fundraising winners were: 1st Place—Kaydense Cox, 2nd Place—Zayden Jones, and 3rd Place—Bryson Duman. Winners were each awarded a Dick’s Sporting Goods gift card. The teams with the most overall donations also earned a free pizza party.

Along with the $13,000 raised, the league also collected several hundred non-perishable goods, which were donated to the Thurmont/Emmitsburg community to help those in need. Players received raffle tickets for each item they donated, and there were several great prize baskets given away. Nicole Kelley won the Movie Basket, featuring a Warehouse Cinemas gift card and all the snacks you need for a movie night; Ashlyn Vaughan won the Baseball/Softball Basket, which included a free Thurmont Little League registration with other themed items; and Chase Shoemaker won the Football Basket with a free CYA Football/Cheer registration and a football/pump/tee pack. CYA Basketball also donated a themed basket with a free registration, and one basketball set, shoe charms, and a Gatorade bottle/towel package. This was won by Willow Bullis. And finally, there was a gift card tree featuring several local establishments, which was won by Peyten Wills.

There were activities throughout the afternoon, including music, a face painter, and team/individual photos. All in all, it was a great day and a wonderful event. CYA Basketball would like to thank the community, parents, and volunteers for their support. Without you, it would not have been such a tremendous success.

Players show off their designs, complements of Face painting by Elizabeth.

Shoot-a-thon participants pose with non-perishable goods collected during the event.

2022 Shoot-a-thon Scores Big

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Ryan Tokar, CYA Basketball

On Sunday, January 23, Catoctin Youth Association (CYA) Basketball held its annual shoot-a-thon fundraiser. This is the largest annual fundraiser for the program.  Proceeds go towards necessities like gym rentals, uniforms, equipment, paid officials, and league fees. With the cancelation of its previous season due to COVID-19, it was critical to offset some of the losses in registration fees. The community came out in support of the program in a BIG way. This year’s shoot-a-thon brought in over $13,500 in online and cash donations, one of the largest amounts raised in CYA Basketball history!

The idea behind the shoot-a-thon is simple. Players collect money from sponsors for a chance to win prizes. To be eligible for prizes, each player must raise at least $50.00;  however, they can continue to raise additional money above and beyond that. Prizes are given out to the top overall fundraisers and to the players who have the highest overall percentage of shots made. The number of shots attempted is based on the age group of the player, with anywhere from 20 to 100 shots being attempted. In most cases, shots are attempted from the free throw line; however, the younger ages are moved in several feet closer and shoot on lowered rims. CYA Basketball programs consist of youths ages kindergarten all the way through high school. The boys and girls high school teams served as volunteers to help record the scores for younger players.

The winners of this year’s highest shooting percentage were: Levi Baker—Highest Overall Percentage Foul Shooter; K-1st Clinic—Bryce Yocum; Girl’s 2nd-4th—Peyton Willis; Boy’s 2nd-4th—Luke Wiles; U12 Boys/Girls—Eli McFarland; U14 Boys/Girls—Gage Eyler; Mid MD Boys/Girls—Harley Fitzpatrick. Overall fundraising winners were: 1st Place—Kaydense Cox; 2nd Place— Evan Laird; 3rd Place—Skylar Stidom.

Winners were each awarded a Dick’s Sporting Goods gift card for their prize. The teams with the most overall donations also earned a free pizza party.

Along with the $13,500 raised, the league also collected several hundred non-perishable goods, which were donated to the Thurmont/Emmitsburg Food Banks to help those in need. Players received raffle tickets for each item they donated, and there were three great prize baskets given away. Tyler Creel won the Movie Basket, featuring a Warehouse Cinemas Gift Card and all the snacks you need for a movie night. Brayden Rickerd won the Baseball Basket, which included a free Thurmont Little League registration with other baseball-themed items. Kathleen Davis won the Football Basket, with a free CYA Football/Cheer registration and other items.

Throughout the afternoon, there were activities that included music, a face painter, and team/individual photos. All in all, it was a great day and a wonderful event.

CYA Basketball would like to thank the community, parents, and volunteers for their support. Without you, it would not have been such a tremendous success.

Courtesy Photos

CYA Basketball’s 2nd Annual Shoot-A-Thon a Big Success

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The CYA Basketball 2nd Annual Shoot-A-Thon event was held on Sunday, February 10, 2019, at Catoctin High School. It was a great success. Committee members planned an action-packed, fun-filled day for all the players that participated. The Shoot-A-Thon featured concessions, music, a face painter, and a bunch of high-fives and hugs. There were plenty of smiles, great shots, entertaining games, and community bonding that conveyed the spirit of our Cougar family.  

CYA is pleased to announce the raising of $9,600 from the event. In addition, over 500 non-perishable canned foods were collected that were donated to the Thurmont and Emmitsburg Food Banks.

Prizes were awarded for highest percentage foul shots made in seven groups, as well as the highest fundraiser. Winners were recognized at the Lady Cougars last home game of the season on February 15. Congratulations to all the winners: Austin Van Echo, Raegan Smith, Ethan Tokar, Corine Jewell, Kourtney Bell, Parker Davis, Colton Gray, Cooper Wiles, Dalton Reed, Abbey Shaffer, Melanie Topper, Drew Nicholson, Derek Nicholson, Jacob Kiltsch, Kaydense Cox, Eli Yocum, Emily Wetzel, Kamryn Goodin, Ava Ganjon, Paige Sweeney, and Brayden Grable. Winners of the canned food raffle include Olivia Morroni, Eli Yocum, Logan Berg, and Chase Cregger.

Student volunteers with the canned goods collected during the CYA Basketball 2nd Annual Shoot-A-Thon.