re: Asking for Donations from Local Business for Youth Sports

I don't like teaching my kids to beg for money.

Sell a Po boy or wash a car or something to make some money

Costs have gone up since everyone gets a trophy now.

You should agree to help, get all the money collected and go do something with it that would help people in need.

A friend asked for money for their team to go play all star tournaments. I asked what they needed money for? They needed to buy meat. They sold burgers but had the kids in uniform on the street. They collected double the burger sales just begging. They played the tournament and got beat. Red ball. They then went to Gulf Shores to play a tournament there and paid for the parents' condo rentals for 5 days for a 3 day tournament.

I have 4 stores in 4 different cities.
We get hit up a lot for donations.
My partners and I only sponsor 1 team in each sport baseball, softball, basketball, soccer, field hockey, and ice hockey.
We try to support the teams that are in the neighborhood or comprised of the students in the area school near the store in that city.

We do not support tournament teams because we feel it does not reflect the community as they may have players from different areas of the town.

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Lately there have been a group of young girl softball players at the entrance to a busy shopping center in Bossier just standing there holding cardboard posters with a hand out for money. Their parents sit in their cars in the bank parking lot next to the entrance.

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My best experience was a group of kids and parents blocking traffic at a 3 way stop in 30A near Seaside begging for money.

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at a 3 way stop in 30A near Seaside begging for money.

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Well there are worse places to beg.

I played for Rabenhorst Funeral Home and we played against Dick Howell Realty. I remember Marquis Bobcats, Wade Lemoines Esso and Sam Benton Shell.

I've heard a few friends who pay the coach a salary and all travel expenses for him and wife or girlfriend. frick that. Glad my kid (or me for that matter) didn't have the desire to do that. Niece played club volleyball and they traveled all over the states.

That's a terrible attitude. The children are our future.

You aren't wrong, but I probably wouldn't say anything.

My nephew is a poor soccer player. Just isn't very athletic. He is good at computer things but my wife's brother and his wife just aint going to have any of it. He's going to be an athlete.

A couple of years ago, after a spring and fall season of sitting the bench, my brother in law thought the best thing to do would be to coach my nephew's team so he could get playing time. You know, because it was the coach's fault that he was a poor soccer player.

I dont understand the divisions and stuff of youth sports these days, but apparently this team was a "rec" team not a "select" team. My sister in law had to post fancy pictures on Facebook and t-shirt jerseys wasn't going to cut it, so as the coach and coach's wife, they sent an email that basically demanded parents do whatever to raise the money for matching Nike uniforms, from head to toe.

All hell broke loose, another parent called them out on their bullshite, the team basically disbanded (they were winless mid season when this went down) and they were mad at us for three months because I told them how ridiculous their demand was.