Dunedin Thunder Youth Basketball Team Fundraiser

Hi Everyone,

My name is Katie Ducharme Procissi and I am the founder and team mom for The Dunedin Thunder Youth Basketball team in Dunedin Florida. We are a team of 7th and 8th grade boys who have college basketball dreams. I co-created this team with our Coach and I sponsor/help fund this team to help these boys reach their dreams and goals in basketball. I wanted to share the story of the team and why I am asking for support.

This story begins 2 years ago. My son Colton started playing basketball and my parents got him a hoop for his 12th birthday 2 years ago in March. He really started loving the game and becoming very passionate about it. About 6 months after he started playing he had tryouts for his first team and realized that since he started later than all of the other boys he had to hit the gym and start training. I started taking him to the gym in the mornings before school. One day we were at a gym training and on the other side of the court there was a Coach training a high school player. Coach asked if Colton wanted to be a baller and I said he sure does and anyone who knows me knows I can be outgoing so I asked, "Hey Coach would you ever train a 12 yr old at 5:30am twice a week?" and he replyed, "sure I will if he is wanting to train." So from that week forward until today Colton has been getting up at 5:30am twice a week to train with Coach D. Coach D is Clearwater HS Varsity Girls Coach and known as one of the best coach's around. As time went on Colt played on a few different competitive teams and wasn't happy with the situation for one reason or another. One day in morning training out of nowhere Colt said to Coach, "I wish you would start a team and be my coach." And well the rest is history. The Dunedin Thunder 8th grade competitive basketball team was formed. I had my husband Dax make a logo and I built a website and for months we were promoting that we were looking for 8th grade boys to tryout for our team. So on the day of tryouts we only had 3 boys show up including my son Colton. It was discouraging that we didn't have more come to the tryouts but we were not going to give up. Shortly after that I met a few more parents and word started getting out that we were starting this Dunedin Team. After about a month we had a full team of 10 boys and started winning tournaments! I didn't want this team to be about the money, I wanted this team to be a place where 7th and 8th grade boys wanted to play on a team that had an amazing Coach that could take them to the next level if they were serious about basketball. I wanted all of the kids on our team to have dreams of playing varsity in HS & College basketball. So in the beginning and still now I am the team mom and my company is the Team Sponsor for the team. Since September of 2022 these boys have been practicing twice a week and have won multiple local tournaments. The team has become a family and we want these boys to grow together. Every month my company sponsors the majority of the money to fund the team. Some parents do help out with monthly expenses which I am grateful for but I would never turn away a serious player due to nonpayment so if a parent can't pay I do not ever turn them away or ask them to leave the team. Recently Dunedin Thunder Inc. has been filed as a 501c3 nonprofit because this is a labor of love and I want businesses and sponsors to be able to support our team and know that this is strictly for the kids. This team is a passion for me and I want to see all these boys successful in their basketball journey. The reason I am reaching out to all today and the reason I started this GOFUNDME is not to ask for money for the monthly fees. I am happy to continue to sponsor this team and the parents who do pay are happy to keep helping. The reason I started this go Fund me is because there is a big tournament in Orlando called the AAU Spring Classic & Spring Fling. It is March 24th-26th at ESPN Wide World of Sports in Orlando, FL and the boys and Coach really want to play in this tournament. It is great exposure for the boys and a great tournament to be apart of. Some of the parents are tight on money so I am putting this GOFUNDME together to help pay for the tournament fees and lodging fees for the weekend. For the whole team to go and enjoy this weekend any amount would help but we have a goal of roughly $5,000 to help with fees and lodging for the 10 boys. Whatever money we can make from this GOFUNDME will go 100% towards this tournament and any extra funds we receive will 100% go towards paying for other large tournaments. If requested I will send you a receipt for your sponsorship. Thank you in advance for your donation! We appreciate any and all of your support. Thank you! www.dunedinthunder.com

Much Love,

Katie Ducharme Procissi

The Katie Whitney Team & Geria Realty