In need of advice

First, honesty will be the best policy here with the parents and players. 

Second, start looking for an "angel" to get you started.  Put the word out you're looking for "investors."  The best fundraising you can do is just ask.  You'd be surprised what you might come up with.  There just might be some donor who really would like to help. 

Third, you probably need to sit down with the AD and Principal to make sure you are all on the same page.  Good luck. 

Thanks for the response. I definitely was thinking about a meeting with all 3 of us would be beneficial, to make sure we're all on the same page as much as possible. And who knows, maybe that angel will be at the first parent meeting! 

Our High School did a one day hit-a-thon last fall.  Players got one swing for each dollar raised...team raised over $13K just from that.  I was shocked and I think head coach was too...there were about 40 players involved..so if you have 20...possibly raise half that much as a goal.  If you get the money and still have no field then you have an issue though so I'd try to get that lined out in advance before going down a path of fundraising.

I started the booster club when my son was in HS and by the end we were raising over $20K per year  - some of the best programs:

1. Alum game and BBQ. Each player sells tickets for $10 each, get donations for the food and do it yourself. Raised $3,500-$4,000 each time. Alum love to give back. 

2. Signage: $2,000-$5,000

3. Yearly program with ads: $3000 - $5,000

4. "Beg letters" We had each player write some family and friends that they were playing HS baseball and the program needed "X" X = batting cages, bullpens, or some other specific need. These always raised $5,000+ 

5. Snack shack. (more complicated as you need someone to run it, but can generate $2,000+

Car washes, hit a thon's and others.

Good luck.

Ha.

Wow, thats awesome.  Must have been nice.  I got involved twice when my kid was in high school.   The first time was in support of a new coach who ended up being fired the day before the season started....he responded by taking all the equipment with him.  Opening day they had one bucket of balls and one rake and that was it.  The coach previous to him was fired when several thousand dollars in monies could not be accounted for.  

I just started giving to the physical needs of the program.  A new pitching machine.  Got together with some other dads and redid the clubhouse....new carpet, paint, lockers and name plates for the Varsity players they could take with them after the season was over.  Also redid the dug out with new bat racks, benches ect.  Found it much less irritating to invest sweat than money.  

I saw the hit-a-thon idea posted on here before and thought it was an ingenious idea. I like the idea of a dollar per swing, although I'd have to pay to use a field so parents and others can attend. The AD has some good ideas for fund raisers as well. I think I need to get a clear deadline set for funds from the AD as far as developing a team for this season goes to let parents know, i.e. if we don't raise $6k by __ date, we won't have a team for this season. 

Great ideas and responses everyone--thanks for the help!

I think I will have some dads that want to invest sweat-wise into the team as well, which is good. Just don't want too many chefs in the kitchen as far as dads bringing their expertise in coaching as well, as that can be disastrous. 

Does your school have an overall booster group?  We have one that kicks butt and allows us to be the only team in the area without pay to play fees.  If you do have one, the AD should be able to point you in the right direction and you might be surprised as to how much they can contribute.

Our program's largest fundraiser is a tournament in February, in Michigan.  They play with a larger ball and it is usually a snowy mess, very entertaining watching all the teams run around in sometimes knee deep snow.  It usually brings in 3-5k.  They also do a sub sale which brings in approximately 2k.  

The newest addition is a summer tournament geared only towards local school teams that are focused more on program development.  This inaugural year brought in over 4k after expenses.

Since you're on a time crunch, you don't have time to set up tournaments, but you can contact the boosters, do a can drive, sell some subs, etc.  And, if your district charges to play sports (not sure on the rules/laws regarding this) if you charge $200 per player, and have 40 players in the program, that is $8000.   

I haven't read everything so I apologize if anything is repeated.  As an AD myself it sounds like your AD and principal aren't on the same page.  I cannot express how bad that is and needs to be the first thing fixed.  You need to be the thing that brings those two together because you're getting conflicting stories.  End of the day whatever the decision is - have the team or wait another year - you know have a definite message to give the parents.

I like what someone said above about investors.  That is your parents of players but here is the problem - if a parent helps raise tons of money and their kid sucks.  Do you keep them or cut them?  You need to be clear and up front as to what expectations are or you're going to find yourself in a sticky situation.  I would let them know any money helped raised goes to the team - it doesn't guarantee a spot on the team or playing time.  That will help quite a bit.

Thanks again for the replies everyone. Great ideas given that'll definitely help me for the future. Yes, as coach2709 mentioned, I do feel like the main issue is the clash between the AD and admin here, and I think the only solution is to have a meeting with the 3 of us to clear the air, regardless of how uncomfortable it may be. I need to emphasize that I'm getting conflicting stories and I'm not sure what message I'm going to be able to present to parents at the meeting. I can't lead the program without a clear idea on where it's going in this school year. 

JR Senior, welcome to the site.  What is your confidence level that you can raise the $6K?  Have you done any preliminary digging around to determine what kind of community support you may be able to get?  As another mentioned, how much Booster support can you get?  Are there any fundraising restrictions you have with the school?  Have you looked into any local school or park fields you may be able to rent or share? 

I know this is first year and don't know if you have previous HC experience but the school will appreciate you taking the lead on some of these things (in fact, expected from HC generally) to determine actual feasibility of pulling off playing the first year.  Maybe your first meeting with AD and principal is to get parameters set on what it would take to make year 1 happen this year.  I assume that is your preference.  Then you can get after it in the next month or so to see if it can work.  This might still give the school enough time to put together a decent schedule.

I agree with Coach2709 that you have to be careful about raising the money from player parents.  Be sure to include that disclaimer.  Other community support and general Booster support would help alleviate the need to lean too hard on parents.  Depending on the size and general economic shape of your town, I wouldn't think $6K would be that tough, particularly when you can appeal to the fact that any sponsor would be supporting a new HS sport.

Are they building a field eventually?  What is timing on that?

I would avoid parent "investors" for the reasons stated.  Preferably you'd find some guy who has a few K's and he'd just like to help (maybe a local business owner).  Eventually you'll name something after him. 

But if all you have is parents, and it is a question of getting the program started, then auction off the SS position to the highest bidder.     

Thanks for the welcome and advice Cabbagedad. I am fairly confident that students would be able to raise the money if the prospective players are up to the task. A good fundraiser for our school is putting signs up for businesses/ads in our gym. This would raise around $200 per sign, so if we are able to get a good amount of response with this, it would be feasible. Not sure about Booster support as of yet, but I'm going to look into this asap, and as far as I know, no restrictions on fundraisers overall. 

We do have plans to begin working on a practice field at the beginning of the school year, but the amount of time it'll take to complete this process is still up in the air at this point. A playing field is out of the question for now. There are fields in the surrounding area that we will be able to play on, but the best price I could find is about $150 per game. 

My preference is definitely to start playing this season, and I see a desire in the students to play as well. However, I see the logic behind the AD's hesitance for this year--too many things can go wrong (not enough money or players committing to the team would lead to disastrous consequences). I don't have ANY coaching experience at all, at either assistant or head position, although I've been teaching high school for 7 years now, so I have experience with high school students (although coaching and teaching are very different). Our high school population is relatively small, so there are not many faculty members overall. Students expressed a desire to develop a team, and after being offered the position and discussing it with my family, I accepted. I'm excited for the opportunity and I want to grow this program into a vital part of the school in the future.

I know I need to take the reins more overall, but I just feel like I'm between two minds here. Tomorrow I'm going to attempt to set up a meeting with my AD and administrator to discuss the future of this team going forward to get the ball rolling. 

Well, you found a great resource.  There are plenty of HS coaches here willing to help/advise along the way.  Also feel free to private message me if you would like to discuss anything at length that wouldn't necessarily be public forum material.  I've probably dealt with most of the issues you are about to face.  I'm glad to provide contact info via PM.

Really, $150/game isn't terrible when you consider your school doesn't have to financially support  regular maintenance of a field.  That said, quite often another school or park facility will offer up a discounted rate for a school or youth league.

fwiw, recently a nearby school was having their field (the whole school really) redone and played all away games during construction.  It might up your travel budget, but worth looking into for a year or two.  

Not sure if there are any nearby colleges near you upgrading equipment, helmets, etc, that you can tap in to for low cost or free.

Ask for money from nearby companies.  Maybe a different level than those that get signage.  

We families forked over $175-$250 per year for uniforms and required practice swag. Some pants, jerseys and vests were reused each year, however.  We also had required fundraising (the "beg letters" for 100 inning game) to the tune of $250....or strike a check  (x 40 players = $10k).

First let me say what I'm about to put is meant with deep respect.  You are wrong that teaching and coaching are not the same.  They are without a doubt the same and are interchangeable on the field and in the classroom.  Look at the stereotypical labels of teacher and coach.  A teacher is someone who instructs on how to do something or provide information for later use.  A coach is someone who motivates and helps you succeed.  Now let's expand - whatever you teach you got a kid in the classroom who has potential to be great but doesn't.  Now you've got to motivate this kid to achieve his potential.  Each semester / school year there is a state test your kids have to perform well.  Here is more motivation as well as game planning on how to get that done.  On the baseball field (or anything athletic) you may get a kid who is just raw athleticism but has no clue about baseball skills.  Now you have to sit down and develop lessons on how to teach this kid how to pick up the skills for baseball.  At the same time you have another 15 or so kids of various levels of skill you have to prepare for as well.  If that's not the definition of differentiation instruction I don't know what is?  I hope my examples make sense because I truly believe great classroom teachers can be great coaches (once they know the sport) and great coaches can be great teachers in the classroom (once they know the subject).  My advice to you is regardless if you play this school year or not it sounds like you are the guy they want to be the head coach when the team is up and running, immerse yourself into anything and everything baseball to learn how to coach it.  Find some local colleges and ask if you can watch practices from the stands in order to get ideas on drills and how to run practices.  You'll see what kind of pace to have although once you get on the field you can see fast you can go depending on the skill of your guys.  Even if you played in high school things have changed since then.  Get caught up on the new way of doing things although there's still a lot of things that haven't changed.  Also, don't be afraid to have notes out on the field during practice to remind yourself of things.  I truly feel that now I could run out onto the field and have practice and it would be fine.  But to be the best coach I can be for those guys I have a written practice schedule for all coaches and I have notes all over it reminding myself to get certain things done, look for things or say things.  I agree with cabbagedad in that this place is awesome.  Use the search feature to find old threads (there actually is a fundraising thread on here somewhere because I started it).  Contact guys like cabbagedad, trojanskipper, ironhorse, and the grandmaster of this place Coach May (but there are a bunch of guys I've left off that will help you out - sorry guys).  

I still say you need to have that meeting with the principal and AD.  I also suggest that you have it ASAP before school starts and get everyone on the same page.  What makes my job as an AD tough is when there is a principal who doesn't know sports but wants to make decisions.  Maybe this might be the case here in the principal doesn't understand sports but knows he can gain some kudos with the community to start the baseball team because that's what they want.  But the AD knows it's not feasible to start one now.  Hopefully, the meeting will fix all this. I agree with your AD that it's a nightmare if you schedule a whole season and then can't field a team.  You lose a lot of credibility as a school if that happens.  Yesterday I had a school call me and back out of a football game for this fall.  There's not a snowball's chance in a microwave we will be able to replace that game when we start practice in a week and a half. To say I was mad as h**l would be an understatement.  To make matters worse it was a home game so we are losing out on money and we have a two week break in our schedule.  So I get where you're AD is coming from in that regard.  Money is always tight but to start a new team it would seem like something (at least I think so) the athletic department would pay for.  But if you're stuck with the money making I would strongly suggest getting cheap uniforms.  Maybe something close to a t-shirt and cheap pants.  Reason I say this is because good uniforms can be expensive and it would be a waste of money to buy these uniforms and use them one or two years and then the team folds.  Get a couple of years of stability under your belt and then invest in some really good ones.  Get with a local sporting goods guy and he can probably hook your guys up with ordering cloth from them online.  That's what we do - we have a guy with a sporting goods place and he comes out and shows the guys what they have and different packages.  Then the guys can get on their website and order the stuff.  You don't have to worry about collecting orders / money / receipts and all that stuff that drives you nuts.  Plus, they will typically allow the coaches to get stuff free or give you a kickback on the money and you can use that on coaches stuff.

I think $6K would be kinda easy to raise to be honest.  The school I was at in KY did not give me any money for a budget so we had to raise all the money we spent including spring break trips with hotels and meals.  You have to get parents involved in order to do that.  Starting a baseball only booster club would be a great idea because it's now an organization instead of parents.  Now parents will be making it up but they will be working together which SHOULD help keep the ones who want favors.  Still have the disclaimer that no matter what they help raise it doesn't guarantee anything.  The school I was at in KY had a booster club but they got to the point where they dictated what went on.  I made them fold and got rid of them and did the fundraising myself.  After about 5 years or so I created a new booster club and it was understood they were raising money for the team and not your kid.  It helped that we were successful because winning will cure almost anything.

I would hit the business community hard. Sell helping get the program started in their community. Give them a sign on the outfield fence. Go for $500 per sign. If there are large companies in your area try hitting them for a 5K donation. A major corporation gave our youth sports organization (several sports) 25K per year.

Sorry if this idea has been posted previously, although I don't recall seeing it.  Have a Baseball Pre Season Banquet.  All Parents are involved.  Each Family is required to bring 3 baskets with various items in them. Each basket needs to be worth at least $25.00.  These baskets can include gift cards, gift certificates, nick nacks, etc.  They can be something that the parents bought, had given to them (ReGift a new item), or donated from a local business.  Hire a caterer for the banquet, or buy the food and have the parents make it.  Obviously, any donations here would be appreciated too.  Charge $15 - $25.00 for the Banquet and require the parents to purchase 4 tickets to the event.  This way, they bring another couple who are available to bid on the baskets and other items you have donated.  These items could be an autographed bat, helmet, raffle a shotgun, etc.   You can also have live auctions for fishing trips, hunting trips, cruises, etc.

Our team raises over $16,000 every year from this type of an event.  You could have the event several months in advance so that you would have the funds to get the team started. 

I also forgot that we have beer and wine at these events, so it is a parent only event.  Although, we do have the Sr. Boys as servers, and then they leave once the meal is served.  The beer and wine is donated from a local distributor, and we sell logo'd glasses for $25.00.  These glasses are "All you can Drink" until the beer runs out.

When's the next one? 

Thanks again for all the responses and support everyone. I see now that this page will become a mainstay for me throughout my 1st year coaching and for years to come. 

I did have a talk with the principal of our school today, who has a great open-door policy for his staff. I set up a meeting with our principal and AD for early next week, so I'm looking forward to getting some clear answers from both sides and setting up an agenda for going forward. 

I definitely agree with getting the cheap uniforms now--nothing fancy needed at this point, just something to distinguish us from the other team. I think our AD received some good prices from a local sporting goods location, and I think my principal agrees, nothing flashy needed to begin our program. 

I'm not sure what message I was trying to convey with my "teaching is definitely different than coaching," and I definitely see Coach2709's point--everything I've learned about coaching so far from my research and talking to others is that the same elements that make for a great teacher make for a great coach--ability to inspire others, great organization, great communicator, cool under pressure,etc. I know I need to expand my knowledge of the game, and the best way to do so is to get on the field or in the stands to observe other experienced coaches and see how they practice their craft, much like observing a master teacher at work. 

I love the banquet idea for a fund raiser, and I'll definitely look into that for the future. I'm going to discuss the idea of a booster club at the meeting as well to see if it's in practice yet or see what it'll take to start it up. 

As I've stated, this concern really goes back to setting up a meeting for parents and prospective players to discuss our plans for the baseball program in the upcoming school year. So far, I've come up with this basic outline to discuss. Is there anything you'd add/delete for a meeting like this? (This isn't the normal "you've made the team" meeting; it's more like a "so, you're interested in playing this year" meeting) 

After parent/student sign-in:

1. Give baseball survey for students to fill out—name, grade level, baseball experience, position(s) played to determine experience of each prospect

2. Introduce myself, need of baseball program and desire to see it come about by students/administration

3. Discuss financial issues and need for fund raising—give fundraiser papers to parents/students

4. Discuss tryouts—at beginning of year for prospective players 

JrSenior,

What is your playing experience?  When do you intend to have the parent/player meeting?  What other sports does the school have?  How big is the school?  Is it public or private?  What do you know about the area's summer baseball scene?  Is the school associated with a league or do the other sports play an independent schedule?  Are you in a rural area or near a bigger metro area with lots of other schools?  Is the community fairly well off or more economically challenged?  Who would be charged with construction of a practice field?  Does the school own sufficient land for a field or two?  Is there a softball program?  With some of this info, we can provide much more targeted advise.

The coach at our high school was new when my son was in 8th grade. The program was underfunded and pathetic. So we're the facilities. By the time my son graduated the field has been resodded and dugouts built. New bullpens and a hitting cafe were built. The kids had home, away and practice uniforms. Everything was financed by preseason clinics for 7-12yos with the players as free help. In the summer there were three one week clinics for 7-12s. These are things you can do once you get rolling.

Cabbagedad, I'll try to answer these questions to paint a clearer picture. Initially, I wanted to be discreet with this post, as I don't want to involve anyone but myself, and I still feel that way. However, I know if I have more questions, I could PM you or someone else to find more answers. Here it goes:

My player experience is very limited. Other than playing some in middle school and a variety of backyard ball, I've never played on the high school baseball team at my high school. I wasn't interested in sports in high school, as family issues and a desire to pick up my grades led me to not pursue sports in general (not to mention I wasn't very talented overall, although with practice I could've been okay). 

Our school has a small high school population--we have a combined middle and high school (6-12) with a population of around 8-900 in all grade levels, the population predominately being middle school as well (high school population is around 350 students). 

Our school is also a school of choice, which is a public school that students must apply to in order to be selected via lottery. Our school has a science, technology, engineering, and math emphasis (STEM), and students must have a certain GPA in math and science to be eligible to enroll. 

The school would begin with junior varsity for a couple of years before being eligible to play varsity ball, in which we'd compete against numerous other high schools in our city and district (about 4 other public high schools in our city; 3 or so private schools as well). 

The sports our school has as of now are girls volleyball, girls and boys basketball, and track and field at the high school level. One reason our principal is so adamant about starting the baseball program is that he doesn't want to see students leave our school to play ball for other schools in the surrounding area. As far as softball, not enough students have signed up, so that's a no go for now. 

Our population is predominately middle to lower class students, as most affluent people in the area usually attend private schools, although this isn't always the case. We do have great parental support at our school, which is a major plus. 

As far as summer baseball, I know the area is very active with a variety of leagues, so to get our school involved would not be a major problem. 

A practice field is all that would be possible for now on our campus, as I don't believe the dimensions for a full field would be possible at this time. I think our AD said a baseball or softball field would be around $40k to develop, so that's out of the question for a while. Much like our budget otherwise, we have no money to develop the field, although we may be able to borrow equipment from the school board to develop the field overall. 

Hope this info helps. 

Very helpful and I understand the discretion aspect.  Do feel free to PM any time. 

A big key will be finding the right help.  You will need an asst coach at some point and you will, ideally, find some folks who can sort of mentor you along the way as you prepare for year one, whenever that may be.  You may get lucky and find someone who could do both.  The fact that you are starting with JV will alleviate much of the pressure.  Disruptions in JV schedules are not nearly as uncommon or frowned upon so if things don't work out perfectly fielding a team year one, it's not the end of the world.

Regarding an assistant coach, for many schools there is a small stipend available but for many this is a purely volunteer position which I suspect would be the case for your school.  Find someone with good baseball experience.  Don't be concerned that they are stronger than you in this area.  Combine strengths to maximize the kids experience.  This will be of great help to you, the kids will appreciate it and it will alleviate parent complaints.  It is not uncommon for asst coaches to have more baseball experience than HC but not the time or willingness to deal with all the peripheral stuff that the HC has to deal with.  Preferably this will not be a parent but sometimes that is the only option.  You'll find plenty who love the game, know the game and are willing to help by sharing their knowledge with the kids but the tough part is finding someone who has the type of job that will allow late afternoon availability.  It may be a recently retired or semi-retired or perhaps an ex-coach from another school nearby.  Sometimes you can find coaches who are very good but have been burned out on dealing with some of the admin stuff at a particular school or are at a school where kids and parents just don't care.  You can do all the research and studying in the world but there will still be many aspects where experience is the only teacher.  Also, running a good, efficient practice, even on a smaller practice infield, should be done with multiple stations and that can best be accomplished with at least two coaches present.  Also, I don't know what your capabilities are with throwing batting practice but this is a key area as well.  Throwing mid-speed consistent strikes from a shortened distance is one thing.  Being able to throw mixed pitch types and locating and being able to ramp up the speed sometimes is of particular value. 

A batting cage will be vital.  If it's not already part of the budget, add it.  At minimum, a single full cage will get you by and this is something where that sweat equity can come in handy but it is a must.  And don't leave yourself shy on dimensions.  A pitchers mound/bullpen area is another must.  Development of pitchers becomes critical to a successful HS program, so keep this in mind as you are seeking out your assistant coach.  If you find a good assistant who doesn't have a pitching background, perhaps you can find someone else who can come out and work with pitchers once or twice a week.

I can relate to the great parental support.  It is both a blessing and a curse, mostly a blessing as you stated.  Just be aware that when it comes to sports, parental emotion becomes stronger and the rose-colored glasses become rosier

I asked about summer baseball for a few reasons.  One, if you are planning on having this parent/player meeting before school starts, knowing where they are playing may make it easier to reach all of your potential players during the summer when communication is more difficult.  Of course, the nature of your school may make it a bit easier.  The other reason is that this may be a good place to seek out that assistant coach and other helpful info like field construction/maintenance, bullpen and cage configuration, etc.

 Your principal is correct with concerns of kids leaving a school due to not having the desired sports options.  I see it often.  In fact, it would also be a concern that you are only playing JV for multiple years.  Once you get a program in place, I would try to fast-track the V program.  HS seniors and most juniors don't want to be on a JV team.

It sounds like, with your space limitations, you will need to find a long term field solution.  This may be with a local park or another school who will be willing to share a V or a JV field.  There is a similar arrangement near us.  A small Christian school shares use of a public field with a bigger public HS who has only a V field.