FAQ
What is Boosters?
The Tam Boosters Club is a private, not-for-profit organization whose mission is to elevate (boost!) Tam High Athletics by providing operational and growth funding not provided by the Tamalpais Unified High School District.
Where do those funds come from?
All funds come from parent and community donations: Booster membership fees, sponsorships (banner sales, etc.), Booster events and grants.
How do I access the funds as team parent or coach?
Once coaches and team parents complete thorough pre-season budget estimates, a team parent or coach may complete and submit the Funding Request Form to the Tam High Athletic Director (AD). After establishing that a request conforms to funding requirements (needs based, fair and equitable for the whole program, within 501 (c) (3) rules, etc.), and if District funds are available, the AD will satisfy that request with District funds. If District funds are not available, the AD will forward the request to Boosters. Assuming the availability of funds the Tam Booster funds may satisfy that request.
What do the Boosters cover?
Booster funds aim to cover any operational or program development need not met by District funds. This could include equipment, transportation, scholarship for athletes, coach support, academic support for athletes or anything that is deemed essential for a team to be competitive, safe and continue to evolve as a program.
Boosters does not fund gifts, personalized team hoodies, year-end celebrations, or anything that leaves Tam with the student athlete when they graduate. Funds for these individual season expenses must be raised by the teams themselves and held in individual team ASB accounts for spending during that academic school year.
Does Boosters reimburse teams for uniforms or coach’s gifts?
Uniforms generally fall squarely under the Booster umbrella if there is no budget from the District. All team uniforms are replaced on a set schedule that varies by sport. If uniforms are lost, worn out or more are required based on the growth of the team, and if District funds are not available, then Boosters will fund the purchase of new uniforms. However, coaches requesting uniforms out of cycle for aesthetic/style/team spirit reasons (for example pink Breast Cancer Awareness uniforms) may be asked to fundraise for these uniforms and hold the funds in their team ASB account until they are able to purchase those uniforms.
501 (C) (3) rules limit gifts given to any individual for any reason to $50. Therefore Boosters recommend that coaches’ gifts be funded through an informal “pass-the-hat” proces.
Is there a fixed dollar amount available per team or player?
No. Booster funding is needs based, but together with Tam’s Athletic Director, Boosters sometimes have to determine need vs. want. So for example, one year the tennis program may need new nets, balls, racquets and buses all in the same year. Other years they may have no unmet operational needs at all. Pre-season budget estimates allow Boosters and Tam AD to estimate short and long term program costs. This is one reason why budgeting is such a critical part of funding Tam’s athletic program.
How do I book a bus?
District funds generally provide transportation to any away MCAL competition located out of Marin County. Any team electing to organize carpools in lieu of District allocated transportation funding will have the option to use $1,000 towards team operational/program development expenses (tournament fees, equipment, coaching development, etc.). If a team does not travel out of county during their league games in any season they will not have District funded transportation. If a team willingly schedules a non-league opponent out of county transportation will not be funded with District funds but rather from Booster funds if available. Tam’s athletics administrator (currently Patty Parnow) schedules team transportation.
What is the athletic fund? Who runs that?
There are three sources of funds that pay for Tam Athletics. One is provided by the TUHSD (District), the second is Booster funds, and the final source are ASB (Associated Student Body) funds.
Tamalpais High School Athletics:
This account is funded by the Tamalpais Union High School District (TUHSD) and is the general athletic account that funds 44 Tam sports teams. This account is used to pay for the mandatory and operational needs for all sports. Examples include: League dues, Officials, Uniforms, Equipment.
Boosters Fund:
This funding source provides for athletic program operational and development expenses not provided by the District. These funds are generated through Booster membership, and Booster fundraising. Funds from the Boosters Fund are distributed to the Athletic department in general and to specific teams upon request from Tam’s Athletic Director and individual team coaches and team parents. All requests must first go to Tam’s Athletic Director.
ASB (Associated Student Body) Team Accounts:
Individual ASB accounts are held in the Budget Office at Tamalpais High School. All funds are raised by students from a specific team and are deposited into that program’s ASB account. Sports coaches must request these funds first from Tam’s Athletic Director. All requests are evaluated by the ASB (leadership) class and faculty advisor.
For athletic teams, these accounts are intended to provide funds for climate and culture expenses. For example, spirit wear, personalized and/or non-returnable athletic wear (warm-ups or hoodies with player names), end of year celebrations, etc. These accounts must be fully utilized by the end of each school year or may be reclaimed by TUHSD.
What about team fundraising?
Teams who choose to raise money for team climate and culture purchases (see ASB team accounts above) should do so at the beginning of their sport’s season in order to avoid overlapping similar fundraising efforts by other programs. Teams may not host a sport specific event outside their season of sport. For example, the fall girl’s tennis team cannot host a tournament or skills clinic during the winter or spring seasons. In an effort not to stress our community the agreement for teams is to fundraise during their season of sport. By district rule, coaches may not endorse nor manage/run out of season programs for Tam High teams.
How much do we need to raise?
The only way to determine need is through a thorough and thoughtful budgeting process. Per school policy, no funds (Booster or ASB) will be distributed until coaches submit their best budget estimates.
Miscellaneous
Why do some teams charge for their games/matches and some don’t?
All sports have the option to charge admission at home events. However, when charging at regular season home events the cost of hiring help to work the gate often outweighs the gate collection. Below is the approved ticket prices for MCAL schools:
| Sport | Regular Season | Playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adult | Child/Student/Senior | Adult | Child | Student | Senior | |
| Football | $7.00 | $4.00 | $7 | $4 | $3 | $4 |
| Basketball | $7.00 | $4.00 | $7 | $4 | $3 | $4 |
| Basketball | Championship | $10 | $5 | $4 | $5 | |
| Baseball | $5.00 | $1.00 | $7 | $4 | $3 | $4 |
| Lacrosse | $5.00 | $1.00 | $7 | $4 | $3 | $4 |
| Soccer | $5.00 | $1.00 | $7 | $4 | $3 | $4 |
| Swimming | $5.00 | $1.00 | $7 | $4 | $3 | $4 |
| Softball | $5.00 | $1.00 | $7 | $4 | $3 | $4 |
| Track | $5.00 | $1.00 | $5 | $3 | $3 | $3 |
| Water polo |
$5.00 |
$1.00 | $7 | $4 | $3 | $4 |
| Wrestling | $5.00 | $1.00 | $7 | $4 | $3 | $4 |
| Volleyball |
$5.00 |
$1.00 | $7 | $4 | $3 | $4 |
What is MCAL and NCS?
MCAL is the Marin County Athletic League and is comprised of:
- Archie Williams
- Branson
- Marin Catholic
- Novato
- Redwood
- San Marin
- San Rafael
- Tamalpais
- Terra Linda
- American Canyon (Boys Volleyball)
- Analy (Boys Volleyball)
- Berkeley (Field Hockey)
- Cardinal Newman (Boys Volleyball)
- Convent & Stuart Hall (Field Hockey)
- Lick-Wilmerding (Field Hockey)
- Marin Academy (Waterpolo)
- University (Field Hockey)
NCS is the North Coast Section (CIFNCS.org) which is a regional governing body that, among other things, administers post- season play (regional championships) by region under the auspices of the CIF (California Interscholastic Federation: www.cifstate.org).
What is all league and when is it announced?
All league players are top performers by conference. In MCAL, coaches vote on all league honors but may not vote for their own athletes. All-league recognition is generally released when the last MCAL School has completed their season.
What is a scholar athlete?
There are annual awards for both individual and teams that maintain a certain GPA. NCS determines which grading period to use during each sport season to award scholar-athletes. GPA's for scholar athlete recipients are UNWEIGHTED (i.e. do not include “bonuses” for AP and Honors classes). Fall scholar athletes will use the R2/November grading period. Winter scholar athletes will use the S1/Fall Semester grades. Spring scholar athletes will use the R5/April grading period. In addition there are two types of scholastic awards recognized by NCS. The scholar athlete is the students unweighted GPA for their designated sports grading period (the minimum GPA for this recognition is a 3.5 GPA unweighted). The distinguished scholastic team award is the average GPA for all student-athletes on a specific team during their designated sports grading period (the minimum GPA for this recognition is a 3.0 GPA unweighted team average).