Call to Order A meeting of the Sparkman High School Takedown Club was held on 2 November 2015. The meeting was called to order at 6:30pm by President Tom Billig, Jr. Attendance The following attendance was recorded: November 6, 2015 P a g e 1
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Secretary's Report Minutes The meeting minutes from the 12 October 2015 Takedown Club meeting were presented by Margaretha Little. No corrections were made. Request/Motion: Scott Thovson made the motion to accept the minutes as read. The motion was seconded by Melissa Kuykendall. and the Minutes were approved by the membership. Treasurer's Report The Treasurer's Report dated 2 November 2015 (see below) was presented by Tom Billig, Jr., on behalf of the Treasurer, Tom Billig, Sr. There are no open Purchase Orders and the total balance of both accounts combined is $4,737.97. Request/Motion: Melissa Kuykendall made the motion to accept the Treasurer's Report as read. The motion was seconded by Scott Thovson. and the Treasurer's Report was approved by the membership. Sparkman High School Take Down Club Financial Report November Monthly Report As of 02 Nov Account 6157 (Concessions account) Starting Balance $ 2,040.38 Account 6157 Ending Balance $ 2,040.38 Account 6157 unencumbered balance $ 2,040.38 Account 3470 Starting Balance $ 2422.05 Ending Balance $ 2697.59 Open P.O. s Account 3470 unencumbered balance $ 2697.59 Total Balance $ 4737.97 (Source: Budgetary Accounting System Activity Report 11/02/2015) November 6, 2015 P a g e 3
Old Business None New Business Fee Collection Fees are $75 per wrestler. This is separate from the Spirit Wear Package that is on-line. The following payment dates have been established for fee collection: November 2nd @ Takedown Club Meeting, S9 Auditorium, 6:00pm November 5th @ S9 Gym (after practice) November 12th @ S9 Gym (after practice) November 19th @ S9 Gym (after practice) December 7th @ Takedown Club Meeting, S9 Auditorium, 6:00pm Fee payments should be made to a Takedown Club officer, NOT the coaches. They are not allowed to receipt money collected for the Takedown Club. Receipts will be provided for all payments made. The last day to sign up for wrestling is Friday, November 6, 2015. Spirit Wear Store Coach Watson has set up the online ordering system with BSN Sports, based in Nashville, TN. The store will be open from 11/2/15 through midnight on 11/9/15. Coach Watson distributed black & white hardcopies of the items available online. If there are items that parents would like that are not currently available in the store, Coach Watson can add them. The bag is NOT REQUIRED. Parents have asked for samples, however, Nike doesn't provide samples. Sizes run slightly smaller with the Nike brand. Coach Watson recommends the larger boys order up one size. The new Sparkman Senators "S" will be on all items where a logo is shown. Coach Watson emphasized that "Wrestling" will appear on our gear to help promote our team and the wrestling program at Sparkman High. The Principal and Athletic Director will also be given SHS Wrestling shirts to show their support. Shoes are NOT included in the online Spirit Store for two reasons: 1) allow each wrestler to show some individuality and 2) not all wrestling shoe types/brands fit everyone equally. Wrestling shoes can be purchased from the local sporting goods stores, such as, Academy Sports, Dicks, etc. or from Amazon (great selection available). The Spirit Pack for Wrestling this year is $34 cheaper than last year's gear. If a parent does not have a credit card, please contact Coach Watson directly. November 6, 2015 P a g e 4
Middle School Transportation / Car Pool Tom Billig, Jr. thanked Callie Oppman for arranging the car pool for Monrovia Middle School wrestlers. He also thanked the parent driver volunteers. At this time, the biggest issue with bus transportation is for Monrovia Middle School. The busses are so overcrowded - standing room only. Therefore, there is not any room on any particular bus for the MMS wrestlers. Fundraisers Biscuit Sales We are trying to rework this fundraiser. The Federal Government mandated through new nutritional guidelines that we could not sell biscuits to students within 1 hour of their breakfast/lunch times. Mr. Shaw has been asked if we can sell the biscuits to "parents" in car rider line. We are still awaiting approval. November 6, 2015 P a g e 5
Coach Watson stated that the principal of Sparkman 9, Mr. Hester, has given approval to sell food items during their break, which occurs from 9:55am - 10:10am. All that would be needed are two parent volunteers (pick up the biscuits and bring them to S9 / sell them for the 15 minute break). Action Item: Margaretha Little will email the parents to see availability/willingness to sell biscuits and/or some other food/drink item at S9 during their morning break. Action Item: Coach Smith will check with Principal Shaw to see if he will approve this at S9. Although Mr. Hester has given permission, Mr. Shaw may also have to be consulted since the wrestling team falls under Sparkman High, not Sparkman 9. Team Sponsors The plan is to make two team banners, one for the Middle School/JV team and one for the Varsity team. These banners would "travel" with the team to their respective duals and tournaments. Sponsors could purchase a spot on either of the banners for their company logo. Sponsors would basically get 10-12 hours of advertisement at each event. Official letterhead with SHS Tax ID is needed to seek sponsorships. Tom Billig, Jr. asked if any parent would like to volunteer as coordinator to lead this Team Sponsorship activity. Dawn Cangelosi volunteered to serve as the Team Sponsorship coordinator. She will work closely with the Takedown Club officers to develop and execute a plan for this fundraiser. She mentioned that a multi-tier sponsorship plan ($250, $500, $1,000, etc.) should be developed to allow individuals, companies and corporations the ability to sponsor at the level they can afford. Coach Watson mentioned that the wrestling program is the only sports program at Sparkman High School that does not seek/obtain sponsorship money from the TOC, even though TOC provides sports medicine support at each wrestling event. Additional Fundraisers The Takedown Club is allowed 4 fundraisers each year (runs from May through April). With the Biscuit Sales and Team Sponsorships, the Takedown Club still has two additional fundraisers for the wrestling year. All fundraisers have to be submitted to the SHS Athletic Director, 30 days prior to execution of the event. Fundraisers MUST BE APPROVED by Mr. Watts/Mr. Shaw. Tom Billig, Jr. asked parents to think about potential fundraisers that we could request and gain approval for. Some ideas mentioned included: Spirit Nights (Stevie B's, Texas Roadhouse, etc.) and selling food/drink items at S9 during their morning break. November 6, 2015 P a g e 6
Remind We are still working out the bugs in setting up and using this system of communication for the wrestling program. Currently, all reminders will appear as though they originate from the same phone number. This will be changed. A new account will have to be requested and set up for the wrestlers. They will have to "re-subscribe" once the new account setup is complete. Coach's Report Practice Today was the first day of practice. Several of the middle school wrestlers were not used to the intense conditioning. A couple threw up, primarily due to dehydration. Coach asked that parents hydrate their kids well and feed them properly for energy. Coach Smith will be sending out a Nutrition Guideline to parents/wrestlers to help them understand how to prepare their bodies for wrestling. Wrestlers should avoid carbonated beverages. The coach assured the parents that athletic trainers are present during practice and will not allow anything that will harm the boys to occur. Coach Watson asked that parents encourage their kids to "not quit". The first few days are the roughest. It was brought up by some parents that the middle schools don't allow their students to drink water during the day. If the parent writes a note and turns it in to the front office requesting permission for their child to hydrate during school, it will most likely be approved. Promoting the Wrestling Program The coaches are working to heavily promote and advertise the SHS Wrestling program. Things being worked include: Crimson Crier interview with Seniors and Coaches, Dual with Madison County High School Wrestling Team during school hours to allow students to pay to attend and watch the wrestling matches and news articles. Calendar Coach Watson will email a November calendar to all parents/wrestlers. A December calendar will be mailed after that, so that parents can plan around the holidays. Website / Email Check the website often and look for information through email, especially until the Remind 101 system is fully operational. November 6, 2015 P a g e 7
Adjournment The next Takedown Club Meeting will be held on December 7, 2015 in the S9 Drama Auditorium, starting at 6:00pm. The meeting was adjourned at 7:01pm. Respectfully submitted, Margaretha Little Takedown Club Secretary November 6, 2015 P a g e 8