Gym Coaches Letter

Dear Coach,

Thank you so much for agreeing to coach a Blessed Sacrament Boosters’ sponsored team.  Please know that the kids you coach and their parents, along with the Booster Board, greatly appreciate your time and talent.  The sport you are coaching requires your team to practice in the Blessed Sacrament School gym.  Last school year, there were several issues with gym security and the way the gym was left after practices.  This has prompted the Boosters to take action in making sure the gym is as safe and well-kept as possible.

Gym policy states that no food or drink is allowed in the gym.  Kids often bring in snacks to eat before practices—please ask them to eat outside or in the hallway and properly dispose of their trash.  The Board also knows that there are times when parents bring other children with food into the gym to wait for a sibling to finish practicing.  Please ask that they go outside with the food or eat in their car.  Kids need drinks when they practice but the expectation is that they take their reusable bottles home with them when they leave or throw away disposable bottles when they are empty.  Trash cans are located at either end of the gym.  If you are at a practice and notice that a garbage can is full, please take a minute to take the bag to the dumpster.  More black garbage bags are always in the cabinet.  There simply cannot be food in the gym.  There have been reports from the school about food wrappers, pizza boxes, overflowing garbage cans, and spilled drinks being left in the gym from evening practices.  This has led to bugs and foul odors in the gym.  Mrs. Hannon has made it clear to the Booster Board that this will no longer be tolerated and that teams will be suspended if it continues.  If a spill happens while you are coaching please clean it up.  There are paper towels and disinfecting wipes in the cabinet along with a broom and dustpan.  Please ask your team parents and team members to treat the gym as if they were guests in someone’s home.

The Board would also like to address end of the year parties.  It is always fun for teams to have an end of the year party to celebrate their season; however, the gym is not the proper place for food and drinks.  If you wish to have some type of party involving food, please eat in the cafeteria and not in the gym.  There have been several instances where pizza boxes, chip bags, and pop bottles were left either on the bleachers or spilling over in the garbage cans.  The Booster Board members regularly clean the gym as there are not enough custodial personnel employed by the school to take care of it.  These cleanings usually occur once a month so if there is trash or food left in the gym, it will more than likely sit there for a while.  The Boosters have put a great deal of resources into the gym in the last two years making it one of the best around. I t’s imperative that we keep it in tip top shape.

The Board would like to make you aware of some security issues that were a problem last school year. Some teams were leaving the gym door propped open so that they didn’t have to constantly open the door as their team members came in.  On several occasions, the door would remain propped open all night, and when the teachers arrived in the morning, it was still open.  We simply cannot tolerate any unnecessary security breaches to the school.  The gym door should NEVER be propped open.  If you notice that there is a bottle cap in the door when you arrive at your practice, please promptly remove it and make a note of it.  Coaches found in violation of this will face consequences outlined below.  Each coach will receive a code that is unique to them (new security system).  If that code is given to someone else and the gym is found in disarray the coach whose code was used to enter the gym will be responsible.  PLEASE DO NOT GIVE YOUR CODE TO ANYONE ELSE.

Another issue is violation of Virtus guidelines.  All teams must have two Virtus trained adults in the gym at all times.  This includes weekends and evenings.  If you do not have a second Virtus trained adult at the gym when you arrive, please keep your players outside until someone gets there.  We cannot take any risks where Virtus is concerned.  This also includes coaches getting to practices on time.  Players cannot be left in the gym unsupervised.  If you are running late to a practice, please make every effort to find another Virtus trained adult to be with your team until you arrive.  If no one can be there, then students must wait outside the gym.

The last thing we need to discuss is what happens if the above rules are not followed.  The Booster Board has discussed the following sanctions if the above rules are not followed:

  1. First offense—coach is contacted by Board President and asked to follow our gym/Booster policies.
  2. Second offense—team is suspended from gym for one practice.
  3. Third offense—team is suspended from gym for rest of season and coach will no longer be able to coach for any future Booster teams.

While some may see these consequences as harsh, we feel that the safety of the school and team members along with the preservation of the gym is the top priority of the Blessed Sacrament Boosters.  Parents will be given a different form of this letter when they register.  There is no room for compromise with these issues.  We greatly appreciate all that you do for the Boosters.  If you have any questions please feel free to contact the Booster President (e-mail address is on Booster website at www.bssboosters.com).

Thank You,

Blessed Sacrament Boosters