Sports are a conundrum this year; however, one constant remains: each team’s financial demands. On March 4, the Carlmont Booster Club plans to raise money to satisfy these necessities through their Scots’ Fundfest event!
“Although sports aren’t happening right now, there still is a need to raise funds for the coach’s wishlists,” said Elaine Dell’Aquila, fundraising chair director for the booster club.
The Booster Club’s efforts go towards enhancing the student athletics experience at the school. Some of their gifts for Carlmonts athletes include uniforms, new equipment like tennis rackets, and sometimes even stipends for coaches. Each sport has different needs.
“How the money is best used is up to the coaches; it might be on uniforms, it could be on badminton shuttlecocks or racquets. It could be for volleyball nets. […] A portion of all the money that gets raised goes to the teams directly,” Administrative Vice Principal Grant Steunenberg said.
Previously, the Booster Club hosted many fundraising events that would climax to the Booster Shindig, a live party. This year the booster club has been forced to evolve its programs to go online. Hence the creation of the FundFest, a season of fundraising that will still lead to a party, albeit virtually.
“Now that we’re all in quarantine, [fundraising] has changed. But the need is still there. Coaches still need equipment, and when we can play sports, Carlmont High School will be ready,” Dell’Aquilla said.
A larger goal is set for buying a big-ticket item in addition to every sports’ seasonal needs. When fundraising goes particularly well, the Booster Club pitches to help fund new athletic appliances. A few recent examples include the new weight room, cameras to film games, and a speaker system in the Stogner Gym. This year, they are raising funds to improve the athletic training room.
“This year’s funding need is for the athletic training room, and to update it and get newer equipment in there for the athletic trainer to use with the athletes to help with,” said Patrick Smith, the school’s athletic director.
This year, fundraising has been particularly difficult. Not only is it harder to contact people virtually to donate, as opposed to the previous large in-person events, but families are reluctant to pitch in when students aren’t even able to play because of social distancing restrictions.
“It’s hard to ask people for money when their kids aren’t playing the sport. Also, there’s more economic insecurity when we’re in a long pandemic. It’s difficult to raise money and to ask people for donations,” Steunenberg said.
Although it is a tough ask, the athletic administrators hope to raise enough funds to cover the sports teams and the training room improvements during the March 4 fundraising event. It’s important to sustain the variety of sports activities offered at the school and ensure that the facilities future student-athletes can use are in good condition. Smith emphasizes the hard work and dedication of not only the athletes who use the facilities but the crowd of parents and administrators who make sure that they have adequate resources to train and play.
“There is a volunteer army of parents that work extremely hard to try to make the athletic experience for our athletes at Carlmont better. They put in a lot of time and energy to do that,” Smith said.
