Chair raffle to raise money for hockey costs

By
The Martha's Vineyard Times
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5
An adirondack chair made by Kyle Gatchell out of donated materials and hockey sticks. The raffle to win the chair will go through the season, with the winner announced at the end. —Courtesy Robert Gatchell

One parent of a high school player is raffling off a chair made out of hockey sticks to address some of the high costs of the sport. The tickets are $10 each, or three for $25, and are being sold at every home game, the first of which is this Thursday. 

Kyle Gatchell, a parent of a hockey player on the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School (MVRHS) team, built the chair himself. His son, Jacob, is a goalie, and Gatchell estimates his son’s gear alone cost about $2,000. The high price tag motivated him to raise money for other parents and the financial burden of the sport.

Gatchell said MVRHS covers “ice time,” practice and game time at the rink, but the costs of food when traveling to away games, new gear, and other expenses are often up to the parents. 

“The ice [time] is expensive, so this helps cover and offset a lot of the other costs of every player who goes off,” Gatchell said in an interview with The Times. “When they’re off-Island, they’re getting food because they’re going off at noontime or one o’clock, and they’re not coming back till late. So [this is] to make sure that all the kids are eating properly and eating healthy.”

According to Gatchell, the Adirondack chair, which is a colorful build that pays homage to the sport itself, and features the MVRHS colors of black and purple, cost him nothing to make. The wood and paint were donated, and the hockey sticks, which go for about $300 each, were hand-me-downs from players and the rink. To add to the sentimental value, Gatchell said two of the sticks that he used to make the chair were signed by each player on the hockey team. 

Gatchell said he’s hoping his contribution to the Booster Club, which collects the fundraised funds for school sports, will take some of the pressure off parents who are unable to afford the financial burden of the sport. He hopes this fundraiser puts the focus on the excitement and passion students, like his son, have for the game itself.

“He’s been playing since he was like 5 or 6. So he’s really passionate about it,” Gatchell said. “There are players that are a little tighter on funding who can’t afford to [play hockey], and maybe they couldn’t do it if [the Booster Fund] wasn’t available.”

All money raised from the chair raffle will go to the Booster Fund, which will then be available to the team for food, travel, and gear upgrades. The raffle will continue throughout the season, and the winner will be announced toward the end. 

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5 COMMENTS

  1. open this up…contact the Bruins…there are plenty of local connections to make this chair a money maker. Nice job Kyle.

  2. How can we purchase raffle tickets if we’re not on island for most of the winter? I think this is a brilliant idea, and, as the grandmother of 4 aspiring NHL players from Hingham, would love to help support the hockey players on MV!

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