Booster Club seeks volunteers

Thermopolis Booster Club President Kelly Cole and Hot Springs County High School Activities Director Brandon Deromedi want to invite local parents of athletes to participate in their activities.  

For this school year, there are no community parents volunteering as members of the Booster Club. There are only four active officers. The Booster Club services 100 to 120 different athletes out of those four parents.

Cole and Deromedi would like parents to volunteer to come and help. Cole said, “We need more parents. As many more as we can get.”

Deromedi said, “It’s truly just a parent group.  When it was originally brought together by Donnie Bjorhus and Karen Leyba, parents were the driving force to form it. It’s a parent-driven force to provide for the sports teams.  As we’ve gone over the years here, we’ve had less and less parent participation. We have a pretty solid group of officers right now. Kelly Jo Burr, Kelly Cole, Ellen Reynolds and Ed Cole.”

Deromedi expressed gratitude for the Booster Club. He said, “They provide so much for our sports teams in the way of financial help. Education and the state have been a hot topic for the last few years with legislation and the last few years they have cut education, in turn, it cuts out activities, so I think, two to three years ago we cut $40,000 out of the overall activities budget, so that takes a hit on it.”

“We’ve removed meals that we used to provide for the kids on the road and we don’t let them go to as many overnight trips unless they pay for them. An organization like the Booster Club being founded like that to provide money back to those teams, really has helped and has bridged that gap to where the majority of our teams pay for meals out of their fundraising account they get from the Booster Cub,” added Deromedi

Cole explained that the Booster Club financially supports basketball, football and wrestling. She said, “It’s for the betterment of our athletes.”

Additionally, the Booster Club has helped by doing more for sporting events. Cole said, “Two years ago we bought a new speaker system for football and track and field. Last year a new pretzel warmer to help with concessions.”

The largest event they put on is the 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament in May. With the funds raised through this event, they help support athletes for summer camps and for the school year. 

Deromedi said their main goal is to keep growing the tournament to raise more funds. He said, “We have seen an increase in participation for the past three years.”

The Booster Club is always looking for more parent volunteers that want to not only be part of the once a month meetings, but also to help with the fundraising aspects and generating funds to give back to the kids.  

Deromedi said, “It’s important to reiterate that it’s a parent formed and run group servicing their kids. The money doesn’t go to the coaches. The coaches, they kinda get free reign on how to spend it, but then on my side as activities director, I approve their purchases. It’s for their kids.”  

Deromedi concluded, “In our meeting setting, when we make decisions about funding, I would like as many parents as possible to be a part of that.”

The Booster Club meets every second Monday of the month at 6:30 p.m. For more information, contact Kelly Cole at 921-2966.