Coach Bob Hurley stands outside the steps of St. Anthony, the high school he is fighting to keep open.
Bob Hurley, Sr., is most proud of the statistic that all but two students at St. Anthony have been accepted to college in his 42 years of coaching.
Jersey City, New Jersey (PRWEB) November 21, 2013
Last night at the Knicks vs. Pacers NBA game at Madison Square Garden, Hall of Fame Coach Bob Hurley, Sr., kicked off a campaign to help secure the future of St. Anthony High School in Jersey City, N.J. This campaign, which will span across digital platforms including social, mobile and video, will be headquartered at http://www.stanthony2020.com. Through St. Anthony 2020, readers will receive daily content and video highlighting the school’s academic and athletic success.
The goal of the St. Anthony 2020 campaign is to raise 10 million dollars through donations, events, auctions, appearances and more, to ensure that the doors of St. Anthony remain open through the year 2020. St. Anthony 2020 will be leveraging the documentary, The Street Stops Here, featuring Coach Hurley and his 2007-2008 basketball team, which will air on MSG-TV on Friday, November 22, in addition to calling upon his friends in the basketball world to support the cause.
“I want to see St. Anthony High School live on, long after I’m gone,” said Coach Hurley. “I've done a lot with these kids on the basketball court, but St. Anthony is even more for them in the classroom.”
An inner-city private Catholic high school, St. Anthony subsidizes half of the cost to educate each student through donations to the school. Many of their 250 enrolled students live at or below the poverty level. Despite individual students’ difficult life situations, every student for the last 20 years has been accepted to college. Last year's graduating class collectively earned $6.5 million dollars in scholarship money toward their college education.
Hurley, Sr., who has coached at St. Anthony High School for 42 years, was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010. He has won more than 1,000 basketball games in his career, 25 state titles, four national titles, and has turned down numerous high-profile coaching opportunities to continue his work at St. Anthony High School. In his 42 years of coaching, Hurley, Sr., is most proud of the statistic that all but two students at St. Anthony have been accepted to college.
Acknowledging that he cannot coach forever, Hurley is embarking on this year-long campaign to secure a lasting future for the school as one more important piece of his legacy.
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About St. Anthony 2020
St. Anthony 2020 is a year-long media campaign to support St. Anthony High School in Jersey City, N.J. The goal of the campaign is to raise $10 million, through donations, events, appearances, and more, to keep St. Anthony High School open and financially secure through the year 2020. The online hub for the campaign includes a blog where readers can follow the journey of St. Anthony and its legendary basketball coach Bob Hurley and receive daily content about the school’s success on the court and in the classroom. For more information on St. Anthony High School and the campaign or to donate, visit http://www.stanthony2020.com.