Player and his Parents Refuse to Fundraise

Seems like you got 2 choices coach

1) They will get the 'most free' equipment we have. All new items, jerseys, equipment, etc... goes to kids who did fund raise, kids who don't get the 'freebies'. Can't participate in anything that costs money and

2) If you want to fix/eliminate the problem the fastest (what I would do)... let the kid and parents know the following:

"THIS IS WHAT MEMBERS OF THE TEAM WILL DO WHILE I AM THE HEAD COACH HERE... IF YOU DO NOT LIKE IT... FOOTBALL IS AN EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITY AND A PRIVILEGE, NOT A RIGHT. BUY IN OR HIT THE ROAD"



I've had some parents and kids who have tried to get by without doing it, and the 'why didn't I get ______' that everyone else on the team got' face always comes up, and you just remind them that the money for these items came from fundraising which you did not participate in, which means you do not have the right to them.

District can frown on forcing kids to fund raise, but they can't force you to buy them anything besides mandatory safety equipment either... a little peer pressure might work... 'we will purchase new _____, but only if EVERYONE does the minimum amount of $___"


We have our "kickoff" meeting (1st mandatory meeting for upcoming season) this Thursday, where we explain all the fundraisers, summer camps, calendar for whole year, etc... my kids already know that if we hit $60,000 as a team on our big fundraiser next month, we are getting a 3rd set of uniforms. We only raise $59,999... no uniforms. The ones who want them will push the 'whatever' kids to get as much as they can. Plus we have individual incentives for landmark amounts built-in so they "want to get a 2013 Sweatshirt, so I have to raise ____"

We'll see how it goes.

Our state doesn't allow outside booster clubs... I have a "booster club" but they are really just my "helpers" for the fundraisers that we do. 100% of all money has to go through the program. If the original poster is doing a 'lift-a-thon' he is probably in the same boat as us... not an area where parents can go out and just get $5,000 donations from businesses 'just because'. We have to 'earn our money' by selling or doing something. People are more likely to give a young kid money to 'help them' than to hand it over to a full-grown adult asking for money.

Keep the thoughts coming, guys. I want to manage this the right way. I took over a horrible football program that has never won a playoff game in school history, but the overall buyin has been great. Most of the kids really believe in what we are doing.

I like the advice of consulting the a.d. And principal about a recommendation.

What about taking a hard stance like one of the coaches suggested? I kind want to just to test the waters...........

The schools I've coached at have had zero help from the school/district except for the first HS where the AD would kick in the $5k district safety fund to the football program every other year, and $2,500 the other year. It had to go to the helmets and shoulder pads and nothing else. If the kids didn't raise the money, there was no money. Fundraising stinks, no other way to say it. But if you don't you won't have the money to run the program. You can chose not to support all the sales and car washes and whatevers, but if enough families did that the teams would be in real sorry shape.

The gate generally goes to the ASB or to the AD. Coaches stipends, generally $8k or less for the program, comes from the pay-to-play. The community is generally willing to help, but they aren't generally going to walk in and hand the HC/AD money, you have to convince them that what they are doing is a benefit to the school or program.

The booster clubs I've been exposed to have been pretty good. The first one could not be associated with any single program so their fundraising (no sport-specific gear) went to their general fund. The HC had to go to them with proper paperwork to get the funds. Now, they were pretty good about it and rarely turned anything down, and the paperwork was a district mandate, not theirs. The other school had a football booster and it worked well, but they were separate, the coaches never had to work with them. But, we still did our own team fundraising over and above. Coaches can't benefit from the boosters here.

Raising money is a tough situation to deal with. We get nothing, have to pay for the yellow school buses. And the fundraising is optional for the players. The pay-to-play here ($425 per player per season for football, other sports are comparable) is technically a donation so the families don't have to pay that either. We do all we can and since I record all the numbers I know which players go above and beyond and which never leave the couch.

As far as the parent, you can face them or let them slide. Facing them, if the fundraising is optional like where we are, won't do anything but drag in the admins who will stand there, sad faced, and say that fund raising is optional and you can't hold that against the player. For us, the pay-to-play is paid to the school office and the coaches do not know who has paid and who has not. Other activities, cards or sales, we see that because we run it. You can let it slide and quietly have Johnny be at the end or on the 2nd day of hand outs. There are bigger things to worry about other than did some family decide they aren't going to participate. Note them and don't expect anything from them going forward.

We inform, we motivate, we beg, we bribe, we plead, and then we take what comes in and decide what we can get. I'd almost be willing to go to a club format and get away from the schools, admit what it is and take it from there.

There are a couple of files here that have fundraising ideas
thekesterfamily.com/Football/Links.html

So if the football team decided they all wanted to buy the new "Cam Newton" cleats as a team cleat which retail for $140, your mom would just write the check... or would the team not be able to get team cleats because she would refuse? I'd have no problem telling the team, "we can't because some parents won't let their kids raise the money"... peer pressure is a b!tch

We have the team vote on ALL non-required gear that we will purchase for the upcoming year. This year they decided that they did not want sweatshirts and sweatpants because they wanted the new Cam Newton Under Armour cleats... The money for that $140 expense has to come from somewhere. Parents don't understand that they will end up paying WAY more than what is "required" by the end, because the kid is gonna ask mom/dad to buy cleats, or 'better chinstrap' or all the stuff he friends are getting, so why not have friends and family or neighbors bear that financial burden and get a few things:

1) More community involvement in the program = more $$$ long-term as well as more fans short-term (Build a Better Program)
2) Teach the kids how to speak to strangers and give a mini-presentation on the football program (Job Skills)
3) Have players on the team all working together toward this goal. Help each other out, drive each other around, organize into groups, plan for "hitting up neighborhoods", and tons of other +'s you get out of it if you get the kids to buy-in.

Football is so much more than "My Johnny has the right to play football and I don't wanna pay for it or ask anyone to help pay for it". A good football program is a mini-country. You need resources ($, clothing, safety equipment), infrastructure (HC, OC, DC, Position Coaches, production (Plays, video crew for videos, academic counseling/tutoring) and so much more. Teach the kids that in REAL LIFE... if you want something, you have to pay with blood, sweat, tears, and in today's world... lots of money.

Cutting a kid because he won't fund raise or his parents won't participate smacks of extortion.

Bad road to go down.

At our school we have Pay to Play. Kids pay to come to our camp. We have our Fund Raiser. They buy their own shoes, have to pay for insurance and physicals. Moms ask for money for Pre-Game meals.

And that's just Football. A lot of our kids play 2-3 sports.

As jl said, parents (who may have more than one child in Extra Curriculars or Youth Leagues) have only so much money.

Hmm.

I know that as a kid, the commitment to a program sometimes seems huge.

Have you built the relationship with this kid enough to have him get over some of his anxiety about this thing?


Is he prepared to participate in a liftathon, does he know what it is and has he been training?

how about his parents? do they think hes going to get hurt?

how about friends, does he have any friends on the team to hang out with?

sometimes what seems like a lack of buy in from a kid is nothing more than lazy parents who dont want to give up their time to make travel/pickup arrangements and things of that nature.

Id never cut a kid for failing to participate in something out side of the season. We just consider that there are several types of kids. Some are program guys, they form your real core. some are season guys who just want something to do that sports season and they dont like soccer or play golf...so the play football, that doesnt mean they are real football player and some are just trying it out.

I wonder sometimes what it takes to make the light bulb go on for kids to move from a "season guy" to a program guy? Probably whatever his friends are doing.

depends on the financial situation at each individual school. I know of a school who told me they were in debt over $10,000. They decided it would cost each player $200 to play football, because its an extra curricular activity and not a right. Different types of fundraisers were held to help kids raise money and lower the payment. Some kids turned in enough money to pay for their full $200. While others did not do so well fundraising they had other options they or their parents could do Ex. debt could be helped paid off by working the chains, concession stands, trash clean up and so on. While others just decided to pay the $200, some in payments of $10 a week and some the full 200 all at once.

I sympathize with your problem but forcing teenage boys to dress up like girls is just asking for trouble. 

cq you have said you have to raise money for the extra "nice stuff" to draw players because the competition is fierce in your area.

Now you say you're willing to let players go if they don't want to participate in raising money for the "extra."

There's a philosophical contradiction imbedded there and you may cut your nose off to spite your face if you get into that situation.

As far as "preparing (them) for LIFE" - I had a lot of students in the years I taught who are leading exemplary lives that didn't play football.

Over time, the best players will want the best stuff and the top-level programs have Good Players who will fund raise and do whatever it takes. You can win short-term with good athletes who are not all-in, but a team just above athletes who are all bought-in will be a much better program that has to rely on that "4 D1 Athletes Class" that comes in.

There have been 5 coaches within the last 2 years who have been sent PACKING in this state due to 'creative ways' of getting athletes around fundraising. One of them won 4 state-titles in a row, and the coach has no teaching license anymore, another won the state title less than 2 full years ago and was canned for having other stuff done. I'll be the coach who makes everyone follow the same rules, won't bend them for athletes and be known as the "guy who followed the rules and probably didn't win a title because of it" before I will be the "found a way to get the athletes and is an unethical SOB".

I have seen players/parents completely take control of a program because at some point, they were given the control to 'opt-out' if they want to... could be Strength & Conditioning, could be a ton of things. We have a requirement to be a captain that you have to make 90% of offseason activities and meet all minimum fundraising goals. Last year we had 3 sophomore captains, 1 junior, and a senior who had never played varsity before. They were the only 4 who met the criteria. My 3 best players didn't even come close to the attendance because they knew that they could not come and still be stronger, bigger, faster than most the other kids. The day we announce captains, all three are whining about not being captain because "the best players are supposed to be captains and that's the way it has always been done... we are thinking about quitting"

My response...

"A true captain wouldn't threaten to quit... you answered your own question. And there is a reason why this program has only been to playoffs less than 10 times in its 50+ years of existence... the way it has been done in the past is not the answer"

10 times they have had great classes, 40 times they have not. Finding a way to get there even without a "Great Class" is the goal. Set up the structure in the program to be able to weather the talent waves and when you get the high-waves in talent, you are deep in playoffs and possibly winning.

We incorporate our fundraisers now with our off season points competition

Players get bonus points for fundraiser milestones

We also tie our liftathon in with our spirit packs

Our spirit pack this year will cost 100 per player... They get shirts, shorts, 3 panel wristband, 2 pairs of customized team socks (our colors with logo on the back that every kid in school loves)

Everyone is expected to raise $100... Every kid that raises $200 kids their spirit pack for free

We also buy cleats for the top 3 fundraisers

this would be my first decision. If your AD and Principal aren't on your side then it doesnt really matter.