CATOOSA, Okla. — The Victory Bowl is an annual gridiron battle, but the prize is tackling school meal debt in Catoosa.
The made-up teams in Victory Bowl III played Oct. 20 were Billy's Goats and the London Legends, part of a project to give top semiprofessional football players an extra scouting opportunity with one of the region's many teams, including the Tulsa Oilers.
"Sometimes there are accounts that aren't funded, and this helps shorten that and helps the school," Cherokee Nation Tribal Councilor Joe Deere told 2 News Sunday.
After emergency COVID-19 era funds ceased in 2022, the financial struggle for some Catoosa Public Schools students did not, he said. Deere's office coordinated with the Southern Sports Network to create the Victory Bowl, with all proceeds going to pay off outstanding student meal accounts. 2023's edition paid forward $3500, Deere said.
"Like you saw Cherokee Nation cover the summer EBT program...our administration and everybody jumped on board and is in agreements with that, because anything to do with our children and education, especially with food – we want to be behind that."
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Catoosa schools parents and guardians can currently fill out forms to prove economic hardship and qualify their student for free or reduced meals. Otherwise, breakfast is $2.35 and lunch is $3.60 each time, according to the district website.
Unlike Catoosa, many districts in Green Country have already guaranteed free meals this school year thanks to the federal Community Eligibility Provision, or CEP.
"Growing up, I was one of those kids that couldn't afford lunch either," Billy's Goats kicker David "Legatron" Goodson said. "So this is kind of a good way to give back to the kids."
Goodson added he'll continue playing in Victory Bowls until victory over student meal debt is reached.
"To know that that's a real thing, it's a tough thing to have. But this is what we're doing this for, is to try to feed those kids," he said.
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