LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT
It is so hard to believe our children are back to school and adjusting to all their new fall schedules. We are also getting ready at Aspire to begin the competition season for the Girls Compulsory teams, and have many new athletes about to compete beginning in September. We held our monthly board meeting last week, and continue to drive planning and decisions as it relates to our teams now that we are in our new fiscal year. Below are some of the key items I wanted to ensure you are all updated on:
Annual Pool Party This Weekend!:
Just a quick reminder that this weekend August 15th, is our Annual Pool Party Mixer. The Party is from 5:30 – 7:30 at the West Chandler Aquatic Center, off of Kyrene and Chandler Blvd. This is a fun event and a great way for our athletes to get together and have some fun time away from the gym. It is also a wonderful way for our families to interact and get to know one another better. With the temperatures we have been having, what better way to keep cool!! Please ensure you have dinner before hand, or feel free to bring your own picnic – the APSG will be providing beverages and snacks. Hope to see you all there!
Welcome to the ASPG Board and Leadership Team:
As mentioned in our last newsletter, this past month we voted in our remaining open board and leadership positions, and final decisions were made this past Monday. It is always exciting to add new parents to our team and to increase the level of knowledge of all the inner-workings of what it takes to run a support group. The enthusiasm these people all demonstrated in coming into their roles, makes me feel great about the year ahead of us!! Below are the new members:
T&T Team Rep: Bob Maurice T&T Asst Rep: Cara Hawkins
Boys Team Rep: Dave Bohrer Boys Asst Rep: Leah Weems
Please join me in welcoming these parents in their new roles, and feel free to reach out to them with any questions or ideas you may have.
Volunteer Credits:
A number of parents have asked about adult children assisting in a volunteer fashion to help fund their gym fees. I am happy to announce we will be updating our bi-laws and policy regarding volunteering. Effective immediately, any athlete over 16 will be eligible to volunteer to earn credits for themselves. We will continue to only allow 1 person to earn volunteer credits per athlete until 48 hours in advance of an event. If at that point in time there are still openings, we will allow additional volunteers to sign up and can have multiple people earning credits for an athlete.
Volunteer Opportunities:
As we are doing 2 events in September, the Compulsory Critique Meet (Sept 11-12) and the Jammie Jam (Sept 18-10), volunteer opportunities will be posted in the next few weeks. Sherri Madison our volunteer coordinator will be posting the opportunities to our team board as soon as all opportunities are identified, so stay tuned! In addition, DJ Egestad, our new raffle coordinator will be sending out information on help needed for donations for raffle prizes. This is one of the key ways we help drive in funding for our teams, so please watch for the updates, and help do your part to support your child and our gym - J
Fry’s Card:
Looking for a great way to earn money to help pay for your APSG fees? The Fry’s card program is a great way to participate. Melissa Calderon, our Fundraising Coordinator put together a great sheet of tips as to how to get the most from this program (attached). As a reminder, in the 2009 – 2010 season, Fry’s paid out approximately $16,000 to the APSG for this program. Together, by working as a team, we can raise even more and get the most out of this program. The more we buy, the higher the rebate percentage given back to us! Fry’s cards can be purchased at the front desk for $5 (and they have $5 on them, so no out of pocket expense). Just as an FYI – if you do not use and/or have a zero balance on the card for over 2 months it will deactivate and you will need to purchase a new one.
If there is anything I can assist with or any questions or ideas you have, please feel free to reach me at AspireShelly@cox.net. I have had many great thoughts to date, and am fortunate we have such a passionate group of parents at our gym – thank you for wanting to make a difference for our children!!
Shelly Bodine
APSG President