Clear Creek Wildcats Baseball

The Clear Creek baseball team has an abundance of help and support to fulfill the needs of its players and coaches. The baseball team, as well as the majority of other sports, receives funding from the district. However, sometimes the amount received is not enough to adequately cover all of the expenses. So the baseball team has a group of people laboring behind the scenes, who work to keep the program going. They financially and physically assist the program in order for it to be the best it can be. This group of people is called the Clear Creek baseball Booster Club.

The Booster Club is comprised of the parents of the baseball players, the coaches, Clear Creek Baseball Alumni, and their families. The Booster Club meets to discuss upcoming schedules, fundraisers, donations, concessions, field and cage work, and other ways to help keep the program going. Beginning in January 2009, the Baseball Booster Club began having weekly meetings and will continue to do so through February, every Wednesday at 7:00 PM in an effort to continue to provide for the needs of the players, fans, and the visiting teams.

“Our mission is to get people involved, make the program better, provide for the program what the district can’t afford to provide and what Coach can’t provide with the budget,” President of the Booster Club, Tim Collins said.

“The purpose of the Booster Club is to raise money for the baseball team and support [it],” the Booster Club’s treasurer, Holly Williams said.

The funds that the booster club receives are allocated towards the baseball team’s needs, which include supplies, equipment, uniforms and field maintenance. The Club buys new uniforms every other year for the players and also purchases equipment that the coach needs. This is only where some of the expenses are. The Booster Club recently raised enough money to purchase two top-quality pitching machines called Iron Mikes, and also the installation of the machines, which cost almost $7000.00. The Iron Mikes give the athletes the opportunity to practice hitting without the necessity of another person or a tee. Currently, the pitching machines are in a covered shack like building, which will aide in protecting the machines from inclement weather and vandalism. The booster club is working vigorously to raise enough money to provide a covered roof for the batting cage area so that the athletes can practice in inclement weather.

There are many other positions in the Booster Club, which include President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, as well as committee and special needs positions. One of the special needs positions is referred to as Merchandise, in which currently, Tom and Theresa Olson are fulfilling. The merchandise position orders and sells T-shirts, hoodies, stadium chairs and other items that help represent team spirit for the Clear Creek baseball team. They sell these to the players, parents, and anyone else who might want to show their support. They do have a budget they have to stay in and with this budget they try to get the best possible things. They like to see new things. Merchandise doesn’t make a lot of money. They don’t put a lot of extra cost on the items because they want them to be affordable to people. The purpose is to have various items that people can use and wear to show their support for the Clear Creek baseball team.

In the fall of 2008, the Booster Club hosted their annual raffle fundraiser, in which the players and parents sold tickets for a chance to win laptops. They had a raffle for three laptops. The Booster Club raised approximately $6000 last year in the raffle fundraiser.

In addition, the Booster Club also acquires money through concession stands. The Booster club purchases all of the food and drinks that go into the concession stands, maintain it, and get people to sign up to work it. In the past, the PALS organization lent a helping hand to parents who could not attend their shift. The Booster Club is hoping to utilize the assistance of the PALS again during the 2009 season. Finally, another form of fundraising occurs through the opportunity of advertising through the sales of outfield signs and program ads. The earned money goes to the club’s account.

The Booster Club will be hosting its annual golf tournament on February 15, and will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. Meals for the day will include, breakfast from Shipley’s, lunch from CiCi’s, and dinner from Sudie's.

“The primary purpose of [the golf tournament] is to provide graduating seniors that qualify both grade wise and eligibility wise the opportunity to continue their education either in a trade school or in post secondary education,” Collins said.

The scholarship is paid for by the Booster Club. The golf tournament costs $100 per person to play and participants can sign up individually or in teams. Even though current baseball players are not allowed to play, ex ball players that have already graduated can come and play to support the program. From this fundraiser the Booster Club has handed out scholarships in the past that have ranged anywhere from $6000 to over $32,000 a year.

“We want to make sure that the kids are covered and that the club is covered,” Collins said.

To keep updated with Clear Creek baseball’s stats, records, players and more visit www.clearcreekbaseball.com. It’s not only an informative site, it’s like a facebook, where someone can post a blog, upload pictures and more. The person doesn’t even have to be on the baseball team, they could just be a fan.

Tryouts for the baseball team are on the 30th and the 31st of January.

As far as the amount of money that the Booster Club raises, “we’re one of the top 10 Booster Clubs in the State,” the vice president of the Booster Club, Carolyn Waidhofer said.

“The funding that the Booster Club provides has helped improve our facility. Without the funding, it would just be an average ballpark, but now it’s an exceptional park due to the improvements that have been made,” head coach, Jim Mallory said.

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