Community Spotlight: Donkey Basketball Game

It was an afternoon full of laughter as players mounted their stubborn donkeys for some basketball.

“They play basketball from their donkey, and some people are okay and some people aren’t so okay at it,” said CJ Cordell, president of Dairyland Donkey Ball.

The event had all local talent competing for the prize.

“We have consolidated the Pine River and Backus Fire Departments and we have two businesses, Scamp Trailer Sales from Backus and the Backus Locker,” said Janis Schmid, Backus Corn Fest Committee Vice President.

It’s a game of four-on-four all while riding a donkey.

“It’s interesting,” attendee Leroy Tulenchik said with a laugh.

In order to shoot or pass the ball, the player must be sitting on their donkey, which is perhaps easier said than done.

“My donkey was walking in circles pretty much the opposite way most of the time,” said Amy Reis, a team member of Backus Locker.

And each team member has their own struggles.

“You can tell they definitely have different personalities; my poor little donkey was pretty tired and I could tell,” Reis said. “I was just trying to get him to go.”

Some donkeys didn’t want to move, while others never seemed to stop.

“We need something for every rider that might be out there, so we’ve got donkeys for grandmas and we’ve got donkeys for young guys that need a beating,” Cordell said with a chuckle.

But the struggle of controlling the donkeys to shoot some hoops was well worth it in the eyes of the riders.

“It’s hysterical to ride the donkey, it’s funny to watch and it’s for a great cause,” Reis said.

The funds raised will help with the annual Backus Corn Fest in August.

“We like to see people having fun and it’s just fun to get everybody together,” Schmid said.

This year, it was the Pine River Fire Department that walked away as the champions.