Need help starting our own 12U travel team

[InsidePitch]

You don't need a tax id but if you set up as a 501C3 you may get sponsorship/ contributions that are tax deductable. I'm not a CPA so don't quote me.

I'm not familiar with FP in your area. In ours (NJ) we are saturated with teams. To the point that it is hard to find starting pitchers and harder to hold onto them as the grass is always greener. If you have a lot of teams already you might reconsider your motives for starting a team and Good luck.

 

[2bucketdad]

Dude, let me save you some time, go to your bank and draw out more money than you can afford to and put it in a pile in the yard and set it on fire, and while it is burning bang your head against the sidewalk and have some of your neighbors and your family call you names and curse at you...when the fire goes out and your head stops hurting find an established team or organization, and put your kid on one of its teams!

 

[Sparky Guy]

Dude, let me save you some time, go to your bank and draw out more money than you can afford to and put it in a pile in the yard and set it on fire, and while it is burning bang your head against the sidewalk and have some of your neighbors and your family call you names and curse at you...when the fire goes out and your head stops hurting find an established team or organization, and put your kid on one of its teams!

That was good. It pretty much sums it up.

 

[Sparky Guy]

We are wanting to start a 12U travel team and need to know what is the best way to get it up and running. We understand the try-outs, fundraising, ordering uniforms, where to find tournaments etc.... What we are confused with is all the "behind the scene" details. For example, where and how do you get insurance, do you have to sign up or pay fees for each sanction or can you just find a tournament pay your tournament fee and play?? Thanks for any help you can offer

This is a link to a spreadsheet I made for myself to track the team finances. Go through the list of expenses and you'll see some of the things you'll need to for a travel team. Things like fields, umpires, equipment, and myriad of other things.

http://www.discussfastpitch.com/sof...ger-your-team-finanaces-easily.html#post37932

 

[thebo]

Oh you guys are funny!!!! I was just looking into this because last year my daughter was on a team that I ran. I scheduled everything, purchased the insurance, ordered the uniforms, and everything else. I ran this team and still had to pay the owner of the organization money, never saw him!!! Now she is on another team that the owner of this organization wants $750 per month. For what? His house payment? So our coach is now looking for another organiztion. I figured it would be easier to have my own organization, not charge the team and let the girls use all the money for themselves and for all the fees for them to play.

 

[Ken Krause]

Now she is on another team that the owner of this organization wants $750 per month. For what? His house payment?

Something sounds fishy there. I've never heard of anything like that -- a fee to the organization just to be a part of it? Maybe I'm just not understanding what you're saying.

Generally, you do a budget which tells you how much money you need to operate the team, or teams. Then you set a registration fee that covers insurance, sanctioning, tournament fees, field rental, umpires and all the other expenses, plus a cost for uniforms. (Sometimes the uniform fee is part of the registration, sometimes not.) If you don't want the parents to cover all the costs out of pocket you do fundraising to help bring it down. But no organization I've been a part of or have known has a monthly cost they charge the teams.

If that really is the case, run. And perhaps contact the IRS or another government agency that can audit the books.