WAG Pros & Cons of a Booster Club

[mygirlflips]

From what I have read a booster club is similar to a PTA/PTO and run similar. With all the IRS guidelines it seems like a no brainer to have a booster club, especially non-profit. We are at a new gym and previously the owner/head coach had a bad experience with a Booster Club (keep in mind it was 10 years ago). Apparently it was very political and did not have the best interest of the gymnasts or parents in mind. I have served on various non-profits and on the PTA. If guidelines are followed and things voted on along with follwoing Roberts Rules of Order I dont see how a Boosterthon that is created primarily for fundraising activities could be a bad thing....

Opinions please...keep in mind we are a small gym, less than 20 girls on team right now....

 

[bookworm]

For a small gym with less than 20 girls on team, I would think a booster club would be much more hassle than it would be worth...among the "cons" I can imagine would be hitting up the same people for every fundraiser. With 20 girls on team (? levels) , what type of expenses are you trying to defray? would it be your coaching expenses for meets or things like leos and warm up suits as well? I 've been in gyms with booster clubs and without and I can totally see where your HC/owner is coming from as I would go with NO booster club anyday. In the gyms with the booster club I always felt like it had the atmosphere of "who did what or got what or earned what" and that seemed central to their existence. In the gyms without the booster club, the playing field seemed much more leveled to me...you paid the same fees as everyone else, period , and "owed" nothing to anyone else in the gym...

 

[motigymnasticsmom]

But, if theres no booster club, who sets up the meets and how are they paid?

Sent from my SCH-R720 using ChalkBucket mobile app

 

[bookworm]

But, if theres no booster club, who sets up the meets and how are they paid?

Sent from my SCH-R720 using ChalkBucket mobile app

Ours are set up by the HC and owner of the gym, and the fees are paid directly to the gym.

 

[skschlag]

Our booster club has nothing to do with the meets. The coaches of the respective programs (men/women) schedule the meets, and the meet fees are paid to them. Those that are members of the booster club pay their meet fees by writing "BOOSTER" on the forms and the booster club writes a check. Our booster club is separate from teh gym, but works with the gym.

 

[Seeker]

We pay the gym directly as well. We have no booster club.

 

[beamer]

I'm with Bookworm. We've been at a gym with a booster club and (currently) one without. The second scenario has it all over the first, for many different reasons.

We do pay higher monthly fees (for training, meets, coaches' costs, etc.) to the gym without the booster club, but this is more than made up for in opportunity cost and the sheer loveliness of not having to deal with booster club politics.

Our current gym did away with "boosterism"...after there was a brawl between two parents at some booster club sponsored event one day. No lie.

 

[Seeker]

OMG, seriously? A brawl??

Wow. Guess I'm glad we don't have one!!!

 

[AlexsGymmyMom]

I am the treasurer of our booster club and until this year it has worked really well. This year however, it has been nothing but drama! It is helpful in defraying some of the cost through fundraising, but I am not sure if the amount earned offsets all the politics and drama that can go along with it!

 

[sportsmommy]

We have a small team as well. Not many more girls than what you must have. We have a boosters. There have been moments where one person might feel like they do all the work. We raise all the money for coaches fees for the meets. We also cover parties and things like that. We do 4 fundraisers a year and raise about 4000. Its enough to cover what we need. Its a lot of work but can be benifitial. You need the right group of parents. Without that you will end up with brawls, i would say.

Sent from my ADR6350 using Tapatalk 2

 

[sportsmommy]

You can PM me if you want to ask specific questions. I am pretty involved with our boosters.

Sent from my ADR6350 using Tapatalk 2

 

[mygirlflips]

This is how we would do things. We don't have the room yet to hold meets or clinics. We want to do car washes and scrip as well as other fundrsisers such as fun pasta. If we do some community fundraising we wouldn't be hitting up the same people

Sent from my SCH-I535 using ChalkBucket mobile app

 

[mygirlflips]

Thanks I will do that!

Sent from my SCH-I535 using ChalkBucket mobile app

 

[Muddlethru]

If the team has mostly lower levels, and as you state it is a small team, I would not do a booster club. It is more trouble than it is worth. Negative, 1) as bookworm states, you will be hitting the same people; 2) if you have a non-profit organization, you will need to provide for everyone, even those that don't contribute; 3) it can leave the contributors feeling slighted; 3) fundraising is not always successful. Many bring in very little. In house meets bring in the most money. But you don't even have that. Honestly, There are just too many charities and not enough funds. I have 4 active kids and have been a member of many booster clubs. I cn honestly say, I've always put in more time and money than I get. At a minimum, I break even monetarily, but I come out way in the negative with the time and effort I put in. The only positive I can see is the sense of community and helping each other out, which has its own benefit. The athletes also enjoy working together for a common goal outside of the gym, field, dance studio, etc.


Booster clubs can be beneficial for larger groups and higher level gymnasts. L9 and L10s tend to travel more for meets and then there is regionals and nationals. At these levels it can be expensive. So members feel more inclined to help out. I would first find out how many families would be interested in setting up a booster club before you spend more time. You should give them an idea on the commitment involved. Provide them with the following information 1) amount of membership dues; 2) goals of the booster club, i.e. pay for competition Leo's, meet fees, coaches fees, clinics, etc. 3) let them know how you plan accomplish those goals, i.e., how many fundraisers will be needed, commitment from each family, etc. The trick I found is you have to be as transparent to the families as possible to,avoid less complications as possible.

 

[raenndrops]

But, if theres no booster club, who sets up the meets and how are they paid?

Sent from my SCH-R720 using ChalkBucket mobile app

Our coach schedules the meets. She uses VolunteerSpot.com to request things we need and for scheduling ppl to cover concessions, score table, awards, coaches room and judges room. Everyone has to sign up for something in a session in which they do not have a gymnast participating. If they have gymnasts in all sessions, there are always early concessions and tear down that they can do. The gymnasts all also have to sign up to do something (runner, flasher, or timer- only for older girls). If they are too busy to work a session, then they can work the session they should be competing in (this ALWAYS gets the girls to sign up for something). The parents come in the night before a home meet to help set-up (take down unneeded equipment, open the bleachers fully, set up judges tables, etc). We have the smoothest running meets in our district and AT LEAST one of the other gyms has a booster club.
Their booster club purchases warm ups for the coaches and pays for coaches travel to Nationals and covers coaches fees for meets. They divide the coaches fees by the number of gymnasts scheduled to compete. All money (including monthly gym fees) goes thru the booster club and they are constantly fundraising. They divide the raised money equally amongst all team members. The balance at the beginning of the next month is what the families have to cover. If it is a good fundraising month, the gymnasts may only have to pay $20 for the month. But on a bad fundraising month, it may be over $100. If a gymnast decides to go to Nationals, she MUST purchase a Nationals leotard. Team leotards are also ordered through the booster club. They have different leotards for compulsory and optional gymnasts (bling for optionals) and if you have outgrown your old leotard, to sell it to someone else on team, you MUST go thru the boosters. They will credit your account for 50% of the new value and charge the purchasing gymnast 75% of the new value (found out when one of our old gymnasts moved to their gym).
At our gym, the coaches cover their own travel and warm ups. Their time at meets is part of their salaries. The girls pay $70 a month for gym fees and pay for the meets($15 for a regular meet; $35 for Districts, and $100 for Nationals). We wear our regular team leotard for Nationals. If we want to sell our old leo to another team member, we can charge what we want for it. One year, I purchased one for $30 and it was in perfect condition... Of course this year, we are getting completely new leotards, so everyone is paying the same price. The other team is in the same boat (They are under the impression that they cannot have their current color combination... but they could - they would just need to go with black shirts or white shirts instead of red shirts.)