Want a basketball team? You can find it on eBay

Sunday, March 27, 2005

You now have less than 24 hours to become the proud sponsor of an AAU girls basketball team.

Sometime early this evening, the Lincoln County Basketball team, made up of 7th, 8th and 9th grade girls from Bath, Wiscasset, Boothbay Harbor, Damariscotta, Nobleboro and Waldoboro, hope to have a new name. "Lincoln County Basketball" is as plain as an untouched canvas.

"We're playing the next game," parent Terry Donald said when reached on Saturday afternoon. The team is at a tournament, and he can barely be heard over the sound of a basketball game in the background. "Let me go someplace a little quieter."

Sometimes, the best ideas are born of desperation. Donald wasn't exactly desperate, but he wasn't sifting through a mailbag of offers, either. Donald went from business to business up and down the mid-coast, looking for anyone who would be interested in sponsoring a team of 7th, 8th and 9th grade girls basketball players.

"I had no luck finding sponsors, so I said 'What the heck.'" Donald said.

What the heck turned into an eBay auction. If Donald couldn't find a local business to sponsor his team, he'd go global.

"My wife and I are eBay sellers. We've been selling collectibles and antiques since the late '90s. We've seen so many goofy things on there," Donald said. "This guy was selling a pancake. One damn pancake, he called it."

If somebody can hawk a flapjack on the internet, than surely there would be interest in a basketball team, right?

You now have less than 24 hours to replace the Lincoln County Basketball team's blank jerseys with something a little more eye-catching.

As of 7 p.m. Saturday night, the auction's site had 228 visitors, and there were two bidders for the sponsorship rights.

"At least there's been some kind of curiosity," Donald said.

Donald is looking for a sponsor to pick up the cost of uniforms, about $650. He's been in contact with the current high bidder.

"The guy who is now the high bidder called me. He makes and prints sports uniforms. He's doing business in the Bath/Brunswick area and is looking for ways to grow his business," Donald said.

Donald's reserve price of $650 hasn't been met, but even so, there's a chance something can be worked out with the current high bidder. The team plans on sticking together as these girls play through high school, so a long-term deal would be perfect, Donald said.

You now have less than 24 hours to take a youth sports staple into the modern era.

You think this idea is new? Forget it, naming rights are as old as youth sports itself. Little League teams have worn the colors and names of their sponsors. There are high school's that have sold the naming rights to their gymnasiums. Before Maine high school basketball tournament games, the public address announcer spends a minute thanking the sponsors. There are plenty of worse things money can be spent on rather than youth sports. Like the wad of chewed bubble gum that was auctioned off a few years ago.

The Lincoln County Basketball auction ends tonight. Even if the reserve isn't met, the team will press on.

"We have some parents that are holding their breath," Donald said. "It's not like the team is falling apart if we don't get it."

As he said that, you could still here the joyous background music of a basketball game.

The soon-to-be-formerly Lincoln County Basketball squad already has begun playing games, and they already see themselves as a close knit team. In less than 24 hours, nothing can change that.

Travis Lazarczyk -- 861-9242

tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com