FORT MILL HIGH SCHOOL
FORT MILL HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC BOOSTER CLUB TOP 10 MYTHS:
Myth #1 – The Booster Board is a handpicked clique and I hear the people involved with the club run it like a cult and don't want anyone else getting involved? Truth – Anyone from our community (whether you have a FMHS student or not) is able to join the Booster Club. Each season, the current Board Members seek out parents and community members to be part of Booster Club and in the Spring there are nominations for current open board positions. Open board positions must be filled with a current Booster Club member and the President’s position must be filled with a current Board Member. Everyone is encouraged & invited to join. Myth #2 – The $100 Athletic Fee goes to the Booster Club and the $5/$6 gate money is used for extra things the teams needs so we don’t need to support the Booster Club. Truth – The Athletic Fee that each player pays goes directly to the Fort Mill District Office to pay for transportation and driver costs. The $5/$6 gate fee is used to pay officials, security and other game support staff. Neither of these costs go to the Booster Club. Myth #3 – Booster only cares about football and basketball and does not help with Spring Sports Truth – Football is our largest money maker in regards to concessions, programs and merchandise but the Booster Club feels that all of our sports are very important. Football does not get any more funds than their specific allotted amount or what the team specifically raises through fundraising activities. In fact, the money generated during football season goes to all the other teams by a percentage of 7% for football to 93% for all other teams. The biggest issue we face with Spring Sports is that many current booster members have players involved with Fall or Winter sports and by the time Spring rolls around, they have just lost some of their energy. That’s why we greatly need more members from our Spring sports so that we have freshly energized parents that have a vested interest in those sports. No one will ever work harder for your team, than a group of parents from that team. Myth #4 – Only the President has a say in what gets done or spent Truth – The President can only make suggestions on what the Booster Club might do. All ideas or suggestions must be turned into a motion which is then voted on by the entire Booster Club – not just the Board Members. Myth #5 – Booster club requires too much work – I can’t be at every game all year long. They get enough help through the booster club members so I don't need to donate my time. Truth – Booster Club members enjoy the flexibility to be able to give whatever time and talents that they are able. We have many tasks of varying sizes so we need people with all different levels of commitment. Booster Board Members do have more specific tasks but even those tasks would require less time if we had more members willing to get involved. Sometimes we just need folks to hand out flyers or spend an hour or two in the
FORT MILL HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC BOOSTER CLUB TOP 10 MYTHS: merchandise or concession stand. Other times we need folks to give a couple of hours to make or hang posters. There are also times when we just need folks willing to pass out a booster program packet to a few local businesses or maybe make a few phone calls. Myth #6 – You have to be a Booster Board Member to vote or be involved and only Board Members decide what is supported/funded. Truth – Anyone can be a member of the Booster Club (you don’t even need to have a student at FMHS to be a member) but being a Booster Club Member gives you voting privileges – 1 vote per member. It is true that only Booster Club members can be nominated for a Booster Board position. Booster Members are the connecting line between the Booster Board and the teams, coaches, athletes and parents. We want all coaches and parents to be members and we want all members to be involved with what we are doing. Myth #7 – The Booster Board keeps it a secret about how the money is spent. Truth – At every board meeting a document is distributed by the Treasurer to report on all of the Booster accounts and how the money is being spend. Large expenses are typically voted on by the entire board – no one person has complete say over how the booster funds are spent. Purchases made by the individual teams have to be approved by the Athletic Director but as long as a team has funds in their account, the head coach has authority to make purchases on behalf of their team. Myth #8 – The Booster Club doesn’t do anything for the school as a whole and just supports athletes. Truth – The main charter of the Booster Club is to support the teams and athletes at Fort Mill High School but the Booster Club also looks for ways to support other activities at FMHS. For example: This year we provided lunch for the entire school staff right before Christmas Break. Since there is no PTA at the high school level, the Booster Club feels it is very important to support as many activities and staff at the school as possible. The Booster Club always looks for ways that booster purchases can benefit the entire school – like buying equipment for the new weight room that is used by the teams and PE Classes. Myth #9 – The Booster Club only wants to help the teams of the Board Members Truth – Each team is given an allotment of funds from the Booster Club to spend. This allotment is set by the Athletic Director and it is based upon the number of athletes that participate in that sport. The allotments range from $875 to $2500 with the average allotment being $1500 and can be used for team purchases like tournament fees and uniforms and equipment. Plus each team does their own fundraising for team meals, team parties, expenses for team travel, player shirts, etc. Myth #10 – Board Members do not give up their positions once elected to the board Truth – Each board position comes with a 2 term limit so the Board has set a policy to limit the amount of influence a single person can have on the board. This is not a one person show. There are some very specific rules regarding the President position and due to low involvement, the current President term had to be extended last year. Usually current members stay in a position because no one comes forward to take over.
Myth #1 – The Booster Board is a handpicked clique and I hear the people involved with the club run it like a cult and don't want anyone else getting involved? Truth – Anyone from our community (whether you have a FMHS student or not) is able to join the Booster Club. Each season, the current Board Members seek out parents and community members to be part of Booster Club and in the Spring there are nominations for current open board positions. Open board positions must be filled with a current Booster Club member and the President’s position must be filled with a current Board Member. Everyone is encouraged & invited to join. Myth #2 – The $100 Athletic Fee goes to the Booster Club and the $5/$6 gate money is used for extra things the teams needs so we don’t need to support the Booster Club. Truth – The Athletic Fee that each player pays goes directly to the Fort Mill District Office to pay for transportation and driver costs. The $5/$6 gate fee is used to pay officials, security and other game support staff. Neither of these costs go to the Booster Club. Myth #3 – Booster only cares about football and basketball and does not help with Spring Sports Truth – Football is our largest money maker in regards to concessions, programs and merchandise but the Booster Club feels that all of our sports are very important. Football does not get any more funds than their specific allotted amount or what the team specifically raises through fundraising activities. In fact, the money generated during football season goes to all the other teams by a percentage of 7% for football to 93% for all other teams. The biggest issue we face with Spring Sports is that many current booster members have players involved with Fall or Winter sports and by the time Spring rolls around, they have just lost some of their energy. That’s why we greatly need more members from our Spring sports so that we have freshly energized parents that have a vested interest in those sports. No one will ever work harder for your team, than a group of parents from that team. Myth #4 – Only the President has a say in what gets done or spent Truth – The President can only make suggestions on what the Booster Club might do. All ideas or suggestions must be turned into a motion which is then voted on by the entire Booster Club – not just the Board Members. Myth #5 – Booster club requires too much work – I can’t be at every game all year long. They get enough help through the booster club members so I don't need to donate my time. Truth – Booster Club members enjoy the flexibility to be able to give whatever time and talents that they are able. We have many tasks of varying sizes so we need people with all different levels of commitment. Booster Board Members do have more specific tasks but even those tasks would require less time if we had more members willing to get involved. Sometimes we just need folks to hand out flyers or spend an hour or two in the
FORT MILL HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC BOOSTER CLUB TOP 10 MYTHS: merchandise or concession stand. Other times we need folks to give a couple of hours to make or hang posters. There are also times when we just need folks willing to pass out a booster program packet to a few local businesses or maybe make a few phone calls. Myth #6 – You have to be a Booster Board Member to vote or be involved and only Board Members decide what is supported/funded. Truth – Anyone can be a member of the Booster Club (you don’t even need to have a student at FMHS to be a member) but being a Booster Club Member gives you voting privileges – 1 vote per member. It is true that only Booster Club members can be nominated for a Booster Board position. Booster Members are the connecting line between the Booster Board and the teams, coaches, athletes and parents. We want all coaches and parents to be members and we want all members to be involved with what we are doing. Myth #7 – The Booster Board keeps it a secret about how the money is spent. Truth – At every board meeting a document is distributed by the Treasurer to report on all of the Booster accounts and how the money is being spend. Large expenses are typically voted on by the entire board – no one person has complete say over how the booster funds are spent. Purchases made by the individual teams have to be approved by the Athletic Director but as long as a team has funds in their account, the head coach has authority to make purchases on behalf of their team. Myth #8 – The Booster Club doesn’t do anything for the school as a whole and just supports athletes. Truth – The main charter of the Booster Club is to support the teams and athletes at Fort Mill High School but the Booster Club also looks for ways to support other activities at FMHS. For example: This year we provided lunch for the entire school staff right before Christmas Break. Since there is no PTA at the high school level, the Booster Club feels it is very important to support as many activities and staff at the school as possible. The Booster Club always looks for ways that booster purchases can benefit the entire school – like buying equipment for the new weight room that is used by the teams and PE Classes. Myth #9 – The Booster Club only wants to help the teams of the Board Members Truth – Each team is given an allotment of funds from the Booster Club to spend. This allotment is set by the Athletic Director and it is based upon the number of athletes that participate in that sport. The allotments range from $875 to $2500 with the average allotment being $1500 and can be used for team purchases like tournament fees and uniforms and equipment. Plus each team does their own fundraising for team meals, team parties, expenses for team travel, player shirts, etc. Myth #10 – Board Members do not give up their positions once elected to the board Truth – Each board position comes with a 2 term limit so the Board has set a policy to limit the amount of influence a single person can have on the board. This is not a one person show. There are some very specific rules regarding the President position and due to low involvement, the current President term had to be extended last year. Usually current members stay in a position because no one comes forward to take over.
