Owen Athletic Booster Club chips in for high school sports
Annual golf tournament Raises funds to Support Warhorses and Warlassies
Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
September 6, 2026
Golf balls cut through the air, Sept. 4, when area business owners, Owen High School alumni and supporters of the Warhorses and Warlassies sports programs met at the Black Mountain Golf Course.
The Rally in the Valley Golf Tournament, hosted by the Owen Athletic Booster Club, returned for its third year, raising funds for all 18 athletic programs representing the local high school.
The tournament, previously held in May of 2023 and 2024, returned from a 16-month hiatus, as repairs were made to the course, where bridge projects are various stages of completion before its anticipated reopening to the public in the coming weeks.
Approximately 100 golfers registered for the event, organized by Owen Booster Club President Adrian Boone, in his third year in the position. The tournament represents a crucial fundraising opportunity for the nonprofit organization each year, according to the president.
“We rely on our community to support these athletes in the Valley,” Boone said. “Without the locals and the small businesses, we wouldn’t be able to offer much help.”
The booster club provides supplemental funding for the high school athletics program, purchasing uniforms and supplies for teams that compete and train throughout the year. The club, which contains four officers and multiple members, recently purchased bleachers for the tennis courts, where the Warlassies are in the midst of their season, before the Warhorses compete next spring.
“The programs needed bleachers so the parents who are out there supporting the players would have somewhere to sit,” said Owen Booster Club Treasurer Jared McIntosh. “A lot of people don’t realize how many things are needed to adequately support each team, and those things add up quickly.”
The Owen Booster Club offers local businesses sponsorship packages in the middle and high school gymnasium and other athletic facilities, including the Warhorse Stadium. The nonprofit coordinates with school officials to identify specific needs, which vary each year, according to McIntosh.
“Anyone who has been to a high school or middle school game has seen the banners in the gyms, or on the fields, and we offer different packages to local businesses and clubs,” he said. “The money we raise from that can be used to cover things that coaches can’t afford with the funds available in their accounts. A good example is state championship rings, which, fortunately, we’ve been able to purchase in recent years.”
Training apparel for hundreds of student-athletes is typically supplied by the booster club, which also supports coaches working through the summer.
The Rally in the Valley included a raffle with prizes ranging from autographed memorabilia to gift cards from local restaurants, while Okie Dokies Smokehouse and the Green Tee Grille catered the event.
“I’d say at least 80% of the people here played a sport at Owen,” said McIntosh, who competed on the Warhorse baseball, basketball and football teams during his time at the school. “It’s a great way to spend a Friday, while showing up for the programs that had such a big impact on our lives.”
The Owen athletic programs, he added, instill lifelong values in the students who wear maroon and white.
“They build accountability and teach young people how to deal with success and failure,” McIntosh said. “Once they graduate, they understand how to deal with challenges, and those are the things these coaches model for them. Owen, as a whole, does a great job with finding coaches who instill these things in the kids of this valley.”
A thriving and supportive booster club represents a key piece in shaping current and future student-athletes, added Boone, who played baseball at the school.
“There are so many older people in this community that still look up to, because they made differences in our lives, growing up,” he said. “We’re trying to help do the same thing for these younger generations, and hopefully make it even better for them than we had it.”
Photos of the 2026 Rally in the Valley Owen Athletic Booster Club Golf Tournament can be viewed in the gallery at the top of the page.