The mission of Capital Athletic Soccer Academy is to develop a youth program that uses competitive soccer as its teaching tool. It is our goal to compete at the highest level, develop each individual technically, tactically, physically and psychologically, to foster a life long love for the game, to create a positive, challenging and fun environment, and to emphasize character traits valued in team sports such as dedication, teamwork, leadership, sportsmanship, work ethic and loyalty. We are able to do this in two ways: First, we do not charge club dues that cover the full cost of the Academy's operating expenses; club dues are less than the full cost of teaching soccer - for all players. Second, we provide financial aid to those in need. For the 2008-09 soccer season we estimate that 21% of our players have received over $40,000 in combined scholarship awards. We rely upon our families, friends and local business sponsors for financial support.
Our soccer academy, with its benefits of exceptional fields, coaching staff, and individual attention, is expensive, and club dues alone do not cover all of the costs. We have kept the club dues at an affordable level for everyone to play but we seek a variety of funding sources annually to "bridge the gap" between operating expenses and dues income. While fundraising is common at the team level, it must also be viewed as a club obligation. Over the past two years we have had several members of the club participate in fundraising meetings. It is our goal to create an ongoing advisory committee who can lead the club with team fundraising efforts.
We started the year with two club level fundraising avenues, ONECAUSE.COM and Mountain Mike's Sponsorship. When you make your everyday purchases through OneCause.com for items like apparel, groceries and travel, you earn much-needed contributions for CASA, at no extra cost to you. Therefore, shopping at your favorite merchants through the OneCause.com portal helps all of us. Our Mountain Mike's affiliation has earned CASA contributions every time a team has a meeting at any Mountain Mike's location. All sales of in house or catered orders earn CASA 15% of sales. Each subgroup has or will have a fundraising day where the club receives 20% of sales with the additional incentive for the team with the most sales earning an additional $500 for themselves.
In addition to the club level fundraising, we have worked diligently to make other fundraising available to families that provide direct benefits to a player's individual account. The Tupperware sales and the Cal Expo concession sales were opportunities for every family to earn such direct credits. Through these efforts, our fundraising members have gained valuable knowledge and have agreed to become our ongoing advisory committee for the next year. We will work now to propose and recommend fundraising opportunities both at the club and team levels for next year.
If you are interested in being a member of the CASA Fundraising Advisory Committe, please contact the office.