West Des Moines Valley Athletic Boosters Help Neighbors Out After Suspected Arson

Usually when West Des Moines hosts an intra-squad football scrimmage and other events to usher in a new fall sports season, supporters are asked to bring a bar of soap as their ticket into the “Dial Bowl.”

This year, the event – scheduled for 5 p.m. Friday at – has been changed to “Meet the Tigers” night. The new Valley Tiger logo will be offered on merchandise, boosters will get a taste of new concessions, and they’ll meet  football players,  boys’ and girls’ cross-country teams, the volleyball team, the girls’ swimming team, and the boys’ golf team.

And instead of soap, Valley boosters are asked to bring cold, hard cash to help out a neighboring school district. A fire, which authorities think was the result of arson, at East High School last week caused an estimated $100,000 damage, destroying athletic equipment, locker rooms, athletic offices and personal athletic apparel belonging to many athletes.

“Instead of collecting soap or sports beverages for entry into the event, we decided this year to give people the option to make donations to East High School,”  Mark Domek, booster club president, said in a news release.

“In addition to taking care of the needs of our own athletes, we recognize this as an opportunity to help a neighboring community in a time of need by using a portion of the proceeds for East High School recovery efforts.”

Valley High School Athletic Director Brad Rose said that fall is usually an exciting time for students and their families as school activities get under way.

“But for East High School this year, these kids are questioning whether they will even have enough equipment to field their teams,” he said. “We have a lot of student athletes and parents asking how they can help, so the booster club came up with this idea as a more formal way to generate support.”

The Friday event also provides an opportunity to join the  Valley Tiger Athletic Booster Club, which provides financial support to the Valley Athletic Department and other school related activities and organizations.