Booster Clubs

[crabman]

I have always wondered how everyone elses booster clubs operate. My kids started in Cuero about eight years ago and I started going to booster club meetings. They are held off campus at a business in the country about 5 miles from town. They are held monthly when it is not football season and weekly from the start of two-a-days until we are out of the playoffs or we are state champs. From what I understand it has always been this way and it always will be this way. A typical meeting is from 6:30 to about 9:30 or 10:00 P.M.
We have about 50 people in the offseason and 100-150 during the football season. It used to be men only during football season except for the first Wednesday of the month which was "Ladies Night". Coach Reeve changed that last year and women come on all nights now.
The strangest thing about our booster club is the fact that 3/4 of the people that come do not have kids in the program. They are the old die hards that keep the traditions alive and instill in everyone what is expected of a Gobbler. It is really cool.
We always eat well. Steak, fajitas, enchiladas, burgers, stew, whatever. All cooking is done by volunteers. Beer is allowed since it is off campus.
The coaches all give reports from their previous weeks games starting with 7th grade B team football and volleyball and going straight on through Varsity. All of the coaches attend and they eat for free. The superintendent of schools is at almost every meeting as well as some of the school board. Supper is five bucks. I remember the first meeting I went to, one of the teams got beat. It was like 8th grade B team. There was much shame in the room. It was like, "we'll do better next week, ya'll just wait". It is pretty hilarious.
Our booster club does the usual things. Paint dressing rooms, repair lockers, bought a mower for the football field, run the Gobbler Relays track meet, work in the concession stand on Junior High and Freshman/JV night. (Band boosters have it during varsity games)

Our booster club is pretty well known in south Texas but I really don't know much about anyone elses. I was just wondering.

[JasperDog94]

Sounds like ya'll have your stuff together.:clap: :clap:

I don't know much about Jasper's though.

[BrahmaMom]

I think we've discovered the secret of Cuero's tradition of success! What a booster club!

[RBARKER]

Originally posted by BrahmaMom
I think we've discovered the secret of Cuero's tradition of success! What a booster club!

I think its the BEER :D

[crabman]

I forgot to mention, coaches do not drink. Period. Very strict rule.

Coaches can drink in the privacy of their own life, but not in public. One of Reeve's Rules.

[LHMom]

Our booster club is "Liberty Hill ALL Sports Booster Club." We just meet once a month, on campus. No food, no drinks. We do fundraisers to raise money. Our mission is support the school district to enhance our athletic program. We're a real small group... Last year we were able to purchase an end zone camera for about $5000, bought an additional $3-4000 in new weights, sponsored two athletic banquets (fall sports/spring sports) and gave away five $500 scholarships.

Sounds like you all are having a lot more fun!

LH Mom
2004 The year of the Cat
Building the Tradition!

[Gobbla2001]

Originally posted by crabman
I forgot to mention, coaches do not drink. Period. Very strict rule.

Coaches can drink in the privacy of their own life, but not in public. One of Reeve's Rules.

Wow, Reeve has things lock down over there... Seems to be workin'...

I remember when he wasn't here... The coaches would drink it up at their own lil area at Turkeyfest...

[j_dog]

Originally posted by JasperDog94
Sounds like ya'll have your stuff together.:clap: :clap:

I don't know much about Jasper's though.
Well, you can be pretty darn sure they are not drinking alcoholic beverages at the booster meetings! :D At least I would think not, unless someone has better information. ;)

[crabman]

ttt

[44INAROW]

Originally posted by crabman
ttt

Look at you using those abbreviations HA HA HA.. "ttt" ROFLMAO

[Old Green]

Originally posted by 44INAROW
Look at you using those abbreviations HA HA HA.. "ttt" ROFLMAO
I think he is getting the hang of it.:D

[CRHSeagle]

im still not sure what ttt means:confused:

[44INAROW]

"TTT" To The Top :clap:

[crabman]

It just gets your post back "to the top" of the board so it will get seen again. Just like this post.

[Old Green]

Kick off Dinner still set for 7:30 pm tonight?

[44INAROW]

Originally posted by Old Green
Kick off Dinner still set for 7:30 pm tonight?

Yep BBQ Chicken

[Old Green]

Sounds Yummy.!:D

[zeke]

University Interscholastic League
2004-05 Booster Club Guidelines

ATHLETIC BOOSTER CLUB RESTRICTIONS

The penalty to a student-athlete is forfeiture of varsity athletic eligibility in the sport for which the violation occurred for one calendar year from the date of the violation. Student athletes are prohibited from accepting valuable consideration for participation in school athletics - anything that is not given or offered to the entire student body on the same basis that it is given or offered to an athlete. Valuable consideration is defined as tangible or intangible property or service including anything that is usable, wearable, salable or consumable. Salable food items or trinkets given to athletes by student, cheerleaders, drill team members, little/big sister, school boosters, parents of other students, teachers or others violate this rule.


Parties for athletes are governed by the following State Executive Committee interpretation of Section 441: VALUABLE CONSIDERATION SCHOOL TEAMS AND ATHLETES MAY ACCEPT: 1. Pre-season. School athletic teams may be given no more than one pre-season meal, per sport, per school year such as a fish fry, ice cream supper, etc. provided it is approved by the school and given by a nonprofit organization, usually the booster club, before the team plays in its first contest. It may be given after a scrimmage.
2. Post-season. School athletic teams are limited to no more than one post-season meal or banquet per sport, per school year, and it must be given by a nonprofit organization and approved by the school. Banquet favors or gifts are considered valuable consideration and are a violation if they are given to a student athlete at any time.

3. Other. School athletic teams and athletes may be invited to and may attend functions where free admission is offered or where refreshments and/or meals are served, provided all students from that high school are invited to attend for the same fee and on the same basis as the athletes or the athletic team. Athletes or athletic teams may be recognized at these functions but may not accept anything that is not given to all other students.


VALUABLE CONSIDERATION THAT SCHOOL TEAMS AND ATHLETES MAY NOT ACCEPT
Examples of items deemed to be valuable consideration and thus a violation of this rule include but are not limited to:


meals, snacks or snack foods during or after practices;
parties provided by parents or other students strictly for an athletic team;
anything that is not given or offered to the entire student body on the same basis that it is given to or offered to an athlete.
Local school district superintendents have the discretion to allow student athletes to accept, from their fellow students, small "goodie bags" that contain candy, cookies or other items that have no intrinsic value and are not considered valuable consideration.

Gatherings of school athletic teams at parents' or patrons' homes require each athlete to contribute equally to any food or refreshment. The burden of proof will be on the athlete, his or her head coach and the school if these occasions are questioned. No overnight lodging or sports instruction or practice is permitted.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Gobbla2001]

Everyone's invited (student body/town/whomever)...

[44INAROW]

Originally posted by zeke
University Interscholastic League
2004-05 Booster Club Guidelines

ATHLETIC BOOSTER CLUB RESTRICTIONS

The penalty to a student-athlete is forfeiture of varsity athletic eligibility in the sport for which the violation occurred for one calendar year from the date of the violation. Student athletes are prohibited from accepting valuable consideration for participation in school athletics - anything that is not given or offered to the entire student body on the same basis that it is given or offered to an athlete. Valuable consideration is defined as tangible or intangible property or service including anything that is usable, wearable, salable or consumable. Salable food items or trinkets given to athletes by student, cheerleaders, drill team members, little/big sister, school boosters, parents of other students, teachers or others violate this rule.


Parties for athletes are governed by the following State Executive Committee interpretation of Section 441: VALUABLE CONSIDERATION SCHOOL TEAMS AND ATHLETES MAY ACCEPT: 1. Pre-season. School athletic teams may be given no more than one pre-season meal, per sport, per school year such as a fish fry, ice cream supper, etc. provided it is approved by the school and given by a nonprofit organization, usually the booster club, before the team plays in its first contest. It may be given after a scrimmage.
2. Post-season. School athletic teams are limited to no more than one post-season meal or banquet per sport, per school year, and it must be given by a nonprofit organization and approved by the school. Banquet favors or gifts are considered valuable consideration and are a violation if they are given to a student athlete at any time.

3. Other. School athletic teams and athletes may be invited to and may attend functions where free admission is offered or where refreshments and/or meals are served, provided all students from that high school are invited to attend for the same fee and on the same basis as the athletes or the athletic team. Athletes or athletic teams may be recognized at these functions but may not accept anything that is not given to all other students.


VALUABLE CONSIDERATION THAT SCHOOL TEAMS AND ATHLETES MAY NOT ACCEPT
Examples of items deemed to be valuable consideration and thus a violation of this rule include but are not limited to:


meals, snacks or snack foods during or after practices;
parties provided by parents or other students strictly for an athletic team;
anything that is not given or offered to the entire student body on the same basis that it is given to or offered to an athlete.
Local school district superintendents have the discretion to allow student athletes to accept, from their fellow students, small "goodie bags" that contain candy, cookies or other items that have no intrinsic value and are not considered valuable consideration.

Gatherings of school athletic teams at parents' or patrons' homes require each athlete to contribute equally to any food or refreshment. The burden of proof will be on the athlete, his or her head coach and the school if these occasions are questioned. No overnight lodging or sports instruction or practice is permitted.

And?? your point is?

[Gobbla2001]

Originally posted by Gobbla2001
Everyone's invited (student body/town/whomever)...

Also, they're allowed one preseason meal, and I guess this one would be it...

[zeke]

Just one of my informational postings and since the topic is about booster clubs...it seemed within the margin of error of being on topic.
Also, it might stand as a reminder to booster club members and even coaches who are unaware...regarding what special treatment is allowed for the athletes. It would certainly be a shame for any team to lose athletes simply for being lax on UIL protocol and as you see the penalty is extremely harsh. As the old football saying goes, "It's better to be Forewarned than Forearmed."

[44INAROW]

Originally posted by zeke
Just one of my informational postings and since the topic is about booster clubs...it seemed within the margin of error of being on topic.
Also, it might stand as a reminder to booster club members and even coaches who are unaware...regarding what special treatment is allowed for the athletes. It would certainly be a shame for any team to lose athletes simply for being lax on UIL protocol and as you see the penalty is extremely harsh. As the old football saying goes, "It's better to be Forewarned than Forearmed."
You are right about that! It would be shame for someone to commit an infraction and not even know they did it..

[falcons79]

This subject actually came up last night at our booster club meeting. They said it was against uil rules to feed the athletics a meal on the wednesday before a game, at a parents house. It was our understanding as long as everyone was included or that each player paid the same amount it was ok. Does anyone know for sure what the rule is. Can we charge everyone one penny and be covered? I don't know about all of you, but I have atleast five or six players at my house almost daily, if someone had told me it was against uil rules to feed them, boy it would have saved me alot of money.

[44INAROW]

Originally posted by falcons79
This subject actually came up last night at our booster club meeting. They said it was against uil rules to feed the athletics a meal on the wednesday before a game, at a parents house. It was our understanding as long as everyone was included or that each player paid the same amount it was ok. Does anyone know for sure what the rule is. Can we charge everyone one penny and be covered? I don't know about all of you, but I have atleast five or six players at my house almost daily, if someone had told me it was against uil rules to feed them, boy it would have saved me alot of money.

lol I know what you mean.. It is a continuing question each year. Is your AD "up on the rules" I'd ask him to clarify the situation.

[zeke]

Falcon 79, Old traditions die hard on something like this, but you have to ask yourself if it's worth it to skirt the rule of law dictated by the UIL. Their language is not legalese and is pretty easy to understand. No means no...what part of that should adults not be able to understand? Charging the boys a penny for something that cost $3 to prepare(the meal) is not going to fly if the UIL investigates. Unless every high school student is notified and invited to feast on that free or dramatically reduced priced meal that was made available to the athletes, it is not permitted.
Common sense would tell you that if your son eats at his fellow football friends house as often as they eat at your house, there would be no problem....if as you describe that a group of players eat at your house on a regular basis during the football season, the UIL says you can't do that.
I have no idea if the UIL has gone after these food infractions yet, but you have to feel that at some point they are going to make an example of some playoff bound team to get everybodies attention. All it takes is a disgruntled parent from the local community or a district rival to become aware of these free meals and complain to the UIL to get a team on the UIL radar.

[falcons79]

Thanks for the info, but what I have a problem with is these players that come to my house are there because they are friends of my son. The fact that they are all football players, is just that since my son is on the football team these are his friends. They are not there to represent anything about sports there just friends. If he had five friends over that were not football players, then it would be ok to feed them, this makes no sense to me. As I read the rule it says that parents can feed the players at their house as long as each player pays the same amount.. it does not say that it has to cover the cost of the meal. To me it is the same thing as saying the booster club can't provide food for the players before or after a game, but they can give the money to the school and they can buy the food, what is the difference?

[falcons79]

Also, as for taking a chance with the uil rules, that's a no brainer.. we won't do it. And as far as my son eating at his friends house as often as they eat at mine, my son is 6'6" and about 330lbs, believe me, they think twice before offering to feed him. It is no big deal for me to feed a couple of extra mouths, I won't even notice the difference in my food bill.

[crabman]

I'm guessing at 6'6" and 330 lbs. you farm him out as much as you can. My son is a measely 6'3" and 250 lbs. and I am in awe of how much he can eat. 4 hamburgers, fries, and then ice cream. Sometimes you just want to applaud.
Anyway, your childs friends coming over and eating in the normal course of a day is not a violation. The rule is very specific. One preseason meal. One post season meal. After that, no organized meals for the kids by anyone other that the athletic department in conjunction with a game. You can just see the abuse possibilities.

[falcons79]

I can see uil rules, so that one team doesn't have an unfair advantage over another team. I am pretty sure though that if we have a winning season it will because of the boys hard work and determination not my husbands BBQ. If it turns out to be the BBQ though I am quiting my job and starting our own business.... and yes I will take any volunteers that want to help feed my son, when he goes to the store with me we have to stop first so he can eat, try seven hamburgers, fries and a drink.. he does skip the ice cream though, I am so proud.