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Post by falconscoach on Aug 12, 2008 19:58:39 GMT -6
Coaches I am involved in a youth football program in Maryland that is in big trouble. By no meand are we the largest program out there but we have grown. In the past the program has only had 4 teams at the most, We grew this year and doubled the anount of players in the program. The issue is that we dont have enough equipment to go around for all of the players. The Rec. will not put out any money from the General Fund to help out with the equipment and after parents have already put out $150.00 they are going out and buying equipment for the boys to play. What can be done? any ideas out there. Fundraising is out of the question because the budget would need to be adminded ang for that to take place it would happen at the mext meeting in late sept. after the 2nd game. i am at a loss. Help.  |
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Post by davecisar on Aug 13, 2008 3:46:14 GMT -6
One year we were short gear we "borrowed" some from the local HS. BTW they have used 5-6 sets of shoulder pads from us after that. I also got 10-12 sets of shoulder pads from the local DII college for our big kids along with some of their older blocking dummys.
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Post by dlsmith99320 on Aug 13, 2008 12:02:35 GMT -6
Coach you can also call Ridell and see if they can work something out with you. We started our program last year and Ridell really stepped up to make sure our kids got gear and jerseys. They are a outstanding company that truly wishes to get kids playing football.
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Post by coachdoug on Aug 13, 2008 13:05:47 GMT -6
Coach, you may need to get creative. I don't know your organization or it's rules, so it's tough to say how far you can stretch things. However, it sounds like your board won't let you do formal fundraising like candy sales because of their protocol for approvals and budgeting. What about informal fundraisers like car washes or bake sales? You could probably put that together as a team in a week's time and raise several hundred dollars, at least.
It's not clear how much money you need. You may need to do several things. Another thing we've done is to throw a big party and charge admission. Try to use whatever connections you have to get a venue (maybe a local bar, or an Elks club, or an empty hall, or even one of the parent's house/back yard) either free or cheap, maybe get a band or a dj, and try to get some local merchants to donate some gifts that you can either raffle or auction off. We did a luau theme auction party once and raised over $6K, but that was with months of planning. Still, even in a couple weeks, with some focused planning, I'll bet you could do something similar and raise at least a couple thousand.
I would also follow the others' suggestions and try to get equipment to borrow from other local organizations - high schools, JCs, even other teams within your conference.
Good luck to you, coach.
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Post by davecisar on Aug 13, 2008 15:09:35 GMT -6
Coach,
I forgot to mention we have lent equipment out to our rival orgs as well. Most of us have 5-10 extra sets of gear even in lean years. Ask them, it doesnt hurt to ask. Most will accomodate.
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