The first varsity football game of the new season kicks off next Friday, Aug. 30, when the Greyhounds face the Cloverdale Eagles, a Russian River rivalry in the best sense. Whatever the result of the year’s first gridiron game at Rec Park, the halftime period is worth its weight in gold—in the form of a giant check written out in the amount of $74,160 to the high school’s athletics programs.
That’s no small change, and represents the largest single-year donation yet given by the Healdsburg Greyhound Boosters, the half-century-old organization of parents and former athletes who want to keep helping out the school’s sports.
“Our sole mission is to raise funds for every sports team at the high school,” said Kim Thompson, one of the co-presidents of the Greyhound Boosters, along with Karen Klick. “The last 10 years, we’ve given over a half-million dollars to the high school’s sports teams.”
Members of the Healdsburg Boosters raise money throughout the year, though they do take some time off in July and August to catch their breath (and spend time with their kids). They hold an annual golf tournament at Tayman Park, solicit memberships to their organization and—most visibly—run the “Snack Shack” at Rec Park, providing quick food and drink to attendees of the football, basketball and volleyball games as well as the Future Farmers Country Fair in May.
About a third of their income comes from each source—Snack Shack, membership and golf tournament. This year they are able to donate over $74,000 to the school’s athletes, their highest contribution yet.
The Formula
They make their donations as egalitarian as possible. “There’s 17 athletic teams at the high school,” Thompson said. “So we take that $74,000 that we’re giving and we divide it by the total number of student athletes—adding up volleyball, basketball, golf, football, 17 sports in all, there’s 412 student athletes,” based on last year’s participation totals.
“And we came up with $180 per student athlete per sport,” Thompson continued. “Now in volleyball, for instance, they had 40 participants; 40 students who got to play girls volleyball, JV and varsity.” Multiply 40 by $180, and the volleyball program gets $7,200 this year.
Jonathan Nuttall, the new coach of the varsity volleyball team, did not work with boosters at his former school, Rancho Cotate, but he immediately noticed the value that the HHS Boosters bring to the team.
“I can say that the Greyhound Boosters have been amazing for the volleyball program this season. With the funds they gave us I’m able to buy team backpacks, custom warm-ups and hopefully new jerseys so our frosh team can stop wearing scraps from years ago,” he said.
Note that the Boosters do not get income from the tickets sold to high school sporting events—that goes into the Student Body Sports Account (SBS), said Athletics Director Josh Cavanagh. “This account pays for officials, league dues, end-of-season awards, and covers the cost of ticket takers at sporting events.
“The district also pays for transportation, safety items and coaching stipends for the teams,” Cavanagh added. “Each sport has their own individual account that is funded by fundraisers and boosters. Out of these accounts is where uniforms, team supplies and other sport-specific items are paid for.”
Once a Booster …
“I graduated from Healdsburg High in ’74 and played baseball and football,” Thompson said. “By the time my kids were going there, I realized how important sports were to high school athletes and to the kids at the school.”
His own two children have long since left high school. But Thompson keeps engaged with the Boosters because he’s a believer.
“We’re a small high school, but everybody, if they want to play, they get to play,” he said. “And the coaches have been fantastic about having as many kids as they can on the program. They all may not play in the games, but they get to come and be part of that team or that organization.”
And the Boosters are there to “make sure that the kids get a shirt, something to take with them when they are done with that season.”
Though only a relative handful of Boosters keep the newly remodeled Snack Shack going, there are several hundred members. Memberships are a big portion of the Booster’s contribution; they range from $20 up, and all levels include at least two membership cards, worth $2-$4 off admission at home or away games.
Thompson reminds the community that it’s the generosity of the businesses and people of Healdsburg that make the work of the Boosters work for the community.
More at www.healdsburghighboosters.org/.
