September 3, 2008

Welcome to the 2008/2009 Gleason's Competition Season!

When an athlete advances to the level of Team, his/her parent(s)/guardian automatically becomes a member of Gleason's Gypsy Booster Club. There are three main financial aspects to a traveling team:

1. Individual athlete training tuition paid monthly by you to Gleason's.
2. Individual athlete's meet fees, and USAG and state registration fees paid annually by you to Gleason's.
3. Coaches' travel expenses to attend and coach meets paid annually by you to the Gypsy Booster Club and then reimbursed to the coaches. Part three is the main purpose of the Booster Club .

The Booster Club is responsible to collect the funds for part three prior to the start of the competitive season for each team. Payment is described below under Dues.

All the members of the Booster Club benefit when you become involved. You can have a direct impact on the decisions that will affect your athlete by:

• Communicating with your team level representative
• Participating in booster club fundraisers
• Becoming an active member by volunteering

BOOSTER CLUB GOALS

• The primary goal of our Booster Club is to provide the financing needed to cover coaches' travel expenses for out-of-town meets, and agreed upon team expenses that everyone shares. These expenses include, but are not limited to, Coaches travel expenses (airfare, hotels, meals, rental cars, etc), State meet flowers, Year-end team banquet, Team member year end gifts, Team video, Athlete clinics, and Intersquad judges fees.

• Our secondary goal is to provide the ability to fundraise tax free to pay your athlete's competition expenses, such as team warm-ups, meet fees, summer camps, travel expenses, etc.

• Our future goal is to create a sound financial base that will enable us to meet not only our primary and secondary goals, but also create funds to create camp scholarships, college scholarships, recognition awards to coaches, parents, sponsors, etc. We also wish to enhance family participation and provide support for our athletes and coaches.

MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS

All team athletes are members in the Booster Club. While defraying expenses is an important benefit to parents, the decision making power each of us has should not be overlooked as a major benefit. With your membership, you receive a vote for our Booster Club officers. You may also participate in our meetings to determine the future direction of our Booster Club. Membership also gives you a voice to address your concerns, contribute ideas, and work to make a change. Aside from these things, working together creates unity and makes for a positive experience for our children.

ORGANIZATION OF THE CLUB

The Booster Club is a Charitable Nonprofit Corporation under section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code.

The Booster Club is administered by a board of directors comprised of a President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and 3 Sport Team Representatives. Elections for these positions are held annually. While the officers conduct various meetings throughout the year, committees are established to handle a variety of tasks throughout the year and do the brunt of the decisions and actual work. In addition to Officers, Committee Chairs and Team Level Representatives, the Booster Club relies greatly on volunteers. We have a need for every talent and a task to fit anybody's schedule. Together we can provide the best competitive experience for our athletes.

Each of our competitive teams has at least one volunteer parent Team Level Representative. The current Team Level Reps are posted on the Booster Club Bulletin Board. These Team Reps have the following very important duties:

• Greet and welcome new team members
• Introduce new members to the Booster Club and Fundraiser Coordinator and help explain dues
• Key contact for their respective team and Lead Communicator for team parents on upcoming meetings, fundraisers, meets, etc.
• Act as Social Coordinator to help plan team events
• Act as liaison between the parents and Sport Representative as well as for the parents and the Booster Club
• Help with preparations for team meets

DUES

Annual Booster Club dues are necessary to provide partial funding for the duties that we need to perform. Membership dues are due and payable by November 15th unless otherwise stated on the fall Treasurer's statement. Pay by check made out to Gypsy Booster Club for the amount due as stated in the fall Treasurer's letter. Remember your athlete may not be allowed to compete if your booster club dues are not paid in full. If this is not possible, please discuss other options with the Treasurer.

FUNDRAISERS

Fundraisers are necessary to generate the funds needed to fulfill the goals of the Booster Club. Our fundraisers have ranged from such things as Poinsettia Sales, Candy Sales, Flower Sales, Raffles, and hosting Gymnastics and/or Tramp and Tumbling meets. The success of these events depends entirely on the cooperation and hard work of all Team parents. All the income derived from fundraising is distributed with 100% going to those members who participated in the event. The distribution of funds generated from hosting a meet at the gym cannot be given until the last meet of the season has been hosted. At that time the total funds earned for the year will be divided between all members who are in good standing with the Booster Club. (For additional details see Booster Club Funds Program)

EXPECTATIONS OF MEMBERS OF THE CLUB

In addition to paying dues and participating in fundraisers, you are urged to actively participate in the Booster Club by attending meetings, helping with meets, etc. There is a bulletin board in the gym hallway on which we will post notices, minutes of meetings, and additional information. You are urged to stop in when you drop off or pick up your child and check the board for notices and information. From time to time we will also hand deliver information to your athlete or send to you via email. We also encourage you to use our website at www.gypsyboosterclub.org for up-to-date information.

FUNDS PROGRAM

The Booster Club uses a funds program to track each Booster Club member's fiscal responsibility. It is important for all members to understand that all money and assets collected by the Booster Club are the sole property of the Booster Club. This means that there are no individual accounts and that funds cannot be paid to individuals at any time. The individual tracking of funds is done so that we have a fair tracking and distribution of assets. The fund system is dollars earned. Payments billed to each member of the competitive teams will be based upon expected coaches' travel expenses for out-of-town meets, coaches training, clinics and miscellaneous expenses. Every team member is expected to compete in every meet and will therefore share in all the team expenses.

ELIGIBLE ATHLETE EXPENSES

If voted upon by the Booster Club membership and approved by the Booster Club Board, there are expenses that our athletes incur that can be paid by the Booster Club if the funds are available. These expenses may include, but are not limited to, competition uniforms, meet fees, camps, athlete travel expenses, etc.