January 2019 - 32

40 UNDER 40 perspectives
reviving the
ATHLETICS BOOSTER CLUB
By Luke Beach, contributing writer
A strong booster organization is
an invaluable asset for any athletic
department. Financial resources
continue to be limited in most school
districts, so the booster club is vital
in providing much-needed financial
assistance to athletic programs.
Rochester High School (Michigan)
is one of three high schools in
our district, and with each school offering 26 athletic
programs, the district's athletics budget alone is
insufficient to meet our programs' needs. Upon my arrival
here in 2013, I learned that the school's athletic booster
club was severely in the red. Membership was very low,
and our coaches lacked confidence in the organization. If a
drastic change was not made quickly, the booster club was
at risk of being dissolved by the district. To put the booster
club on the right track, I set three primary goals:
* Redefine the mission of the booster club.
* Identify and secure new leadership.
* Create a large-scale booster event to raise
significant funds.
My principal and I worked diligently to turn the booster
club around in my first full year as athletic director. First,
we redefined the purpose of the organization. The existing
booster club provided limited monetary resources for
letterman jacket patches, a pair of $500 scholarships to a
graduating male and female student-athlete, and funding for
the athletic hall of fame ceremony. The new primary focus
would be to raise funds for all athletic programs to take the
burden of fundraising off of our coaches and student-athletes,
while also providing financial assistance to our Hall of Fame
Committee and expanding the scholarship program.
Procuring strong leadership ensured implementation
of and support for the new mission. Change is difficult but
necessary for any established group which has fallen on
hard times or adopted bad habits. I leaned on the great
relationships I made with parents, and identified a new
booster club president who was positive, energetic, and
had the ability to bring enthusiasm to the organization.
Year after year, I could count on new parents to step up
and continue to lead the group in its new direction.
Raising funds on a massive scale is never an easy task,
and the booster club's revenue from concession sales was
not enough to support the club's lofty goal. We needed a
community event, one that would not only raise funds for
32 JANUARY 2019
our athletic programs but be a celebration of our studentathletes,
athletic programs and booster club. A committee
was formed to identify an event that would encompass all
of these ideas. The committee concluded that we would
host an annual Friends of the Falcons Gala. The gala
would be held at a banquet hall, with silent and live auction
items secured by all of our athletic programs, volunteers
and event coordinator. Hiring an event coordinator was
the best decision we made with respect to the gala,
because she oversaw all aspects of the event - marketing,
sponsorship, invitations, item procurement and contracts.
Now in its sixth year, the annual Friends of the Falcons
Gala is an enormous success, generating approximately
$30,000 each year for the booster club. The success of
our new mission, leadership and community event has
led to increased booster club membership, minimal
fundraising by our programs, expansion of our booster
club scholarship program to four $500 awards each year,
and grants of more than $160,000 awarded to our athletic
programs in the past five years. The booster club can
now fill the gap between district athletic funding and the
needs of our programs, while providing an opportunity for
parents and other community members to get involved in
supporting our student-athletes.
Luke Beach is the athletic director at Rochester High
School in Michigan and a recipient of Coach & Athletic
Director's 40 Under 40 award, a program honoring the next
generation of leaders in the sports industry.
January 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January 2019
