Fundraiser Supporting Sports in Aptos Schools Fills Seascape Golf Course
By Michael Oppenheimer
If you combine the efforts of the Aptos Sports Foundation’s annual Golf Tournament and “Little Helpers” Golf Tournament, the Aptos community has been doing its best to help support youth sports for nearly 70 years, something that’s even more important today than ever before.
“It’s absolutely awesome what [ASF] does for our kids, both the boys and the girls,” said Randy Blankenship, Aptos High School’s varsity football coach. “They make it … not tolerable, but we’re able to do stuff because of what they do.”
With public schools’ sports programs hit hard over the last decade due to funding cuts, support from the community is keeping athletics and other “extracurricular” activities alive and kicking.
“We just changed the [ASF] mission statement from supporting only the high school to also supporting the feeder schools’ programs,” said ASF Board of Director Paul Bailey, speaking of junior high and elementary schools that Aptos High draws students from. “We’re dedicating ourselves to improving the whole system.”
The 35th annual ASF Golf Tournament once again drew a full “house”, filling the Seascape Golf Course with approximately 140 golfers at once.
“This is a big day,” Blankenship said. “Just look at all the people out here.”
The May 2 tournament began with golf carts flying out from the clubhouse as the golfers spread out to all 18 holes for a simultaneous 1 p.m. start. The tournament raised nearly $25,000.
“50% of the golfers out here are alumni of our schools,” Bailey said. “Our goal is to build something that lasts into perpetuity — make [ASF] a community outfit.”
To that end, ASF recently set up an endowment fund to offer long-term commitments to the foundation.
“We have had a couple of families in the community include us already,” he said.
The 2014 tournament has been dedicated to the memory of Dick Shaw, founder of the Little Helpers Golf Tournament.
The original idea for the 1966 tournament was to raise money for a Little League baseball field, which became the start of the Little League park at Soquel High School.
“Little Helpers was a great tournament that went on for 33 years,” said Shaw’s brother, Bruce. “It was outstanding because we had much of the Monterey Bay participating in one way or another.”
Little Helpers took on the philosophy that no matter how much hard work has already been done, there’s nothing wrong with offering those hard workers a helping hand.
“The money came in, but it went back out just as fast,” Bruce said. “Everybody volunteered to do everything. Paul and Robert [Bailey] know what a great tournament that turned out to be.”
The Aptos Sports Foundation, established in 1979, was originally created as a fund-raising entity separate from Aptos High School to allow for more flexibility in the use of those funds, able to direct those funds to specific projects, such as field improvements, uniforms, etc, raising over $3 million throughout the years.
ASF is currently helping complete the construction on the youth soccer field being built in front of Aptos High.
“Keep more kids busy, more kids active,” Blankenship said. “That’s what [ASF] helps do, and it’s an honor to be a part of it.”
