High School Wwyd? - High School Uniforms Or Lack Thereof

[CoachTamara]

Our booster club no longer allowed to make the annual fee mandatory nor do parents have to participate in any fundraisers. The kids whose parents choose not to still receive everything the other girls do that are provided by the booster club.

This is our situation as well. You can't force them to do anything, and nothing can be allocated to an individual. It's a big pot, and if we don't have enough nobody receives it... For camp, we were about $1,000 short so nobody went.

 

[cheer25mom]

Our coaches are paid by the district. Otherwise there is no additional funding.

So they pay outside coaches to come in? We don't get that, and it's where a lot of the fee money goes.


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[CoachTamara]

So they pay outside coaches to come in? We don't get that, and it's where a lot of the fee money goes.


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Are you asking if they are all teachers? I'm the coach, and I am an employee of the district. I do not teach or do anything but coach, but I am on payroll. All coaches must be certified to become an employee.

 

[CheerBank]

This is our situation as well. You can't force them to do anything, and nothing can be allocated to an individual. It's a big pot, and if we don't have enough nobody receives it... For camp, we were about $1,000 short so nobody went.

We still have individual fundraisers which are usually allocated 80/20 - 80% to the cheerleader's account and 20% to the general fund. We used to have to use $ from the general fund for new uniforms but now that it is a sport, the school has to supply them. I am not sure what happens if a cheerleader is unable to pay for something - such as choreography or the trip to nationals - and they have not done any fundraising at all.

 

[CheerBank]

So they pay outside coaches to come in? We don't get that, and it's where a lot of the fee money goes.


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The school pays the coaches. Coaches are required to be NYS certified teachers now that it is a sport. A lot of "outside" coaches were fired last year because they were not certified teachers.

Additionally I believe that teams can no longer go to all star gyms for tumbling or choreography unless that gym has been cleared by the NYS Dept of Education.

 

[OldskoolKYcheercoach]

do you pay for tumbling and stunt instruction from outside coaches, or is everything done in house? Because if a lawsuit, our system MUST hire certified coaches.

I do not pay for tumbling or stunt instruction. The state athletic association requires a rules clinic every year and a sports medicine webinar every two years. There is also a one-time fundamentals of coaching webinar offered by NFHS that is a requirement. Those three courses and my 20+ years of experience in the industry was all that the board of education needed to hire me three years ago.

 

[AScheer]

Yes it is a timing issue, even if our booster program paid for a replenishment of new uniforms, we wouldn't have them in time for competition so we would be looking to order them but have them for next football season so I am looking for a quick solution :/

I think I might start with looking in the uniform closet and seeing what we have

If that's the case then ordering fillers in my opinion is a non-option. There is no point in ordering a uniform to be made for a girl if the season will be over before she even wears it. It will only give you ill sized uniforms again next season.

I would recommend getting inexpensive skorts and a custom fitted embroidered or printed tank. It's nicer than plain practice tees and shorts and can get you through the season. We wore something similar one year for all of football season and you'd be surprised how many people didn't realize they weren't actual uniforms. You could get this outfit for $25 a girl and since they keep it, it would be an expense they could self fund.

Uniforms can be expensive, but when you have a big team, a few fundraisers can knock the expense out easily. I would hold a few fundraisers and get sized for entirely new set of uniforms in the spring when you have next years team.

Keep fabrics in mind when thinking about hand-me-down uniforms. Motion flex is hard to alter and keep nice. Mystic fades, so if you ever reorder, the colors won't match. Crazy braids or patterns at the seams make it hard to line up. Braid trim over different color blocked sections = deconstruction of all the parts just to let it out or take in. Rhinestones, sequins and sparkles fall off and don't last. Mesh will tear and solid skirts can go with more than one top to get two different looks with just 1 skirt. Just some bumps I've learned the hard way over the course of coaching! Once you're used to a program that uses hand-me-downs it's amazing how your opinion and pickiness changes when shopping for new unis!

 

[AScheer]

We still have individual fundraisers which are usually allocated 80/20 - 80% to the cheerleader's account and 20% to the general fund. We used to have to use $ from the general fund for new uniforms but now that it is a sport, the school has to supply them. I am not sure what happens if a cheerleader is unable to pay for something - such as choreography or the trip to nationals - and they have not done any fundraising at all.

So legally, how is 80% going to the cheerleaders individually? Not trying to make that sound accusatory or anything, genuinely curious. I tried to do something similar years ago and got into major trouble with the school. Lesson taken away was that if raised money goes directly to one child in any way, that it becomes income and then we have to pay income tax on every cheerleader. It's a discussion every year with at least a few parents when fundraising is brought up, especially sponsors.

 

[CheerBank]

So legally, how is 80% going to the cheerleaders individually? Not trying to make that sound accusatory or anything, genuinely curious. I tried to do something similar years ago and got into major trouble with the school. Lesson taken away was that if raised money goes directly to one child in any way, that it becomes income and then we have to pay income tax on every cheerleader. It's a discussion every year with at least a few parents when fundraising is brought up, especially sponsors.

I wish I could answer this. I do not know how the booster club was set up tax-wise, but this is how the fund distribution is handled, and all the money is completely independent of anything that goes on with the school budget. I don't think it technically goes to one child in that if a girl leaves mid-season, or still has money in "her account" at the end of the season and is a senior, nothing is issued back to that individual but it all would go into the general fund. If you'd like, I can ask someone who used to be on the board who I don't think would mind explaining the whole thing.

 

[Eyes On The Prize]

The school pays the coaches. Coaches are required to be NYS certified teachers now that it is a sport. A lot of "outside" coaches were fired last year because they were not certified teachers.

Additionally I believe that teams can no longer go to all star gyms for tumbling or choreography unless that gym has been cleared by the NYS Dept of Education.

....... so replace potentially qualified and trained cheer coaches and safe tumbling facilities with the opposite of that? Cool NY state, cool.

That seems like a brilliant idea. There is no way that can go wrong.
/sarcasm

 

[CheerBank]

....... so replace potentially qualified and trained cheer coaches and safe tumbling facilities with the opposite of that? Cool NY state, cool.

That seems like a brilliant idea.
/sarcasm

I don't think it went down like that. It was only a few coaches who were replaced because most school districts were not bringing in outside coaches who were not teachers in any capacity at all to coach. But yes, now you need to be a certified NYS teacher in order to be a coach. I have no problem with that. This is not a private activity were are paying for.

The tumbling facilities being used are all the same. It just forced those facilities to be cleared to be used and probably have background checks on their employees the same way anyone working with students within a school district would need which is not a bad thing since those teams going to the outside gyms are doing so under the umbrella of a high school sport.

 

[coacha]

do you pay for tumbling and stunt instruction from outside coaches, or is everything done in house? Because if a lawsuit, our system MUST hire certified coaches.

We don't pay to bring in outside coaches because, at least in our school, our coaches are certified (AACCA) and qualified (many years as coaches, cheerleaders and gymnasts). We even do our own choreography. We get our huge coaching stipend from the district, and that's all (note sarcasm: i once calculated out my pay per hour and wanted to cry).

And yes, we compete. Have not been to Nationals with this program because it's our second year at this school and we aren't putting the effort into fundraising for that trip until we stand a chance of making it to finals. (Again, cost factor.) But we've got our eye on our state competition this year.

 

[CheerBank]

We don't pay to bring in outside coaches because, at least in our school, our coaches are certified (AACCA) and qualified (many years as coaches, cheerleaders and gymnasts). We even do our own choreography. We get our huge coaching stipend from the district, and that's all (note sarcasm: i once calculated out my pay per hour and wanted to cry).

And yes, we compete. Have not been to Nationals with this program because it's our second year at this school and we aren't putting the effort into fundraising for that trip until we stand a chance of making it to finals. (Again, cost factor.) But we've got our eye on our state competition this year.

I think that is a wonderful goal and I applaud you on pushing your athletes in that direction. I wish cp's team took your lead.

 

[cheer25mom]

We don't pay to bring in outside coaches because, at least in our school, our coaches are certified (AACCA) and qualified (many years as coaches, cheerleaders and gymnasts). We even do our own choreography. We get our huge coaching stipend from the district, and that's all (note sarcasm: i once calculated out my pay per hour and wanted to cry).

And yes, we compete. Have not been to Nationals with this program because it's our second year at this school and we aren't putting the effort into fundraising for that trip until we stand a chance of making it to finals. (Again, cost factor.) But we've got our eye on our state competition this year.

It amazes me that you have enough qualified coaches that are also teachers. We just don't in this area, so we pay an all star gym for coaching.

 

[coacha]

It amazes me that you have enough qualified coaches that are also teachers. We just don't in this area, so we pay an all star gym for coaching.

Nope, I'm not a teacher. I'm an engineer. School districts here hire qualified coaches who may or may not be teachers in the school system. Of the 4 on our coaching staff, only 1 is a teacher (and not for our school). It's the same for all sports.