People are often nostalgic about playing sports and Adam Hogarth is no different.
Hogarth, a phys-ed teacher at Olds High School, was up one night thinking about his days as a varsity athlete. That's when he thought about starting a sports uniform auction for the school.
ìIt's been kind of brewing for a while,î he said. ìOver Christmas break I was looking at my old high school's website and thought about my years playing high school ball and even when I played university ball, it would have been nice to have those uniforms and that type of memorabilia with you at home."
Right now, he said the idea is still in its infancy. No date has been set. Organizers are trying to find people, especially alumni, who would be interested in buying the sports jerseys, Hogarth said.
He envisions a web auction, with the funds reinvested into the school's athletic department to be spent on equipment for student athletes, he said.
Currently, Olds High School has about 100 jerseys in stock, most of them from basketball, track and volleyball teams, according to Hogarth.
Usually, once the school buys new jerseys, the old ones are stored, donated or even just misplaced, he said.
Hogarth, who also teaches math and science, said people would be interested in buying the uniforms as keepsakes because of nostalgia.
Personally, he said he would have liked to keep his basketball jersey, either hung in a picture frame or given to his children to wear.
ìHigh school sports, for a lot of people, that's the highlight of their athletic career,î he said. ìThey're always fans of professional sports and different things and that's your one connection to when you were in the game playing ball or playing volleyball or on the football field as an athlete.î
While a uniform auction at a high school in a small town may seem inconsequential, Hogarth thinks about the big picture and the impact raising the profile of the athletic department can have.
ìAs a phys-ed guy here, if we put more emphasis on that now and build that community, then in the end you're building more support for the student athletes,î he said. ìThen there's more funding (that) will come to the programs because there's interest in it. Then you have more kids coming out and kids will get the positives of playing in those sports and will become lifelong participants in the activity, stay healthy.
ìThen everyone wins because the medical system wins and people win themselves by just having great lives.î
