Adding Coaching Stipends through the Booster Club
• Why do we need this?
• Many positive reasons – Mostly benefiting students and performance on
field.
• Not illegal and not ethically wrong either.
• Not circumventing the IRS and not violating any WIAA rules if handled
properly.
• Kids today need more attention at this level than ever before.
• Coaches connect with student-athletes better.
• Coaches passion for sport “rubs off” on kids & makes them more
passionate about being successful people.
• Ultimate teachers – students intrinsically motivated by sports to “do the
right thing.”
• Better run practices (more coaches = more specific drills).
• More repetitions for players if each position is broken down.
• More feedback in practice and games.
• “More hands make for lighter work.”
• Coaching is a “People business” - More important than buying pieces of
equipment or uniforms, etc.
• Why don’t they just volunteer?
• Some coaches do & want nothing – have financial security that most do
not or they have a son/daughter involved in program (not ideal situation
at High School level).
• Most young coaches cannot afford the time commitment of
volunteering
– large chunk of work day takes place during ideal practice times.
• Gas prices - Wilmot is not ideal geographic location for many people.
• Competition - Illinois pays much more for Coaching positions, other
Kenosha area schools have more positions available.
• We’ve had a state champion football player and a former NFL football
player both not continue coaching with us because we could not give
even slight compensation for their time and the drive.
• Our goal is retention of good coaches and minimal effects on staffs
when people quit, retire or leave.
• Why come back the next year if there’s nothing in it for them?
• Would you do your job for free?
• How much time do coaches put in?
• Football (standard work week – not including 2 week training
camp – about 50 hours of work):
• Mon-Wed Practices 3-6 PM (9 hours),
• Thursday Freshman and JV games (4-5 hours),
• Friday Varsity game (4 hours),
• Saturday film, lift, coaches meeting (4 hours),
• weekend film study (2-3 hours)
• Weekly total - 24 hours of work x 8 week season = 192 hours + 50
camp hours
• = estimated 242 hours in a season of work by a standard assistant
coach.
• $1800 (apx. half) stipend / 242 hours = $7.44 an hour.
• So what we are asking for is below minimum wage – a pittance –
for someone to work a lot of hours with our kids to help them get
better and help divide responsibilities with our coaching staff.
• Turnover is high in coaching these days - If a regular stipend coach
quits, we have a replacement on deck that knows our team
protocols and our kids.
• “Ideal” Football Coaching Staff for Wilmot:
1. Head Football Coach
2. Varsity Offensive Coordinator (QBs)
3. Varsity Defensive Coordinator (LBs).
4. Varsity & JV Offensive Line Coach.
5. Varsity & JV Defensive Line Coach
6. JV Offensive Coordinator (Varsity WR’s)
7. JV Defensive Coordinator (JV Head Coach)
8. Freshman Head Coach (usually freshman team is
around 45-50 kids)
9. Freshman Offensive Coordinator (RB’s)
10. Freshman Defensive Coordinator (DB’s)
11.Freshman & JV Assistant(s) - (because of sheer
numbers)
School gives a total of 9 stipend positions.
• How other schools do this:
• Touchy subject at many places – many coaches won’t speak with me
about it for fear of losing ability to hire coaches - seem to fear negative
“gossip.”
• My conversations w/ coaches shows that it usually comes down to
how either – school board, superintendent, and parents groups feel
about it.
– some “frown” upon it – feels like district cannot financially hold up, or parents
feel, for some unexplained reason, that it is unethical.
• However, many places do carry it out if everyone is able to “get on the
same page.”
• In all cases Coaches file necessary paperwork to be “volunteer”
assistant so that they are background checked and covered by school’s
Insurance policy.
• Cudahy –Yearly Coaches clinic at school after season’s end– raise funds
for 1 to 2 half-stipends based on need (of $1800 each).
• Money is immediately deposited into school athletic account – football
- and a check is cut to the assistant coach(es) within the week.
• School issues a W9 to the coach and a 1099 to IRS for the check –
the tax itself is not the school’s responsibility but the “contractor.”
• Oak Creek’s QB Club – Very open about this – Boosters are very
supportive and system has been in place for many years (going
back to Joe Koch – carried 15-20 assistant coaches during very
successful years).
• Coach asks for extra stipend(s) for specific coaching positions (tells
how many extra coaches there will be).
• This year they paid out 8 extra positions ranging from $500 to
$1800 depending on how much work the coach put in – Coach
determines money payouts AFTER season’s end (Full or partial).
• Boosters fund raise without specific student involvement – golf
outing, social, clothing sales, signs & stickers, etc.
• They openly share that these fundraisers go towards paying
coaches.
• After season is over and funds are raised, the booster club follows
the same process of issuing W9 with the check and 1099 form to
the IRS.
• The school board and administrators are aware of all this as it has
been in place for over 20 years.
• Assistant is paid as an “independent contractor” – school
issues W9 form to coach who is responsible for recording this
on his/her tax return.
• Burlington – Did not get back to me – Herm Christiansen will
explain what he knows of their process from when he
coached there on one of these stipends.
• What are we asking for?
• To use the Wilmot Coaching stipend scale and give out a
“half-stipend” to coaches (of around $1600-$1800 if the
coach is able to make a full-time commitment, or half of this
if they are able to make a half-commitment).
• Head Coaches would need to make a formal request of the
booster club for the extra stipend(s) and a process would
need to be initiated after this for approval and pay.
• If Booster club approves of this, we would like to form a subcommittee to discuss this topic further, come back and report
suggestions for a process that works within the confines of
Wilmot.
• I will volunteer to speak with superintendent and other
administrators and explain what was discussed here
tonight before moving any further.
• Likewise, Coach Square and I will speak to other head
coaches about this idea when it is figured out and get
their support.
• I guarantee that this will bring more interest from our
coaches towards the success of booster club.
• Nearly every coaching staff could/should benefit from
added coaches, thus our students will benefit.
• If the main issue is about how things “look,” lets set up
a process that “looks right” and is easily explained to
anyone concerned.
• We hope to gain your support on this so we can help
our kids and all of our programs to grow and be more
successful!
• Any questions?