Hannah Flanagan is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Gilbert Highland for AZpreps365.com

The Highland Hawks football boosters work heavily behind the scenes to ensure the team receives well-rounded support.

With that, the community plays one of the strongest factors in fundraising. 

“We get a lot of community support and that has a lot to do with how we hold ourselves out in the community,” booster club president Kerry Schambach said. 

Concessions is a huge contributor to funding at Highland. 

Local businesses like Costco and Frys donate items like water, pizza, and other essentials, to help concessions run smoothly.

“We try to keep the prices down for the people and kids that come through our concessions but it is a fundraiser for us as well.” Schambach said. 

Beyond just concessions local businesses donate to provide pre-game meals, snacks for film, and Saturday breakfast.

“Every varsity pregame meal that we feed to our boys is donated by a restaurant around town,” Schambach said.  

They also get a post-game party organized by the varsity team mom. 

“The place to give the cheerleaders and the football players a safe place to go celebrate after the game,” booster member Nicole Miller said, “It gives them an opportunity to keep them safe and keep them in a good spot, I think it's great.” 

This helps build a safe family-like community that Highland emphasizes. 

“Our team moms send out weekly emails for meals and I think that's one of the unique things about football,” Miller said. “It really is a family, they really are trying to build an immediate connection with these kids.”

While the boosters provide a strong foundation the players have many opportunities to raise money for their team.

One of their key efforts is selling coupon books to their community that offer discounts to local businesses, benefiting both the buyers and the team.

“The boys do an awesome job on getting out, literally knocking on every door of the community to try to get people to support that,” Miller said. 

Beyond just the booster club athletic director Brandon Larson dedicates his time all-year long to make sure the team is getting the needs they deserve to be successful. 

“As the athletic director I am responsible for taking care of their needs and they take care of their wants,” Larson said. 

With that, funding supports various essentials like equipment, footballs, uniforms and more. 

Highland is currently on a three-year rotation for new uniforms. 

“The cost of football uniforms, especially at a high level program, they want more than just your home and away,” Larson said. “They want home, away and two alternates so I essentially tell the team I have x amount of dollars towards uniforms and then they'll fundraise for the rest.” 

Having around a plethora of athletes in the football programs uniform costs can quickly add up.

Highland has a specific policy in place to ensure the uniforms are well cared for.

“You get issued your uniform the day before the game and then you turn them in that night of the game,” Larson said. “Terry, our equipment manager, takes care of washing, drying and rehanging them for the next game.” 

The Highland High School football program’s success is a result of the unwavering dedication from the entire community—from boosters to local businesses, to the players themselves. 

“It takes a lot of funding for a program this size and of this caliber to run,” Schambach said, “so we are very vigilant on what we spend the money on.”