Alumni Association Announces Creation of the Coach Geoffry Alan Haines Athletics Grant Program
The Crooms AoIT Alumni Association is pleased to announce the creation of the Coach Geoffry Alan Haines Athletics Grant Program in recognition of the contributions of Dr Geoffry Alan Haines in the creation of the Crooms Academy of Information Technology’s athletics program. The Coach Geoffry Alan Haines Athletics Grant Program intends to offer at least one (1) grant to a Crooms AoIT athletics team or club each year indefinitely into the future. The new grant application will open during the 2022-2023 school year with more information being made available in Fall 2022.
Coach Haines – who passed away in February 2022 – helped ensure that Crooms AoIT students could participate in athletics, sporting activities, and sports clubs at Crooms Academy of Information Technology in pursuit of a full and enriching academic experience during their high school years. During the establishment of Crooms AoIT, Coach Haines ensured resources were available to help start the athletics program after the school was not initially envisioned to include organized sports. Coach Haines attended nearly every sporting event for Crooms AoIT in the early years. Croomies remember him as a teacher, coach, athletics director, medical director, part-time announcer, part-time score board operator, part-time water boy, and every other position needed to support a burgeoning high school sports program.
The Grant Program replaces the Athletics Grant Program launched by the Alumni Association under the patronage of Class of 2006 graduates Frank C. Bracco (2012-2018) and Julian Gordon (2019) and Class of 2011 graduate Gregory Raymond (2020). Previous iterations of the Athletics Grant required explicitly earmarked financial commitments from donors as it aimed to not utilize membership fees. The Coach Geoffry Alan Haines Athletics Grant Program replaces this funding model and is instead funded by a large initial contribution from an anonymous donor along with a dedicated funding stream (a portion of brick sales from the Alumni Panther Walk are earmarked to the grant program).
