The Revere All-Sports Booster Club (RASBC) reinvented itself towards the end of the 2023 school year and now looks to make an impact throughout the athletic program.
Booster Clubs are an essential part of school-sponsored athletics. By assisting programs with funding, they help lessen the financial burden placed on individual teams and the schools that host them. Revere has hosted a number of such clubs throughout its history, but in recent years, there has been a noticeable void in the area. The RASBC looks to fill that void.
Reviving such a crucial aspect of an athletic program is not easy, but through the efforts of one dedicated community member, the club saw a new life. Jim Mullen serves as the president of the RASBC, and it was through his efforts that the group made a comeback. Mullen explained his role in the reorganization process.
“After COVID there really wasn’t anything in terms of a Booster Club at Revere, and as I started to become more involved with the high school as my kids moved up that became pretty apparent. I wanted to help out and had a background in fundraising and sports so I talked with some other community members and we went to the athletic department and really just asked, how do we do this, and that really got the process started,” Mullen said.
Outside of the RASBC, Mullen serves as the CEO for United Way of Summit & Medina Counties and is the director for Revere Youth Football, a program encompassing five grade levels and over one hundred athletes. Both positions work to enrich the community but have also given Mullen a strong background in fundraising and athletics.
“It’s great to be involved in all of this, to have kids come up to me as say hi when I’m doing stuff for the Booster’s is really rewarding. A large part of me being involved with the Booster’s is because I have kids involved with sports at the high school, but honestly, even without them being involved in the way they are, I would still find a way to help out, it’s just that rewarding,” Mullen said.
Don Seeker is Revere’s athletic director, managing school sports from grades seven to twelve. Due to his heavy involvement in athletics, Seeker felt the lack of a strong Booster Club firsthand. Working with Mullen, Seeker helped establish the RASBC, ensuring that it maintained a direct connection with the athletic program while also growing as its entity. Seeker explained the importance of the Booster Club to the athletic program.
“Having a strong Booster Club just allows us to do more, from buying new jerseys to hosting more events like signing day for our athletes; it gives us more to work with. The more money we have to spend on our athletes, the better we can support them,” Seeker said.
When considering how the club would operate, Seeker wanted to ensure that the new group would maintain the tradition previous Booster Clubs had established while offering new, unique opportunities for donors. Seeker explained what such opportunities could look like.
“There were a bunch of things that were part of the package deal with becoming a member. We reserved seats up in the stands for them, like season ticket holders, and they get the top four rows reserved. Plus it came with 50 reserved parking places in the main stadium lot. Then there is the fast pass lane which is just another added benefit,” Seeker said.
An essential aspect of the RASBC is that it supports all sports equally, giving every team an equal share of the wealth. Billy D’Amico is the head coach of the Men’s Track and eighth Grade Women’s Basketball teams while also serving as an assistant coach for the Varsity Football team. Due to this broad involvement, D’Amico has seen the RASBC’s impact on every level of athletics, no matter the program size.
“The Booster Club is a great resource for us. When we are looking at getting new equipment, especially jerseys, in the past, we would have to fundraise for things like that. With the Booster Club, we get help with funding and can put our money towards other things,” D’Amico said.
The RASBC’s mission is already being executed throughout the athletic program, and with added benefits, the group only looks to make an even more significant impact.
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