Montgomery Blair Athletic Association
“Blair Boosters”
June 6, 2016
1. Recent News
a. Boosters since last meeting (tasks assigned)…
i. Blair Regional Park Project – scope, timing, coordination. The scope of the project has shifted to the softball scoreboard and the sound system for the stadium field. The sound system has been desperately needed. Further, the original plan included the baseball scoreboard however this was not a priority for Blair, Thunderbolts (the primary user of the scoreboard) or Parks. The Department of General Services told Kirsten that the project was just to provide capital improvements to Blair Regional Park which would include the stadium as well. Discussions with Parks led to settling on the sound system and softball scoreboard (which was not being maintained). We are hoping to get the project through Park by Fall in order to have a sound system for the fall season.
ii. Committees (with point of contact) – Minimal movement (see below). We have two people interested in helping with corporate sponsorship and a few people interested in concessions since the last meeting.
iii. Concessions:
· spring team reps, coordinator identified, supported spring events
· Next steps are to have a committee of a few people to oversee the larger events. A certified food manager has been identified in addition to the possibility of hiring cafeteria workers at Blair to oversee larger events.
iv. Varsity Banquet. May 23rd. Blair’s AD (Rita Boule) and Tracy Kauffman from Boosters organized a successful inaugural Varsity Banquet which was funded by Boosters.
v. New gear order – moved to summer order. We will focus on grey!
vi. Countywide meeting. Kirsten (president) attended the county-wide booster leadership meeting on May 25th which focused on insurance and membership. Insurance is needed for the Blair Booster club. Other schools promote boosters by having targeted membership for each team (e.g., 75% of families) or even tying funding of projects to the % of a team’s families who become members. Blair does not do that. We will continue make the case for membership/donations at the meet-the-coaches night.
vii. New sponsorship form completed. We have completed a new corporate sponsorship form. Tracy Kauffman noted the need to also clearly mark at the bottom of the form that the banner production will be paid for by the corporation if they need one made. Companies can have their banner in the stadium during games or inside the gym for $500. Sponsorship of Boosters with a logo on the website is $100. All prices are listed as “BYO Banner.” The form will be posted on the website soon!
Additional
i. Mulch Sale. We had our most successful Mulch sale with 3,140 bags of mulch sold and delivered in one day. The entire marketing and sales was done online – thank you to all who participated and posted on their neighborhood websites! Ed Wilhelm (treasurer) reported we had sales of $19,494.26 with mulch costs of $9,534 and total costs of $10,582.60. The mulch was delivered by the football and track teams. Thank you!
ii. Budget. See below.
b. AD Update
2. Treasurer’s Report
a. Current status; budget. Ed Wilhelm (treasurer) reported that we made $48,938.28 in sales 2015-2016 and $32,878 in expenses (including COGS and Administrative expenses). This is a a $10k improvement in sales over last year without the St Johns game that makes us $4k – it will be back next year! We will have a full budget for the August meeting including the ‘upcoming items’ that were discussed (next item).
b. Upcoming items. Kirsten Martin (president) provided a list of upcoming larger items for to be included in the budget for 2016-2017 for boosters. These included the $25k for the Blair Regional Park project reported above, $4-8k for wrestling and gymnastics mats, $2,500 for trophy cases, and $4,200 to start a ‘summer outreach’ program for middle school clinics/camps. Additional items are listed in the “Projected Expenditures 2016-2017 document.
3. Updates
a. Concessions – TBD/Kirsten:
i. Strong help identified including Carla, Michelle and a certified food manager.
ii. 8 larger events (home football, 3 regional events) need additional help
iii. Almost $20k come form those larger events
iv. Smaller concessions run by assigned teams
b. Fundraising. – Mulch completed (see above). Had Cava fundraiser and we are looking for more.
c. Membership – Tracy. Membership will start in the Fall at the ‘meet the coaches’ night.
d. Apparel/Gear – Kirsten/Rita: This summer we will place an order for new gear to sell in the Fall. The fall is our biggest season for selling gear. We are looking to order grey items this year! Order is scheduled to be placed by July 15 to ensure the order will be here by start of school. We sell at home football games, meet-the-teachers’ night. A number of people have expressed interest and we will send out ideas to get feedback. Contact Kirsten if you wish to be on that email list ().
e. Sponsorship – TBD but Kris and Alto (both football parents) have said they are willing to help identify sponsors (Thank you!). New form done. Need to sell banners and website sponsors.
f. Communications (website, Twitter, email) – Shaun. Nothing to report.
g. Funding needs – Kirsten. In addition to the ‘upcoming items’ reported above and included as a document, Boosters also discussed the need to offer support to our athletes who wish to participate in leagues, clinics, or camps but need financial support. For the next meeting, Kirsten will find a way to offer such support separate from the middle school ‘summer outreach’ item included in the major expenses.
4. Next Steps The following are the items to be completed by the next meeting (AUG 29!).
a. Next meeting(s): Aug 29, Oct 24, Feb 27, June 12.
b. Gear order. We will place the gear order by July 15 and be ready to sell by the first home football game.
c. Prep concessions – outdoor, buy equipment, get events staffed, include dates for larger events.
d. Outreach: Prep Meet the teachers night, Fall Sports night, get ready for membership and gear sales.
e. Update Website with minutes, new sponsorship forms, .
f. Insurance – purchase for boosters.
g. Budget – Budget for 2016-2017 at next meeting.
h. Blair Project – get approval for sound system and softball scoreboard.
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