ASU launches campaign to return to Camp Tontozona

[FArting]

Arizona State on Thursday launched a campaign to return to Camp Tontozona, a mountain property near Payson that served as a preseason training site for the football team for 48 years. |

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Photos: Camp Tontozona
The campaign, "Return to Camp T," will require fundraising of $150,000 to return to Tontozona this year. If that figure is met by June 1, the Sun Devils will visit from Aug. 14-18, with a scrimmage held on the 18th. (Summer school ends Aug. 14). If the goal is not met, funds will be applied to returning to Tontozona for the 2013 preseason.


"If you ask me: 'Coach, what is the one tradition at ASU?'" first-year coach Todd Graham said. "This is it."
ASU hasn't trained at Tontozona since former coach Dennis Erickson's first season in 2007. The next year, the university opened the Verde Dickey Dome, an $8.4 million indoor facility that houses a 75-yard practice field with an end zone and a 45-yard field with an end zone. The team has since trained there during late-summer months, when temperatures exceed 100 degrees, but fans and former players always longed for a return to Tontozona.
"We want to ask for your support to help make this happen so we can make it a reality,'' Vice President of Athletics Steve Patterson said. "Not for just this upcoming football season, but for many football seasons to come in the future."
The campaign was launched because a return to Tontozona wasn't in the budget. But since his arrival, Graham has pushed for a return. He said fans and former players regularly have brought it up in conversation. He also knows it's important to former ASU coach Frank Kush.
"I thought the value of going, no cell phone, no Internet, the team-building opportunities, kind of roughing it ... (could benefit the team)," Graham said. "And it's one of those things that's important to Frank. It's important to our former players. I think this program is more important than any one person. I think you should respect the heritage and the tradition of the program. ... Selfishly, I want our players to have those memories of hiking Mount Kush. I want them to have the memories of singing that fight song. That's what this is all about. I'm going to be fired up to take this cell phone and throw it in a drawer when I leave. It's vital to our team and it's vital to our program."
Graham, Steve Patterson and other officials visited Tontozona in February. According to ASU, $50,000 is needed to renovate the upper-practice field. Among other costs: $30,000 for installing a video-editing network for the coaching staff, $26,000 for Tontozona rental fees, $25,000 for food service, $6,000 for vehicle-rental fees and $5,000 for main-practice field maintenance, laundry, bedding and scrimmage management.
When Graham coached at Tulsa, he took his team to Fort Gibson for two days, an experience he described as "unbelievable."
"We live in a world where we're distracted every single moment,'' Graham said. "Just to slow down and focus and come together as a team. This is still a team sport and that team needs to love each other. They need to know each other and I like the idea that we're going for a work week. Five days. I didn't want to go up for two days and come back down. Also, I need to win games. It's two weeks from when we play. It's been something that we really were committed to make happen. Obviously, we need some funds to help, but we're going to get it done."
Donors of $100 or more receive a "Return to Camp T" bumper sticker, donors of $250 or more will earn a "Return to Camp T' T-shirt and donors of $500 or more will receive a T-shirt and are eligible to go on a turnaround trip to the scrimmage at Camp Tontozona. All donations will go through the Sun Devil Club and are tax-deductible. Those interested should contact Kevin Miniefield of the Sun Devil Club at 480-727-6644 or 480-727-6644 or at [email protected].

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/sports/asu...n-return-to-camp-tontozona.html#ixzz1sWfPPpaU
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http://www.azcentral.com/sports/asu...unches-campaign-return-to-camp-tontozona.html

 

[Absolute Zero]

Love it!

 

[Brian in Mesa]

 

[Absolute Zero]

$150K doesn't seem like an insurmountable amount. Hopefully some boosters will step up

 

[Absolute Zero]

Camp T update

If you haven't already, start planning your trip to Camp Tontozona.
As of Friday, ASU had raised $122,483 of the $150,000 needed to send the football team to the mountain property near Payson from Aug. 14-18. The Sun Devils haven't trained there since 2007, but this is pretty close to a done deal. The fundraising deadline is June 1. Expect a news conference around that time.


Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/sports/asu...aham-accommodated-requests.html#ixzz1vQ6PVQdo

 

[Tyler]

The White Mountain ALumni Group is matching donations up to 65k.

 

[Absolute Zero]

The White Mountain ALumni Group is matching donations up to 65k.

Awesome!

 

[FArting]

There will be a press conference at 3pm to announce ASU has raised the $150,000 to go to Camp Tontozona.

 

[HooverDam]

I'm very excited about this. I wasn't thrilled with the Graham hire, and he still gives me a creepy used car salesman/late night TV preacher vibe, but bringing back Camp T gives him points in my book. My family has already booked a cabin up on the Rim for that weekend so we can watch the scrimmage.