Rebuilding projects aren’t exclusive to football teams. Sometimes they apply to the booster clubs that support them.
Such is the case at Terrell High School, where a group of dedicated parents looks to grow the reach of the recently formed Terrell Football Booster Club while the coaches work to grow the Tigers’ on-field successes.
“I can see things changing [on the field],” Felicia Call, the club’s treasurer, said following a three-win season that represented more total wins than the school had in the 2018 and 2019 seasons combined. “You see the work that they are putting in and we want them to be proud of that and have what they need.”
For Call and the rest of the football boosters, making sure the players have what they need starts with the most essential of needs: meals to keep them going during long days of school and practice.
“We just want to feed the boys,” she said. “That’s the first goal. We wanted to have a hot meal for the varsity all year and have a pantry up there because football is six days a week. They are in class from 7:20 a.m. to 3 p.m. and then have practice. Lunch at school isn’t really enough to feed a regular boy, never mind a football player.”
To fill the pantry, the booster club members spend their evenings making sandwiches that the players can have between school and practice. Call said the club aims to provide ham and cheese sandwiches but that most of the players prefer a simpler PB&J.
Along with stocking a pantry with sandwiches, the club wants to provide the team with hot meals on Thursdays and Fridays, but Call said that became a challenge when a number of businesses that support the program had to cut back their donations due to financial impacts of COVID. Similar to many booster clubs, Call said 2020 proved a difficult year to build any positive momentum in fundraising and membership.
With 2020 in the rear-view mirror, Call hopes 2021 offers brighter prospects. The club’s board already has plans to grow its membership by developing relationships with parents of rising freshmen who are used to taking a hands-on approach after supporting youth and middle school football programs.