All-Sports Booster club always looking for additional help

It's an ironic thing.

Looking at the multi-million dollar Big George Sports Complex at Douglas High School, one would never guess that the most valuable part to the Tiger athletic program would be the 30-year-old snack bar.

Through that conduit, along with selling season passes and Tiger merchandise, the Douglas High All-Sports Boosters Club raises more than $10,000 a year to benefit the teams at the high school.

"There's no question, football is our bread-and-butter," boosters president Steve Morgan said. "I don't think people realize how much work goes into feeding the town at the football games."

Add to it hosting the soccer games and track meets held at the high school, and the snack bar gets a pretty healthy workout during the school year.

"When you are talking $1 at a time, one candy bar at a time to benefit 700 kids at the school, it's a lot of work," booster treasurer Terrie Thomas said. "But it also adds up.

"The boosters started out being pretty much just for football, but we need to get away from that stereotype. We are here for all of the sports at the high school. We need help to do it, we need the community support."

Over the past several years, under previous president Samantha Thurm, the boosters board adopted a basic policy of helping more than one child for more than one year.

"When we give away money, we want it to benefit the program for many years,"

Morgan said. "We're not looking at things like one-shot deals that the players take with them. We look for things that many players will be able to benefit from, stuff that is above and beyond what the school's athletic budget can afford."

For example, last year the club gave the tennis program $1,650 to help purchase windscreens for the courts at the high school. They donated $3,900 for a new blocking sled for the football team that is suitable to use on the synthetic turf at the school. They purchased a $3,000 public address system for the gymnasium and gave the baseball team $1,000 to help finish the interior of the snack bar at Tiger Field.

Heading into this year, they gave the soccer program $1,200 for some miscellanous field equipment and furnished a pair of $500 scholarships for outgoing seniors.

In the past several years, they've also helped with equipment for the swim team and the track team.

"The coaches know where to find us, and there is a specific application process we have them go through," Morgan said. "We vote on it and then we run it past the athletic department to see if the funds are in any way available from the school, which they usually aren't.

"It takes a lot of work to run the snack bar, so if a particular sport wants something, a lot of times we'll have them sign up to help out with the snack bar. If a sport needs something, they know they are going to have to work for it a little bit.

"An ideal year for us is being able to give away all the money we raise," Morgan said. "That's the point of what we do. This past year, we figured out we were able to help out more than 700 kids. That's a good year."

Morgan's ties to the snack bar run back to its original construction.

"Paul Rogers' construction technology class built it back in 1976," Morgan, a student at Douglas at the time, said. "Until we got in there about four years ago, nothing had really changed much."

So began a rennovation process to bring the structure back up to date.

"We put in new counter tops, new coffee machines, new hot chocolate makers, all kinds of things to kind of update the system," Morgan said. "Most of that came from community donations. When the old Arby's by Raley's was being torn down, they gave us a lot of their stuff, like the soda machine and the trash bins.

"The interior is a lot better than it was a few years ago. The snack bar was built for the 70s crowds, and it is just a lot bigger process now."

The concessions and Tiger apparel make up about 95 percent of the club's revenue.

"We have a wide variety of Tiger merchandise every year," Thomas said. "A lot of the teams in the Valley, from Pop Warner to CVMS and Douglas, are Tigers, so it's good stuff for a lot of sports."

Morgan usually makes the weekly shopping trips during the season to buy enough food to feed the town. The cost usually ranges around $1,000.

"It fills up my truck pretty well," he said. "People at the store probably think I'm some sort of cany fiend with as much stuff as I buy there."

The 2006 season, when the Tiger football team was out on the road for all but the final two weeks while the new turf was being installed, was especially hard on the booster club.

"That was a huge loss for us," Morgan said. "It probably ended up being an $8,000 to $10,000 hit for us."

Even so, the boosters tried subsidize the loss by loading up Morgan's trailer and setting up a portable stand at two Douglas games their temporary home field, Bishop Manogue.

"The year without the field just killed us," Thomas said. "It's been great to come back and get back into a normal routine."

Things rebounded in 2007 as Douglas got six home games in addition to a number of night soccer games and track meets.

"The track meets are a big deal," Morgan said. "We're going to get to host the regional track championships this year, and that will be big too."

Outside of the events at the Big George complex, the boosters also sell concessions at the basketball games during the winter.

The boosters average about 12 to 15 members every year, but are always looking for more.

"If there is someone who would just like to donate their time and has a desire to help the kids, we can always find something for them to do," Thomas said. "We can always use more help."

Most members have children involved in sports at the high school and stay involved as long as they are still participating in sports.

"That's the typical case," Morgan said. "Some people keep doing it even after their kids are off at college. It's an enjoyable thing though. I could see myself continuing to do this after my daughter graduates."

This year's board includes Morgan, Thurm and Thomas, along with vice president Sandy Wartgow, secretary Emily Pfaffenberger, Debbie McFadden, Jane Lowe and Jim Anderson.

The boosters sell season passes ($165 all-season family, $100 single-season family, $100 individual all-season, $75 single-season) and memberships, which include merchandise.

The booster club meets on the second Monday of every month at 6 p.m. in the high school commons.

Anyone interested in getting involved can attend or can e-mail dhssportsboosters@yahoo.com.

For more information, visit the high school home page at www.dcsd.k12.nv.us/dhs/ and click on the boosters link under the athletics and clubs section.