The Garfield G-Men football team will once again hold a summer fundraising event before the start of the 2026-27 season by hosting a four-person golf scramble at the Sugar Bush Golf Club in Garrettsville on July 31 at 8 a.m.
“It is a big event every year, we have tons of the same people who come out with lots of alumni,” James A. Garfield Athletic Boosters’ Vice President Amanda Hinton told The Weekly Villager. “It is a great event and truthfully it is one of the football team’s biggest fundraisers, so it is a big day,”
The fundraiser will be open to 18 teams of four to compete at the Sugar Bush Golf Course, with a registration fee of $100 per person and will include three drink tickets per person. The team who cards the lowest score for the 18-hole event will receive a $400 cash prize. In addition, the JAG Athletic Boosters will afford local businesses the opportunity to sponsor a hole on the course.
It marks the 14th consecutive year that the G-Men football team has held a summer fundraiser before the start of the school year. Hinton said that the community-wide support for the football team stems from residents who are either alumni, who played football when they attended Garfield, or who have family who competed on the football team during their high school days.
“We are just here to help the football team get the word out, help fundraising, and help with getting sponsors,” Hinton noted. “With a small town, it is very hard with all the sports programs doing their own fundraising. There is a lot of fundraising going around in this town so obviously everyone is pulling from the same group, so we are just here to help.”
According to Hinton, having local businesses sponsoring the Garfield football team’s fundraiser celebrates the tight-knit small community feeling of the Village of Garrettsville.
“I love the idea of showing off the businesses that support our kids,” she added. “I think all of the time you see the same businesses on the back of your kids’ shirts, on Facebook and Instagram, there are so many businesses throughout all of those districts especially in Portage County. It is a great way for us to advertise.”
Hinton added that the JAG Athletic Boosters also have received an out-of-state sponsorship from an alumnus from North Carolina who played on the undefeated 1989 G-Men football team.
Hinton lauded the local businesses’ support of Garfield athletics in enabling all varsity programs to thrive.
“With small towns, I don’t think many people realize how far and beyond these businesses go to get shirts made, to get fundraising ideas out there, to support with basket raffles,” she added. “You name it, these businesses will do it for our kids, and it just speaks volumes to what kind of town you live in, who is supporting your kids and they are truly the backbone of what we have.”
She added that the local businesses have not only shown support for the football team but several other athletic programs.
“We have big sports programs in Garrettsville. We are truly and actually very blessed for that and just to see the town come out and support these kids and support the teams,” she said.
Hinton said that all donations received from the fundraiser are deposited directly into the football program’s funds, as the cost of running a successful program is significant.
She said that most of the money goes toward equipment maintenance for the football program.
“Every dollar that is raised for this football team is used throughout the year primarily for the expense of replacing equipment, which is huge,” Hinton said. “The kids go to camp every year so all of that helps getting these kids equipped to do what they need to do. It is just incredible what happens and how far the money can go.”
