From: "Toni Mount" Date: Sunday, May 07, 2006 9:21 PM ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thank you to everyone who attended the meeting Wednesday night. We had a record turnout which we were quite unprepared. Normally our meetings have about 20 people in attendance. To all of you new attendees, there were some who asked "What is Sports Boosters" and "What do we Do". It was difficult in a meeting like this to answer everyone's questions and so we decided to send this email out to to tell you a little about our group. We hope to see you at many more meetings. Sports Boosters has been in existence since before any of us can remember. It is the umbrella group for all sports, a sort of governing body. It was formed so that all athletic concerns and money would be processed through one organization so that teams were not out there doing their own thing and that there would be some accountability for the money. This was mandated by the Administration years back. We are not out there to police teams but to enforce simple rules so that the school knows where the money is coming from, where it is going, and how it is raised. All money raised by teams gets funneled through our treasurer and she keeps an account for each team. When a team wants their money, they just put in a request. We are the bank. There are also rules for how teams are fundraising so that we are not hitting the same community businesses over and over and also so that not all teams are selling the same things at the same times. All fundraising must be approved by the Athletic Director first. Our officers hold one year terms and as many of you saw, elections were last night. The officers have children in different sports like soccer, wrestling, girls lacrosse, track, cheerleading, and field hockey, but we all come together to participate in Sports Boosters while also being active parent volunteers with our own children's teams. Our organization's bylaws read the Purpose of the Club is: a. To engender, foster and promote the athletic program and school spirit at Avon Grove High School. b. To assist and support the coaches and faculty members involved in the administration and conduct of the interscholastic athletic program. c. To raise funds for the special equipment and programs deemed necessary or desirable by the Athletic Director, coaches or Club not specifically provided by the District School Board. The last four years our main fundraiser has been our Auction. Last year we raised almost $25,000 and had record attendance and volunteer help. Unfortunately, this year we had to cancel it due to lack of volunteers. People come to our meetings and say they never heard of the Auction but we advertise on the school web site, the school newsletter, local newspapers, by email, posters, through coaches and letters in mailboxes, etc. We do need to do a better job reaching incoming freshman parents. Hopefully next year the Auction can be resurrected! We had some parents step up to offer to help but we need many more. Thank you Sue Burkhart for accepting the chair and Amy Bohon and Caryl Kaufman for steping up to offer to help. We usually make a wish list in the beginning of the school year with input from coaches, parents and the AD. The profits from the Auction have paid for the items on the wish list. All money is spent on your children!!! Sports Boosters is also responsible for the concession stand and this year has been a learning experience for all of us. Although the school district gave us the concession stand, they gave it to us empty. Bill Parker was kind enough to spearhead the start up of the concession stand with purchasing the equipment. Sports Boosters spent over $10,000 to get it up and running and there is still more things needed like cabinets. Each team who uses the stadium is welcome to run the concession stand. Sports Boosters is responsible for inventory and ordering, opening up the concession stand, and the money. We also help the team if they don't get enough volunteers. Although the splitting of the money is not poplular among teams, Sports Boosters has been able in the past match all money fundraised up to $500 and running the concession is a fundraiser so most teams get their money back. If a team doesn't want the concession on a particular night, we will offer it up to another team, for example swimming or cheerleading or Sports Boosters will run it. This policy is also for the indoor concession stand. We will review the policy every year to see if it makes sense. Sports Boosters also sells spirit wear which includes sweatshirts, sweat pants, t-shirts, etc. Our main event is selling at homecoming but we also sell at conferences. With more volunteers, we could sell at sporting events too. Spirit wear is a great money maker. One other item that I must mention, because as you could see from Wednesday night there is disagreement about Sports Boosters fracturing off to individual team boosters. This has happened in the last few years and has dwindled the amount of people who not only come to our meetings but participate in our organization. I must also say that since the stadium has been built, that also decreased the attendance at our meetings. There are those with the opinion that individual team boosters is necessary because of the amount of money that needs to be fundraised for a team, because of tournaments that the teams hold, camps, dinners, etc. and believe representation at a meeting is enough and there are those of us who believe that you can do it all without fracturing off from the main group while still getting together during the season do those things. The last couple of meetings this topic has been discussed and discussed and sometimes rather heatedly. Frankly, we just must let it go and agree to disagree. Most of the coaches have pledged support for a one united Sports Boosters Program, and I think we can coexist with the coaches and teams who differ in their philosophy. We just need people from all teams to not just come to our meetings but to take an active role and volunteer and support all athletic programs at Avon Grove. We see the potential when we all work together! Just from the last couple of meetings, I see that happening. As for the budget concerns addressed at the meeting last night, a group of parents volunteered to get together to do some fact finding. Once they review the preliminary budget, and if there is cause for concern, they will address the school board next Thursday. Please attend the school board meeting if you can. Attached is a Fundraising Fact Sheet for all those responsible for their team's fundraising and also a list of the items Sports Boosters has been able to purchase for the high school in the last five years. If anyone would like a copy of the the Sports Boosters bylaws, please email me and I will be happy to forward you a copy. We hold monthly meetings on the first Wednesday of each month although our June Meeting has been changed to Wednesday, May 31 and will be our year end meeting. We usually have an informal meeting with dessert to close up our school year. Our new officers for the 2006-2007 school year will be Lori Caligiuri, President; Pam Michaud, Vice President; Mary Cressman, Treasurer; Vicki Smith, Secretary. Please email me if you have any comments or suggestions or if you simply need more information. Karen, Taffy and I are all graduating this year! :) Toni Mount Secretary