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This website is sponsored and maintained by the Martin High School Sundancer Drill Team Booster Club.
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For questions concerning this site, contact the
webmaster
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What is "The Ballpark?" | ||||||||
The Ballpark refers to a concession stand at the Texas Ranger baseball games that the Booster Club runs between the beginning of April and August. Simply put?it is our ?money tree?. Working at the Ballpark provides an opportunity to get to know all the parents. We have a really good time and it creates a unity that can?t be duplicated with individual sale fundraising. If everyone does their share, this is truly a wonderful alternative to selling something door to door | ||||||||
Which stands do we work? | ||||||||
The management at Sports Service assigns the stands, which is the company in charge of the Not-for-Profit groups that work at the Ballpark. That said, for the last three years, we have been able to secure stand #115 by signing up for April-August. This stand is by far the most profitable of any that we have ever worked! | ||||||||
How is it decided how many people have to work the stand? | ||||||||
Sports Service tell us how many people are needed to staff the booth depending on the type of booth, day of the week, expected attendance, etc. | ||||||||
What if we can?t fully staff a booth? | ||||||||
We have the option to ?buy? a worker for $70 from Sports Service; however we can?t buy a manager. | ||||||||
Why do I have to be at the game 3 hours before it starts? | ||||||||
The ballpark and concession stands open 2 hours before the start of the game. It takes about an hour to get everything ready to run the stand, therefore workers need to report 3 hours before the game starts. However, it does not take the entire staff to open the booth so if you can?t be there until later, you can speak to the manager running the booth that day and work out when you can arrive. | ||||||||
What is a Manager? | ||||||||
A Manager is the person(s) who are in charge of the booth for that game. They ensure the booth is opened and ready for business, take care of inventory, cash, supplies, etc. They are in charge of assigning workers for each duty, giving breaks and closing the stand at the end of the game. | ||||||||
What is TABC? | ||||||||
TABC stands for ?Texas Alcohol Beverage Commission.? This is a certification you earn by attending a free 4 hour class sponsored by Sport Service. There you learn the proper way to serve alcohol, acceptable forms of I.D. and the responsibilities associated with this duty. Your certification lasts 2 years. These are the people who work the register at the ballpark. You are also eligible for a discount on your auto insurance (depending on your carrier). | ||||||||
How many games will I work? | ||||||||
The number of slots that you are asked to work depends on how many games the Ballpark offers us to work, multiplied by the number of workers required for the game, divided by the number of girls on the team. For example, if we were offered 45 games * 9 workers per game / 35 girls = 11 slots per girl. | ||||||||
Can the girls work? | ||||||||
Yes, if they are 16 at the time of the game they are working. During the school year, the girls are only allowed to work on Friday and Saturday. Once school is over, the girls have no restrictions on when they can work. Students cannot serve alcohol or touch anything related to the serving of alcohol (empty beer bottles, the beer taps, cups, etc.) This is a violation of Texas Law. We strongly encourage the girls to work because it gives them a sense of accomplishment in raising money for their team. | ||||||||
Can I get friends and family to work? | ||||||||
Absolutely! For example, if you and your spouse work a game, that counts as 2 slots. There is no limit to how many people you can have work with you as long as they are 16 years old. | ||||||||
What if I can?t work the Ballpark (or just prefer not to)? | ||||||||
We understand that everyone?s situation is unique. There are weekend games for those who can?t make it during the week, and we encourage parents to swap babysitting and to ride share to make it easier to get to the games. We have had parents prefer not to work any games and instead make a monetary donation to the Booster Club. This is appreciated as well; however, we encourage every family to be involved in the Ballpark, as it increases the number of slots that the others have to work each time a family doesn?t participate. | ||||||||
How much money do we make from the Ballpark? | ||||||||
The exact amount varies from year to year depending on attendance and booth location, but it averages $30,000+ per year. We are paid an average of 12% of sales depending on which booth we staff. With 35 girls on the team that comes out to in excess of $857.00 per girl?a check you don?t have to write! | ||||||||
If we don?t work the Ballpark can we do another fundraiser? | ||||||||
Yes, but with limitations. The students are only allowed to work 2 fundraisers during the school year. The advantage with the ballpark is that it is during the summer, so it does not count as one of their fundraisers. Additionally, we know of no other fundraiser that can raise the kind of money that this opportunity provides! $30,000 is a lot of Poinsettias! | ||||||||
If we don?t work the Ballpark, how much extra will I have to pay? | ||||||||
Again, it changes from year to year, but an average of $30,000 divided by an average of 35 girls = $850 in addition to the money you pay for camp, uniforms, etc. | ||||||||
I?ve heard people say they can ?split? the Manager Job. What does that mean? | ||||||||
It means one person would open the stand and manage the first half of the game and the 2nd person would come in and work the last half of the game and close the stand. This has many advantages. The manager must come in earlier than the workers and stay later which usually averages to about an 8 hour shift. This is hard for people who work full time jobs and can?t take off early. An example of a split shift would work like this: The game starts at 7, so the manager must report by 3:30. The 1st manager (possibly a teacher, stay at home parent, etc.) would come in and open the stand. They would work until about 7:30. The 2nd manager would come in a t 7:30 and close the stand, do the paperwork and leave around 11. Both managers would receive credit for the slots. | ||||||||
Is there a Uniform I have to wear? | ||||||||
Yes, Sports Service provides us with a polo shirt at each shift. We must wear khaki shorts, capris, or pants and closed toe sneakers. We cannot wear blue jeans or ?running? style shorts. The club buys hats for community use or you can purchase your own for $5. Do I have to pay for Parking or admission? No, you will be supplied with a badge for admission and there is a parking lot where employees park for free. You can walk to the ballpark or there is a shuttle bus you can ride. Do NEW parents work? YES. The first booster club meeting is usually in the beginning of May and we begin signing up new parents for the summer games at the 1st meeting. This is one of the best ways for new parents to become involved in Sundancers and gives everyone a great opportunity to get to know each other well before the school year even starts! What if I can only work for a couple of hours ? will I still get credit for the slot? Generally speaking, no. You must work the entire game (or the majority of it) in order to receive credit. However, exceptions can be made on a case by case basis to accommodate work schedules. A good rule of thumb is if it takes 1 hour after the end of the game to complete the clean up process, we try to go on a ?first in, first out? rule. So the workers, who arrive the earliest, leave the earliest. Ok, I?m ready! How do I sign up? Great! There are a couple of ways to sign up for games. There is ?The Book? that will be at every booster club meeting and game so you can sign up for future games, check your schedule, etc. You can also sign up on the web at www.martinsundancers.com under the Ballpark section at the top of the page. You can select the date, and then select your daughter?s name from the list and type in the name of the actual person who is working. You can sign up for multiple slots for the same Dancer if you are bringing other people with you to work. Bring 4 people and you would only have to work 5 games to fulfill your share of the slots! |