RIVERSIDE
Highland’s boys and girls may have lost their basketball games to WACO Thursday night, but victories aren’t always captured by points on the scoreboard. Both teams and their fans …
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RIVERSIDE
Highland’s boys and girls may have lost their basketball games to WACO Thursday night, but victories aren’t always captured by points on the scoreboard. Both teams and their fans walked away with high scores when it comes to generosity and character, as demonstrated by the success of their first toy drive benefitting UI’s Children’s Hospital.
The idea came about earlier in the season when Highland boys basketball coach Bill Zywiec realized their game vs. WACO would be right before the holiday break. As the two school districts share a superintendent, “it’s just a natural fit for the two communities to work together,” Zywiec said, and he thought perhaps they could do something “to just kind of give back to the community.”
Thus “Christmas at the Dog Pound” was born – a reference to Highland’s gym. Girls head coach Jody Fink was “100% on board,” as were the WACO coaches, so the plan went ahead.
Instead of paying admission for the Dec. 19 games, parents and fans brought in toys, as did most of the players.
Given that it was a first-time event, no one knew how many toys to expect, but the results were uplifting.
“I was hoping we’d get at least 50 things,” Zywiec said the following day. “When I started counting out things this morning and we came up with 230, I was like, we’re going to need more bins, which was amazing.”
On Friday afternoon, the coach and his senior players packed up the toys and delivered them to the Children’s Hospital in Iowa City.
Senior Louis Horak was impressed by both the Highland and WACO communities’ holiday spirit and happy to be a part of brightening the holidays for kids in the hospital. He also appreciated the opportunity to bond with teammates through the experience.
“This is an experience I’m never really going to forget,” he said. “I’ve never done something like this before, and I think it’s kind of a first time for all of us. I think it’s something that Highland is going to continue to do for years to come.”
