‘Bigger than the game;’ Tippecanoe football player raises thousands of dollars for new bleachers

TIPP CITY — When Tippecanoe and Stebbins take the field Friday night in Tipp City, it will be the first time with the stadium’s new bleachers that were recently installed.

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But due to the work and quick-thinking of Gordon Haas, a Tippecanoe football senior, the school’s students will also be a part of that crowd in the bleachers.

Earlier this year, the seating at Tippecanoe High School stadium didn’t pass inspection and were in need of replacement, prompting the district to take on a quick project to replace all the stands, district Superintendent Mark Stefanik told News Center 7 Friday.

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“Because of the timing of our decision and some supply chain issues, we could only get about half-capacity of our stadium in new bleachers. So we were looking for ways to place our student section somewhere outside the stands where they could still participate in student spirit section type activities. But to maximize the capacity of our stadium,” Stefanik said.

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The decision was made to move the students to a green space behind an endzone where the band also plays. But that decision didn’t sit well with the community, and Haas said he decided to act.

“I was like ‘well there has to be a solution to the problem,’” Haas said.

Hass organized an online fundraiser looking to raise the over $4,000 needed for a bleacher section to be installed for students. The response to the fundraiser was “crazy,” and even surprised Haas, who was able to raise all the money needed within hours.

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“I put (the fundraiser) up before football practice at 2 o’ clock and we got done with football around 5 (p.m.) and it was already at $5,287,” Haas said.

“I was shocked. And then I was like ‘oh, well now we have some work to do. I have to get these bleachers paid for.’ The next morning at 4 a.m. I was up paying for the bleachers and they were on their way two days later.”

Haas said he’s been overwhelmed with the response after the fundraiser and its success. In fact, the fundraiser ended up raising nearly $9,000, with the remaining funds planned to go back to the school for other projects, according to Haas.

“My phone has just been blowing up. People calling me, texting me. Even if I walk the halls after practice and the soccer team is there, they all go crazy, come up and tell me ‘thank you so much.’ Parents are texting me, school board members are texting me, principals are emailing me, everyone is calling me, aunts, uncles, friends. Its been a big reaction to it, that’s for sure,” he said.

While not having football home football games “sucked” before the new bleachers were fully installed, Haas said the fundraiser’s success shows the importance of community.

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Tippecanoe Bleachers Mike Burianek/Staff

“Now we’re back, we have everything we need, and we’re ready to go. It shows a lot of support from not only the students but also the parents and the community behind us. It shows how good the community is and how much they’ll support the students,” he said.

School administrators and coaches praised Haas’ actions saying he’s an example for other students and teammates to follow.

“Our number one rule in our program is be a great teammate. Yes, he’s a great teammate to the other 96 guys we have on our roster. But he’s a great teammate to the 800 students we have a Tippecanoe High School,” Tippecanoe head football coach Matt Burgbacher said.

“There’s a lot of things out there that are bigger than the game. And this is certainly bigger than the game. “Its amazing, it is truly amazing what he was able to accomplish in so short of an amount of time. It wasn’t like he had a couple months, he had like three days to get it done. And he got it done.”

“We talk to students all the time about students being quality students and quality members of the community. He saw a community issue, specifically a school issue and he took initiative and instead of thinking there was nothing that could be done about it he said ‘I can do something’ and he went ahead and did it,” Stefanik said.

For Haas, Burgbacher, and Stefanik, they’re hoping for a rowdy crowd and student section for tonight’s game and for the many more games to come.

“Its going to be a crazy section with the band and cheerleaders and the student section but its going to be an awesome atmosphere, and (Haas) gets all the credit,” Burgbacher said.

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