help from the coaches out there....

That's a nice gesture...

It really depends on how much you are looking to spend, and what they already have...

I can give some examples of things our coach wanted or has gotten since he took over the program last season:

A portable mound for batting practice (the kind with wheels).

Replacing the netting in the batting cages.

Tools / equipment to maintain the infield. (Rakes, drags, tamper etc.)

Quality batting tees (Tanner tees)

A top end pitching machine.

New tarps for the mound and home plate.

Another thing any team can use is baseballs, lots of baseballs.

Talk to the AD and then write a check.  Let the coach decide what to spend the money on.  Besides, if the school purchases it they can avoid paying sales tax on any items purchased.  Better yet, start a booster club with your check as the first donation.  Work on getting tax exempt status for the booster club so its expenditures aren't subject to sales tax.

Nice gesture BTW

Awesome idea, people like you really make a hardworking staff feel good.

For around $2,300 you can buy a Atec pitching machine that throws left and right handed curves and sliders. This machine can be rolled outside to assist in BP or shoot fly balls to the outfield. We run ton's of drill's with this unit, not just BP. And it doesn't take a skilled coach to run it, any assistant or team manager will do just fine.

Apparently, you're not "justa" mom!  I'm sure your gift will be greatly appreciated.  What is desirable or needed will vary with every program, based on what is already in place.  If you are waiting until the end of the season, you are likely to hear about some things the program really needs.  You may also want to align in confidentiality with one of the assistant coaches.  They are likely to be very aware of the needs as well as any possible restrictions to "gifting" to the program.  

I suppose I could lean on the anonymity of this forum to ask a question that would otherwise be in bad taste...  What price range did you have in mind?  This may allow myself and other posters to be more specific with providing a list.

Of course, if your player is not a senior, you will want to be careful to handle this in a manner that is not looked at as trying to gain favor.  Unfortunately, as well-intentioned as your actions may be, this is something that can be a problematic perception of others and your son may find himself hearing about it.

Thanks for looking to be part of the solution.  Even though there can be procedural and political hurdles when trying to help in this manner, most programs these days need this type of help to operate with a reasonable degree of safety, efficiency and quality.

I'm not sure I like the check to the AD. Don't know if it will all get to the baseball program, but that may be ok with you as long as it's getting to athletics and actually be used.

Not sure where you're at, but by us we have one of those rules where if you do it for the baseball program you have to do if for the softball program. So if we had a donor that wanted to buy a new scoreboard for the baseball program it couldn't happen unless it was done for the softball program also. Wouldn't matter for smaller items so no big deal since people wouldn't notice.

So if you're giving some big $...

- New scoreboard:
http://www.daktronics.com/en-u...ucts/sports/baseball

- Turtle

- Halo around home plate:

http://halokits.com/

- Covered batting cages

- Mower

- Kawasaki Mule (or like)

- New team uniforms

Man... I could keep going on this one.

One that I always wish we could do:

http://www.battingdomeusa.com/featured-fc.html

thank you all----this is what i need! keep it coming!!!  yes my son is a senior....that is why i waited until now. our coach doesn't have/or want a booster club....i would love to start one but i think he is afraid of the other parents....lol....i may tell him i will run it even after my son goes....we'll see!  as far as price....im thinking 3k and i will fundraise for whatever else i need. i have approached an assistant coach and he is going to keep his ears open for me. i don't think i will give to AD...sadly baseball will probably not see it. i have been a huge part of football booster so i know my way around the "you can'ts".....doesnt really work with me!!lol keep them coming....some really great ideas so far! thank you!

My suggestion in talking with the AD wasn't to write a check to the AD but to find out from the AD how you can give money to the baseball program.  If the AD doesn't know then ask the principle, if the principle doesn't know ask the school board.  Any competent AD will know.  Your HC should rethink the booster club.  They are the perfect vehical for raising money for the program.  With the ever shrinking funding of all extracurricular activites (band, athletics, etc), booster clubs are really a necessity.

This is very true.

Our school's baseball booster club has been very active in the last year.  While there are always the "political" issues, the club has really worked hard to turn around our school's program. While every parent dreads doing fundraisers, the reality is they really help to supplement the team's budget as funding from the school itself shrinks.

Aside from the financial benefits - our boosters have done things such as hanging new netting in the batting cages, paint the dugouts and concession stand, and one parent even brought in a Bobcat that was used to level out the warning track.

I don't know how the situation is at your school, but a few years ago our booster club was able to get a used small pre-fab building donated that has become our concession stand. Booster volunteers run the stand, and it usually makes $200-$300 a game. Over the course of a season it really adds up.

i think it just depends on your needs. when i first started here we didn't have any outdoor nets. so we built ouselves a decent batting cage with 2 nets. then we needed better bullpens, so we added 2 mounds and improved the 2 we had. then, we needed more nets... nets to hit soft toss into, protection nets for bp. Then, thanks to a nasty windstorm we needed a new portable backstop for bp, so we got one of those. Then i wanted to improve our indoor situations so we got some new mounds and some indoor catch-nets.  The school has been generous to buy balls and catchers gear and helmets; we've done the rest by fundraising. 

so i would just look around and ask what they need.... I did have a dad who would come to me at the beginning of the year several years ago and ask what you are asking. The first year he bought me catchers gear and the next year he bought us some nice pullover bp tops... then his wife got a better job in another city and we lost him... that was a sad day believe me, he still had one more son that was in jr high.

Sounds like you have some good insight as to how things work at that school so, of course, look at things that would not otherwise be provided. 

Things that come to mind for me...

Portable backstop/cage

Portable mound

Portable ball cart

Upgraded L-screens w/wheels

New Batting Cage frame/netting

Upgraded infield dirt material/ clay

Rebuilt bullpen area

Scoreboard

Turf mats for home plate and cages

Home plate and mound tarps

Rakes and tamps

New bases

Hose reel cart

OF fence rail guard

J-bands, medicine balls, agility ladders

Pitching Machine

Foul polls

I'll send you the ship-to address via PM

To go along with this... infield protection would be a good thing to have 

thank you all for all the wonderful ideas....sorry it took so long to get back...was on a road trip.   i went to the coach yesterday and decided to just lay it out. he laughed and told me i had permission "to be me"....he knows what i have done for football.lol  he has also agreed to give me a wish list. he told me that he is running this whole program on about 2k a year.....thats nuts to me. wish me luck and hopefully i can do something for a coach and program that has done sooo much for my son!