LOYAL. LOCAL. COMPLETE.
When you think of basketball, images of tall athletes flying through the air, smooth three-pointers and intense matchups likely come to mind. What if there was a completely different version of the game? A contest that includes a comical amount of hee-haws, manure and players of all ages, shapes and sizes? Well, welcome to the bizarre, ludicrous world of donkey basketball.
The Paris Cooperative High School (PCHS) After Prom group hosted a night full of laughter and ruckus on Oct. 30 at Ernie Eveland Gymnasium. During the event, PCHS students competed against high school staff and District 95 employees battled it out with Crestwood employees. Eight to 12 players were assigned to each team and 10 donkeys were in attendance for Wednesday’s festivities.
District 95 and PCHS teachers, the winners of the first two 15-minute games, competed in a six-minute championship game, with District 95 taking home the bacon and bragging rights.
Most of the rules for donkey basketball look different from the standard you would typically see at an NBA game, but two points are still awarded for each basket made.
“So they gotta be on the donkey to shoot, pass, block a pass and block a shot. The only thing they gotta do off the donkey is pick the ball up off the ground. We want them to always ride the donkeys,” Dairyland Donkey Basketball Wrangler Alex Crum said. “They’re allowed to leave the donkeys, but people don’t pay to watch people lead donkeys. They pay to watch them ride them.”
At Wednesday’s buck wild event, laughter and cheer filled the gymnasium. Students, teachers and administrators struggled to take control of the stubborn mules, hence why some of them ended the night with bruised tailbones.
The beauty of donkey basketball lies in its unpredictability. One moment fans are cheering for the donkey making a fast break down the court and the next moment they are doubled over in laughter as a donkey decides to stand firm while their rider struggles to move them more than two inches. Forget game-winning shots. The real victory of the game is surviving the never-ending chaos with your dignity and bones intact.
Donkey basketball has its roots in the early 1900s, when rural communities needed a way to combine their love of basketball with their endearment for farm animals. The game was considered a cheap and affordable form of entertainment during the Great Depression.
What used to be a popular night of fun in rural communities, now primarily serves as a fundraising event for schools like PCHS. Wednesday’s event was hosted by a group of students to raise funds for After Prom activities.
Schools and commercial farms, like Dairyland, team together for the thrilling event. The farms typically provide the donkeys and equipment, then the school and farm split proceeds raised from ticket sales.
In a world where sports can often become way too serious, donkey basketball serves as an entertaining reminder not to take life too seriously. Whether an attendee is an experienced athlete or a casual observer, the sight of adults and teenagers riding donkeys while attempting to shoot hoops is bound to bring a smile to their face.