Keene State College athletics department is starting a brand new organization called Hootie’s Kid’s Club. Keene State’s Sports Information Director Abe Osheyack has oversight of this operation.
Osheyack said, “Hootie’s Kid’s Club is a booster club for audiences of eighth grade and younger who are fans of Keene State athletics.”
He continued, “It’s just a way for us, as an athletic department with our specific teams, to engage with people of a younger age a little bit more,” Osheyack said.
When signing up for this membership, the kid’s club members will receive many items, including: a free voucher for popcorn and drink at one contest for each of the sports selected, a chance to be an in-game promotion participant, a signed birthday card from Hootie, a free lanyard, ID card and cinch bag, a team signed poster for each sport that was selected and finally, access to early registration periods for sport camps.
Osheyack intentionally didn’t want to make any extra work for the coaching staff. “The only thing we ask the coaches is when someone signs up they can choose up to three sports, and as a part of their membership [Hootie’s membership], they get a free autographed poster from the team. So the only thing I ask the coaches to do is make sure their teams autograph the poster; beyond that the operations are simple,” Osheyack said.
Hootie’s Kid’s Club has already sent out three packages and plans on sending out many more as the year goes on.
Shelby Iava can be contacted at siava@kscequinox.com
