High school coaches can find themselves responsible for raising money in addition to preparing athletes to compete. Equipment, uniforms and other season expenses make fundraising part of operating a program — work the National Federation of State High School Associations warns can easily catch a new coach unprepared.
At Central High School in Fresno, girls tennis coach Zachary Ocegueda has turned to business sponsorships to help support his team, accumulating more than 20 sponsors whose contributions have included tennis balls, rackets, apparel and other equipment.
Securing those contributions means reaching out to businesses, asking for help and offering visibility in return through advertising the tennis courts. For Ocegueda, that outreach has become part of building support for a program he says is still growing.
Fundraising is part of the job
The financial responsibilities for coaches often extend well beyond preparing athletes for competition.
In a November 2025 article for the NFHS, Monique Paris Anderson described how new coaches can encounter unexpected responsibilities managing team finances and raising money to cover season expenses.
“Managing finances for an athletics program is a constant cycle of planning, implementing, and reflecting,” Anderson wrote.
Another NFHS commentary published in June examined districts facing potential cuts to athletics and other activities. The commentary stopped short of describing a national crisis, but encouraged coaches and programs to seek corporate support and fundraising rather than shifting costs to students and families.
At Central, Ocegueda described a girls tennis program still building its financial support. The team holds fundraisers, but he has concentrated on finding sponsors willing to contribute additional resources.
That approach differs from Buchanan High School, where he coaches boys tennis. The already-established program has existing fundraising streams, including a major annual tennis tournament that helps support the team.
The ingrained support at Buchanan led Ocegueda to focus his sponsorship efforts more heavily on Central’s girls team.
Developing those relationships has meant contacting businesses by phone and email and making requests directly. Ocegueda approaches the work knowing a company can decline, but said that possibility should not keep coaches from asking.
“The worst thing they could say is no,” he said. “You just have to reach out.”
Giving businesses a reason to contribute
Ocegueda’s pitch connects the team’s needs with something businesses want: visibility.
Sponsors can provide company banners for display at Central’s tennis courts. Ocegueda said banners are already hanging there, giving businesses exposure to people attending matches and other students on campus.
“They want their name out there,” he said.
He sees that exposure as an incentive for businesses to participate. A company’s name on a banner can prompt someone to ask about the business or look it up, he said.
“You just have to reach out to companies,” Ocegueda said. “If you have a banner of your company, we would love to put [it] up on our tennis courts.”
Ocegueda said Central’s partners include Randy’s Donuts, Fig Garden Swim & Racquet Club and the United States Tennis Association, with many sponsors donating equipment or supplies.
Contributions have included shirts, hoodies, towels, water bottles, chairs, court squeegees and a cart. The USTA also has served as a resource for grants and other assistance.
Describing the supplies covered by sponsors and donors, Ocegueda said the contributions have kept him from having to pay for those items himself.
“I had to pay $0 for it,” he said.
Building beyond this season
Ocegueda’s fundraising responsibilities also extend to Fresno State, where he is a senior majoring in theater education and an officer with the university’s tennis club. Sponsorship and fundraising are among his club duties, which he began handling in fall 2025.
His connection to tennis began with after-school lessons when he was young. He later played in high school and at Fresno City College before transitioning into coaching at 19.
His high school coaching responsibilities span the fall girls season at Central and the spring boys season at Buchanan High School. Longer term, he hopes to teach theater and earn physical education credentials that would allow him to continue coaching while teaching PE and tennis.
At Central, Ocegueda described the girls program as still growing. His sponsorship efforts also have prompted other coaches to ask how he found support.
His advice is to start with businesses in their own communities, explain what the program needs and offer sponsors visibility in return.
For Ocegueda, the process that brought more than 20 sponsors to Central begins with something simple: asking.
