Florida State has a passionate fan base of which more than 15,000 are members of Seminole Boosters, Inc., who graciously donate their time and money to help strengthen FSU athletics.
The money generated by Seminole Boosters is used to fund scholarships, capital improvements and other projects as determine by Seminole Boosters’ executive leadership.
However, if an individual has a specific sport or sports which they would like to provide financial support, the Seminole Boosters Coaches Clubs afford them that opportunity. There is a coach’s club for each of FSU’s 20 men’s and women’s teams.
Every dollar given to a coach’s club is immediately restricted to the designated sport in order to provide funds for the urgent needs not covered by the team’s annual budget, which is determined by the athletics department.
Former FSU tennis player Cristian Gonzalez Mendez was recently brought on board at Seminole Boosters as the Director of Coaches Clubs and has seen how these funds impact the student-athlete experience first-hand.
“To give the student-athlete the best collegiate experience,” said Mendez. “We aren’t just trying to keep up with the ACC but with the other schools when it comes down to recruiting. We are able to enhance the current student-athlete experience and think that cycles down to better recruiting.”
Providing the student-athlete with a better experience is accomplished in a variety of ways. The money raised is used for facility enhancement and upgrades, purchasing state-of-the-art training equipment, the funding of summer school scholarships and supplemental funding for “Team Impact Trips” critical for recruiting and team development. The end game is to improve the overall performance and experience of each individual student-athlete on and off-the field, pitch or court.
Mendez stays in constant contact with the FSU head coaches and their operations personnel to try to raise the needed funds for each sport.
“The goal is to have weekly or monthly meetings with all the coaches and see where we are with the needs for each sport and where do we need to go,” said Mendez.
The coaches from each sport hold events on a regular basis to interact with Boosters in-person both in group and one-on-one settings. The meetings allow the Boosters to build relationships with the coaches, discuss the direction of programs and gain a better understanding of the sport’s specific financial needs. Mendez says on average there over 150 events held each year between all the Coaches Clubs.
Supporters can give to their favorite team or teams at financial levels ranging from $50 to $3,000 dollars and each level comes with different donor benefits.
For more details on Coaches Clubs you can reach Cristian at 850-645-9836 or via email [email protected]. You can also go to https://boosters.fsu.edu/coaches-clubs to learn more about how to join a specific coach’s club and to submit your donation to the sport or sports of your choice.
