Greetings! It is with great pleasure that the Mercy Athletic Boosters announce the continuation of our relationship with Challenger British Soccer. We will have a skills coach to supplement our volunteer soccer coaches for the Fall 2008 season. The feedback from players, coaches, and parents was very positive about the Spring experience, which made this an easy decision.
As this is relatively new for all involved (particularly for those new to Mercy and its sports programs), we feel it’s important to share the reasons we chose Challenger and how it is being paid for (not from school operating funds).
What was the Booster’s thought process in hiring a skills coach?
• Our goal as Boosters is to provide the resources necessary to make each experience with our athletic programs a positive one. We strive to create great educational opportunities when on the field, track, or court.
• We review feedback from coaches and parents about their experience. From that, we make decisions on how to improve the next time. In a soccer survey a couple of years ago, some glaring issues caused the Boosters to act.
• Parents identified the need to have an increased focus on learning the skills of the game. Each team had varying levels of skills training dependent on the knowledge of the VOLUNTEER coach.
• We’re indebted to the coaches for the time they give to our school. Coaches asked to receive more help to plan practices that would include building blocks of learning. Anything we can do to help the coaches is one of our top priorities.
Did we do this to become more competitive?
• No. The skills coach was hired to provide a better educational experience and provide consistency for the players and coaches. With an increased focus on the skills of the game, the players should feel more comfortable when they are on the field. At the end of the day, our hope is that your son or daughter learns a great deal about the game and feels like a contributing member of the team.
How is this paid for? The operating budget of the school?
• An anonymous donor has contributed 80% of the cost and has committed to doing the same this Fall. We’re very thankful for the generosity of the donor.
• The other 20% comes from the boosters operating budget. This budget comes from team
fees, donations, and fund raisers. The budget is used to purchase uniforms, rent gym time, pay tournament fees, and pay player and team fees.
• The Annual Fund, Spring Fling, and the operating budget of the school are NOT used at all for this purpose.
Isn’t there a cheaper alternative than hiring a company to handle this? Can we get volunteers todo this?
• The Boosters investigated a number of options prior to signing with Challenger. None of these options provided the opportunity for all of our teams; had as flexible a schedule; had as flexible a pricing model; or handled the entire process from start to finish.
Do we pay for the travel, lodging, and other expenses of the trainer?
• No. We pay one flat fee that covers these expenses. The trainer lives with Mercy families during his 10‐week project with our school.
How do you gauge success?
• From your feedback. From coach feedback. We assess all of this and make a determination on how to proceed for the next season. Our meetings are open to all parents who would like to learn more about our organization and offer feedback. Please come!
If you have any additional questions, please let any of the Boosters officers know.
Thank you!
Tim Bronsil – President
Jeff Spelman – Vice President
Jayme Smith – Secretary
Karsten Sommer – Treasurer
Michele Geiger – Soccer Coordinator
Teams are Now Forming for the Mercy Masters Golf Outing June 8, 2010. Contact Tom Grant for more details.
