High school athletic programs require significant funding to operate and provide students with necessary equipment. While school districts typically cover essential expenses, there are certain things they do not cover, which means teams usually have to pay for them with funds that they generate. Working behind the scenes, booster clubs, driven by the support of parents and guardians, are key sources of funding through organizing events such as car washes and restaurant fundraisers, amongst others. Thus, booster clubs are an essential part of making the high school sports experience memorable.
Booster clubs don’t just fund big events such as senior nights and banquets; instead, they help support teams in smaller moments as well.
“[Funds] also will be [used] for lunches and stuff for them on the buses,” said Danielle Boyle, who leads the girls field hockey booster club alongside other parents. “So, it’ll pay for things like sandwiches and stuff on the go.”
One of the most valuable parts of being on a team is the ability to bond and build relationships with your teammates. The aforementioned experiences are what contribute to forming these bonds and help the team come together as one.
“The memories that you have are these little tiny experiences that you have outside of the field and the bonding with the team,” said Boyle. “A lot of that is done with booster money.”
However, some parents are not donating as much money to the booster clubs because of the new activity fee.
“You had to pay a $150 fee,” said Boyle, “And then a week later we’re like ‘Hey, we need money,’ so we didn’t get as much as we usually do.”
However, the money from the fee is allocated to general district costs rather than the teams. Because of this, parents may feel like they already donated for their children’s sport because of the fee.
Beyond organizing events, booster clubs help provide merch and extra materials for the players.
“They help finance getting the team’s equipment and stuff that we don’t have, [including tents], and the varsity jackets that we get,” said cross country and track athlete Lumenzia Meggers ’29.
Getting merchandise helps make a team look more uniform when everyone has the same gear. Additionally, it helps players feel part of something bigger than themselves.
“[The team] got free sweatshirts, free shorts and free sweatpants,” said football player John Monica ’29. “It’s been really nice [with]… the booster club helping us out like that.”
In addition to providing equipment and merchandise for teams, booster clubs also help organize and fund events throughout the season. Highlighted by Meggers, senior nights, which recognize graduating athletes and their achievements, are an enjoyable tradition in high school sports.
While parents like Boyle run the booster clubs, coaches are also asked to help make decisions. Patrick Noone, the PHS golf and basketball coach, has been involved with making decisions with booster clubs.
“They are what makes it more of a team, more of a community,” said Noone.
While coaches aren’t allowed to decide how the money is spent since it isn’t school money, they may still ask the booster club for certain merch or to help fund a certain event.
Additionally, PHS regulations mandate that coaches not know which players or families donate money, nor the exact amount donated by an individual. Therefore, it is impossible for a coach to favor a player because their family gave more money to the team. With this system, booster clubs are not able to interfere with the typical meritocracy, and coaches can safely make unbiased decisions.
Booster clubs in high school sports give players a way to make lasting memories throughout every season.While the the $150 activity fee may decrease the amount recieved in donations, booster clubs still play an important role in the memories players make every season.