Coach's gifts

[NeedaVacation03]

I have a dd in middle school and a dd in high school. They both run cross country and are responsible for collecting the money for their teams coaches gifts. Each child was asked to give $5 which when added together was going to be split to get gifts for all the coaches.
My middle school dd was able to collect from all but 10 kids, but the high school team does not want to give at all.
We have wonderful coaches and the kids have always purchased gifts, but this years kids seem to be uninterested. Many of the kids that gave think that the other kids names should be left off the card. Other kids think that if you didn't give you should not be allowed to present the gift. I am curious how others have handled this.
I am covering the difference for the middle school team and going ahead and buying the gifts. ( that's where the budget part comes in). The high school wanted to do it on their own so I am not sure which kids are picking up the difference. I know my daughter paid more than her share.
How are some ways that your kids have handled this? I know that kids that always pay are tired of covering for the kids who never pay.

 

[momof2minnies]

Yes the kids who donate are the kids who should sign the card-easy.It is not fair to them for the others to get any of the thanks from the coach.

There is a life lesson here as well-what you put in you will get out of life.Shouldn't let others do the work and you get the accolades.

JMO, Linda

 

[Badamon]

I would only add names to the card that contributed to the collection. I would not continue to make up the difference. That being said, I am not a big fan of these collections for gifts. I think it's much more valuable teaching tool and appreciated by the coach if the child writes a sincere, personal thank you note to the coach for their time and commitment, including what they have learned from them during the season. My son has always done this for both school sports (paid coaches) and town rec. sports (volunteer coaches).

 

[raenyny]

I would just sign it with cross country 2013 you don't know why kids didn't contribute some May not have been able to afford it you have no idea what situation each family is in... When I am class mom in school we put the entire class regardless of who contributed for that same reason

 

[1000HappyWishes]

We all sign the card. I play high school volleyball and even if you didn't contribute, you sign the card. You're a team and even though it's a pain to know that some girls didn't contribute, they all should sign it. That's how we've done it the past two years. It's important to present ourselves as a team and say "even though not all of us could donate money for the gift, we all want you to know you were a good coach and etc..."

That's how we do it.

 

[memy26]

My thoughts are if the kids simply don't want to contribute then in no way should their name be included or should you have to make up the difference. Now if they can't afford to contribute that is a different story and I would consider including their names as it's not their fault they can't afford it.

Have you tried contacting the parents or are you strictly going on your daughter asking the kids? Personally for me I would be more likely to donate if it were the parent asking vs. a child.

 

[powellrj]

Having done this many times over the years, this is how I handle it. Everyone signs the card, they are all on the team, but I don't make-up the money, we just spend what we have. If we are short, so be it and we just get something less expensive.

 

[buckeev]

As a former Coach-(11 years FP Softball), I always appreciated every gift the kids/families gave, but they absolutely were not necessary to me. I knew which ones were the most appreciative of my efforts and sacrifices, and a simple hand written note or card made my day, (or season).
I have "kids" that I coached who now have kids starting in sports that come to me asking for pointers and lessons. I hafta politely decline, although I would love to, but our son takes up every spare minute we have. (and Orlando!)