OHMS selling Viking Pride to buy equipment

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COMMUNITY WIDE — Oxford Hills Middle School football is selling these signs for $10 apiece to raise enough money to purchase new uniforms for next school year. 

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FOR SALE —   OHMS football is selling stickers for $4 apiece and window signs for $10 apiece to raise money for new equipment.

OXFORD HILLS —  Oxford Hills Middle School football is trying to raise enough money to purchase new uniforms and equipment, says Coach Mark Smith. He says the goal is to raise $1,000 or more before the start of the next season. 

Smith is currently in the process of selling indoor green and gold signs that say "Viking Pride Community Wide" and stickers that advertise Oxford Hills football. 

The signs are $10 apiece and can be purchased at the middle school on Pine Street in Paris or Golden Mountain Designs on Fair Street in Norway. The stickers are $4 apiece and can also be purchased in the same locations. 

The idea, Smith says, is not just to raise money, but to spread Viking pride throughout the community. 

"It's not sport-specific," says Smith of the fundraiser. "It's to establish everybody together." 

Pride

This is Smith's first year coaching football at OHMS, and he says since he began, "everything out of these kids' mouths has something to do with pride." 

"They say it and they believe it," says Smith, who is also a physical education teacher at the school. 

"Just the sense of pride, good or bad, they always say it. You see it up at the high school; you see it all over the place." 

The plan is to sell the signs for businesses and residents to put in their windows to advertise the school's pride and at the same time, support OHMS football. 

"I've seen quite a few of them," he says, especially along Main Street. 

The goal is to purchase new uniforms for the kids, says Smith. The team has gotten used to receiving a mixture of hand-me-downs from past seasons. 

"We had three different styles of jerseys last year on one team," he explains, "so we are trying to get uniformed together so we can look like a team instead of being all over the place." 

Upgrades 

This year most of the team's budget went toward replacing helmets, which "ate up most of the budget for updating any other equipment," says Smith. 

The team would also like to upgrade to pants that have built-in pads that will be easier for the kids to maintain, Smith says. 

According to Smith, this past season OHMS football had one of the highest turnouts of players – 55 – which also calls for more, updated equipment. 

"We are building the future for the high school program, which seems to be going in the right direction," he says. 

In addition to purchasing signs and stickers, Smith says he is also accepting donations outright, which can be dropped off at the front office at OHMS. For more information, contact Mark Smith at msmith@SAD17.k12.me.us.