Huntsville High School (HHS) Volleyball (VB) Team Booster Club Meeting Minutes May 4, 2015 1. Date/Time/Location: HHS VB Team Booster Club held its first meeting of the 2015 Season on May 4, 2015 from 5:30 6:30 PM, in the HHS Audio Visual Room. Paige Doyle, Booster Club President, presided over the meeting. The meeting commenced at 5:30 PM. 2. Opening Remarks: Paige opened the meeting by welcoming all parents and congratulating them on their daughters making the high school team. Parent Packet Folders were passed out to each parent, which contained the agenda, schedule, and many other helpful forms that were talked about during the course of the meeting. Paige also asked everyone to turn in their forms to Coach McBrayer, who will give the girls their Star Sportsmanship code at a later date. She also talked about the Parent s Contract (the HHS Volleyball Policies and Procedures). She asked each parent to sign one and turn it in and keep the other copy for their records. 3. Introduction of Booster Club Officers: As part of her opening remarks, Paige introduced the Booster Club Officers: Paige Doyle (Player: Anna Grace), President; Becky Balentine (Player: Hannah Barrett), Vice President; Lydia Combs (Player: Savannah Combs), Treasurer; and Mary Duncan (Player: Sabrina), Secretary, responsible for meeting minutes and roster. Becky (who is also the Ironman and JV Tournament Director) said that all the team slots were filled for the 2 tournaments, and that she is looking for a volunteer that she can train this year to take over her job next year. Interested individuals can contact her for details. Mary Duncan also passed out 2 copies of the roster (one in front and one in back) to fill out the missing information for the parents and players contact information. She said that she would update the roster/contact list and mail it out to the parents. 4. Budget Overview and Dues: Lydia Combs went over the 2015 Booster Club Budget, which was included in the Parent Packet. The 2015 HHS Volleyball Dues will be $1300 per player and will be due in 4 installments: $325 due on May 15 th, $325 due on June 15 th, $325 due on July 15 th, and the remaining $325 due on August 15 th. Since most of the expenses occur early in the season, dues must be fully paid before the season starts. If you are unable to make this deadline, please schedule a time to meet with Lydia and Paige at least 2 weeks before the start of the season. The checks should be made payable to
the HHS Volleyball Team Booster Club. The Booster Club has set up a PO Box to mail your checks to (HHS Volleyball Booster Club, PO Box 16042, Huntsville, AL 35802). The Judy Green Camp will be covered by the dues, but the UAB Camp will cost an additional $120 per player. 5. Calendar Review: Paige Doyle briefly went over the 2015 schedule, which was included in the Parent Packet. HHS Physicals will be offered on May 18 th for $10 each in the HHS Gym. Summer workouts begin on June 1 st, with our first team camp on June 8-9. We will be hosting the Big Red Skills Camp on July 7-9. The first match of the season will be on August 27 th with the Tri-match against Bob Jones and Grissom. 6. Fundraising Opportunities: Leigh Ann Benson of the Fundraising Committee highlighted the tentative fundraisers for this year, which were also included in the Parent Packet. The Fundraising Committee also includes Molly McCrory and Melissa Neumann. There are several options available to help offset the $1300 player dues. Some of the fundraisers will go to help the general Booster Club Fund. The Geranium fundraiser was held in April, and players made $4 for each of the plants that were sold. In the June/July timeframe we will be kicking off our 20 for 20 fundraiser, which is similar to what the HHS Baseball and Basketball teams do. Each player will send out 20 letters to friends/family members asking them to donate $20 each. The income from the 20 for 20 fundraiser will go the general fund. In July, the fundraising committee plans to sell stadium seats and tumblers like we did last year and possibly some other HHS items. More to come on this later, and this income will go directly to the player accounts. HHS will host our Big Red Skills Camp on July 7-9 for girls ages 8-13. Each player will get $40 added to their account for each girl who attends camp with them as a referral. We hope to have 3 Spirit Nights at Restaurants in May, June, and July. This is where the restaurant offers a percentage of their sales for a particular night to go towards our HHS volleyball booster club. The income from this fundraiser will go to the general fund. We also plan to have a Boston Butt sale this year around Father s Day weekend. Players will receive credit (TBD at this time) for each one sold. Parent volunteers are needed to help rub the butts on June 18 th and distribute them on June 19 th. We will also be hosting a Pancake Breakfast fundraiser at the Applebee s Restaurant on South Parkway. The event will take place on Saturday, August 15 th from 7:00-9:30 AM and the players will serve as hostesses, servers, and waitresses. Each player is expected to sell at least 10 tickets to this (at $5 per ticket), and the income will go to the general fund. A Mum sale in the Fall of 2015 will also be conducted through Bennett Nurseries.
7. Volleyball Program Ads: Kristina Hales is in charge of the HHS Volleyball Programs again this year. Players can sell various-size ads to businesses to go in the HHS Volleyball Program. Parents/Grandparents/Friends can also purchase personal ads for the Programs, which will help offset the dues. The first $50 sold in Program ads will go to help pay for printing, and the remainder goes straight to the player accounts. The Parent Packets contained a Program Ad Sales form, a list of all current ads for each player, and a Player Information Sheet. Ads are due in to Kristina by Friday, August 7 th, in time for printing the Programs by our first home game. Please don t wait until the last minute to get these to Kristina. (Kristina Hales mailed out a list of the current ads on May 9 th. Please review the spreadsheet to make sure you do not sell ads to businesses that are already sponsored by another player.) The Player Information Sheet should be filled out by each player and turned in to Drew Hales at a practice. This information will go in the Volleyball Program as well as on the website. Kristina Hales is also in charge of keeping up the HHS Volleyball Website, and her husband, Jason Hales, is the official team photographer. Pictures may be downloaded from the HHS Volleyball website, and the game footage can be viewed with a password. Ask Kristina for details. 8. Spirit Wear: Kris Valentine is in charge of Spirit Wear again this year. There is a Spirit Wear order form in each Parent Packet that contains options for ordering items for both players and parents. Kris mentioned that the Pepper color is actually a dark grey color, although it looks green on the form. There must be enough interest to order Yoga Pants this year to get them at the special price. Coach Donahoo requested that the Spirit Wear Order Forms also be put in the Teachers Mailboxes, as several have requested to order these. The Deadline to turn in Spirit Wear orders is June 9 th. 9. Concessions / Travel: Tricia Cox, a former parent of HHS Volleyball players, is again coordinating the Concession Stand for the home games and tournaments. She will also be booking the travel for the away tournaments. More information to come from Tricia as the season gets closer. Each parent will be expected to volunteer at the Concession Stand. 10. Gate: Jenny Goodwin will be coordinating the Gate duties for Home Games and Tournaments. More information will be coming on this at our 2 nd Parent Meeting, and Parents will be expected to volunteer to help with this. Parents, please bring your calendars to the 2 nd Parent Meeting (sometime in August), so that you can schedule time to volunteer for gate and concession stand duty.
11. Food Tables: Lydia Combs, Dawn Warren, and Janie Artalona will be coordinating the food for the Team Camps and the Tournament Tables. Parents will be expected to provide food for these or provide cash to purchase food items. Parents will also be expected to provide food for the Hospitality Rooms for the coaches and referees for the Ironman and JV Tournaments. Laine Thomas and Donna Klecka are coordinating the Hospitality Rooms for the Ironman and JV Tournaments. 12. Introduction of Varsity Coach: Paige Doyle introduced Coach Melanie Donahoo, the Head Coach for the HHS Volleyball Program. Coach Donahoo has been coaching at HHS for 13 years and there has been lots of success and she is proud of our HHS winning tradition. Coach Donahoo expressed her excitement for this season and mentioned how competitive vying for a position will be this season. She then provided the parents with a brief personal background and explained her philosophy: it is not about winning it is about putting something over their personal needs and being a part of something bigger than themselves with emphasis on working hard and achieving goals. Attitude and personal effort are key attributes she looks for in her players. Academics are also very important. Behavior in and out of school will be monitored. The HHS Volleyball program has the highest GPA of all the athletic teams at HHS, and she is very proud of that fact. She wants the girls to not only be successful in volleyball but also wants them to be successful later in life. Coach Donahoo also went over the schedule for the season and said that Summer Workouts will begin on June 1 st and will be on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays between 9:00 to 12:00. She said that these summer workouts are not mandatory but are strongly recommended. She said not to miss a family vacation or mission trip over these workouts, but if you are in town, these workouts should be a priority since this is a highly competitive program. Team pictures will take place during the summer and we have to use Life Touch for the Yearbook. Coach Donahoo said that official practices will start at the beginning of August, and these will be mandatory. She said that once school starts, practices will be 7 th period and will go from about 2:30 to 4:30 or 5:00. A parent asked if Dead Week (July 20-24) would be a good time to take vacation since there will be no practices that week, and the answer was Yes, but it was also mentioned that Courtney Rutledge will be representing HHS in the North-South Volleyball matches in Montgomery, AL that week. 13. Introduction of Junior Varsity Coach: Paige Doyle introduced Lauren Hubert as the coach of the HHS Junior Varsity Volleyball Team. Lauren was a member of Coach Donahoo s first State Champion team. The JV record under
Coach Hubert last year was 29 and 1, and Lauren mentioned that she loves to win! 14. Closing: Paige solicited for questions and then concluded the meeting at 6:00 PM. Minutes Prepared by: Mary Duncan Minutes Approved by: Paige Doyle