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Diva's Fan Club
I am looking for some help before an upcoming meeting. So, here is the story!
My 6 year old daughter was invited to be on team as a level 3. She loves it, and we have been happy with the coaching, even if it did seem like things have been unorganized. We met last spring with the head coach and talked about her progress, financial responsibilities, training time, etc. At that point we were told that the booster club was brand new, and the handbook was a work in progress and that we would have a meeting at a later date to receive information about the club. The financial breakdown was that we would pay tuition to the gym (the gym is actually part of a non-profit arts guild that also offers art, music, and dance). That was $175 a month for 6 hours of training a week. Everything else is paid to the booster club. There was a REQUIRED $100 membership fee and if you had more than 1 gymmie it was an additional $50 per girl. We paid $400 for a comp Leo, 2 practice leos, warm-ups, bag, 2 rolls pre-wrap, 2 rolls tape. We pay $100 meet fee ( for a total of $800). We are also responsible for our travel, but that is paid individually, not to the club.
We are required to participate in 2 fundraisers, plus pick 2 more from a list of about 5. There are supposedly going to be individual fundraisers that we can chooses to participate in or not. We had the first required fundraiser and raised $2600. We got an email that this was a "general" fundraiser and that the head coach was developing a "priority list" of things to buy. The email also stated that we are trying to identify a new building because ours is too small and that these funds could be used to buy equipment for that. I was pretty steamed because I don't think that is the role of a booster club, plus, shouldn't these funds benefit the girls THIS year?. Before I could really wrap my head around that, it was time for the 2nd "general" fundraiser. I had a conflict that I had known about before we joined team. It was an activity for my son. The head coach knew, and so did the booster club president. The day before the fundraiser I got an email saying that she (the president) must have "missed" my name on the sign-up sheet and that I needed to be there from 1-4. I emailed back and said I had a conflict, and she said fine that I could instead pay a $50 fine. I said "thanks, but no." We are going to have a meeting with the head coach and director of the guild about these issues and I am trying to get my ducks in a row. Other parents are also upset and will hopefully attend the meeting.
I do not know if the club is operating as a non-profit or not, it doesn't say in the by-laws. The gym however IS a part of a non-profit. For all the money we have paid, we have not received leos, we have not been to our first comp yet so for all I know my daughter may hate it, we have not received meeting dates (that we are required to attend and that were promised by June 1) and all the thousands of dollars we have raised havent reduced my bill at all. I have no problem helping with fundraisers, but I had a legitimate conflict. I also found out that the majority of the parents who were there just stood around because we had so many students from the local high school helping. The gym parents were also asked to provide hundreds of dollars of supplies and many businesses were solicited as well. It doesn't seem right that the booster club and team ( which is made up of around 25 girls) is supposed to provide buildings and equipment for the entire program. There are MANY rec girls as well. Does any of this sound ok, maybe I'm in the wrong and just need to be set straight! My husband and I are so mad that we want to pull my daughter from team, but I don't see why she should suffer. The reality is that she isn't going elite and probaly won't be the most talented one on the team, but that shouldn't matter because she loves it. Bottom line though, I didn't sign up for team, she did, and I have to juggle 2 kids and their activities so sometimes there will be conflicts! I knew this would require a lot of time and money, I didnt realize I was swearing a blood oath! Anyway, any info you can give me as to the legality of any of this would be helpful because I am ready to rumble! Oh yeah, we are located in GA so if anyone who is part of a GA booster club could maybe give specifics on what their club does that would be great! Thank you so much!
My 6 year old daughter was invited to be on team as a level 3. She loves it, and we have been happy with the coaching, even if it did seem like things have been unorganized. We met last spring with the head coach and talked about her progress, financial responsibilities, training time, etc. At that point we were told that the booster club was brand new, and the handbook was a work in progress and that we would have a meeting at a later date to receive information about the club. The financial breakdown was that we would pay tuition to the gym (the gym is actually part of a non-profit arts guild that also offers art, music, and dance). That was $175 a month for 6 hours of training a week. Everything else is paid to the booster club. There was a REQUIRED $100 membership fee and if you had more than 1 gymmie it was an additional $50 per girl. We paid $400 for a comp Leo, 2 practice leos, warm-ups, bag, 2 rolls pre-wrap, 2 rolls tape. We pay $100 meet fee ( for a total of $800). We are also responsible for our travel, but that is paid individually, not to the club.
We are required to participate in 2 fundraisers, plus pick 2 more from a list of about 5. There are supposedly going to be individual fundraisers that we can chooses to participate in or not. We had the first required fundraiser and raised $2600. We got an email that this was a "general" fundraiser and that the head coach was developing a "priority list" of things to buy. The email also stated that we are trying to identify a new building because ours is too small and that these funds could be used to buy equipment for that. I was pretty steamed because I don't think that is the role of a booster club, plus, shouldn't these funds benefit the girls THIS year?. Before I could really wrap my head around that, it was time for the 2nd "general" fundraiser. I had a conflict that I had known about before we joined team. It was an activity for my son. The head coach knew, and so did the booster club president. The day before the fundraiser I got an email saying that she (the president) must have "missed" my name on the sign-up sheet and that I needed to be there from 1-4. I emailed back and said I had a conflict, and she said fine that I could instead pay a $50 fine. I said "thanks, but no." We are going to have a meeting with the head coach and director of the guild about these issues and I am trying to get my ducks in a row. Other parents are also upset and will hopefully attend the meeting.
I do not know if the club is operating as a non-profit or not, it doesn't say in the by-laws. The gym however IS a part of a non-profit. For all the money we have paid, we have not received leos, we have not been to our first comp yet so for all I know my daughter may hate it, we have not received meeting dates (that we are required to attend and that were promised by June 1) and all the thousands of dollars we have raised havent reduced my bill at all. I have no problem helping with fundraisers, but I had a legitimate conflict. I also found out that the majority of the parents who were there just stood around because we had so many students from the local high school helping. The gym parents were also asked to provide hundreds of dollars of supplies and many businesses were solicited as well. It doesn't seem right that the booster club and team ( which is made up of around 25 girls) is supposed to provide buildings and equipment for the entire program. There are MANY rec girls as well. Does any of this sound ok, maybe I'm in the wrong and just need to be set straight! My husband and I are so mad that we want to pull my daughter from team, but I don't see why she should suffer. The reality is that she isn't going elite and probaly won't be the most talented one on the team, but that shouldn't matter because she loves it. Bottom line though, I didn't sign up for team, she did, and I have to juggle 2 kids and their activities so sometimes there will be conflicts! I knew this would require a lot of time and money, I didnt realize I was swearing a blood oath! Anyway, any info you can give me as to the legality of any of this would be helpful because I am ready to rumble! Oh yeah, we are located in GA so if anyone who is part of a GA booster club could maybe give specifics on what their club does that would be great! Thank you so much!