Opinion please?
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This could really backfire.
I am not an attorney, nor do I play one on TV.
However, I have been involved in litigation a few times. There was a law firm in Milwaukee that sued me twice, and threatened to sue me a third time.
The first time I went to court, without a lawyer, and got the case taken care of.
The second time I convinced the law firm to withdraw the case on their own, after it was filed, and make sure nobody else could ever reopen that case.
The third time I called the law firm and said I would be very happy if they told their client they would no longer represent that client against me, They dropped it like a hot potato.
I don't know the laws in your state, whether your organization would have to hire an attorney or if someone from that organization would be able to represent your organization in small claims court.
Hiowever, if your organization runs up any legal fees, it is possible the parents would be ordered by the court to pay those fees.
In other words, they could easily find themselves having to pay a few thousand dollars for filing a frivilous law suit. That kind of law suit could get a judge or magistrate angry. It is a bad idea to anger a judge.
Also, any case they file would be a matter of public record. Nothing to stop your organization from contacting every organization and softball coach in the region with the details of the threat and any possible suits.
If I ran your organization, I would've already contacted every organization and softball coach in the area to warn about that family, and I would've already told them to pound sand.
But, that is just me. YMMV.
I, personally, would not pay them a penny
I am not an attorney, nor do I play one on TV.
However, I have been involved in litigation a few times. There was a law firm in Milwaukee that sued me twice, and threatened to sue me a third time.
The first time I went to court, without a lawyer, and got the case taken care of.
The second time I convinced the law firm to withdraw the case on their own, after it was filed, and make sure nobody else could ever reopen that case.
The third time I called the law firm and said I would be very happy if they told their client they would no longer represent that client against me, They dropped it like a hot potato.
I don't know the laws in your state, whether your organization would have to hire an attorney or if someone from that organization would be able to represent your organization in small claims court.
Hiowever, if your organization runs up any legal fees, it is possible the parents would be ordered by the court to pay those fees.
In other words, they could easily find themselves having to pay a few thousand dollars for filing a frivilous law suit. That kind of law suit could get a judge or magistrate angry. It is a bad idea to anger a judge.
Also, any case they file would be a matter of public record. Nothing to stop your organization from contacting every organization and softball coach in the region with the details of the threat and any possible suits.
If I ran your organization, I would've already contacted every organization and softball coach in the area to warn about that family, and I would've already told them to pound sand.
But, that is just me. YMMV.
I, personally, would not pay them a penny
Are you saying that if I donate my monthly dues to the organization it's tax deductible?
There is a difference between fees and donations. If you pay $500 in fees, that is a very different situation from giving $500 during a fundraiser.
The tax deductible bit is a grey area. You cannot benefit from the donation. For example, if you were to bid on a silent auction item during a fundraiser for a 501c3, you can deduct the amount that you paid over the market value of the item. If you paid less than the market value of the item, you can't deduct anything. Team fees are tricky since you do benefit from things like uniforms and tournament entry fees.
Peppers - if your friend's team is a 501(c)3, I'm not sure they CAN write a check directly to the player's family for her portion of the fundraising. If the player "worked" for the fundraising, such as collecting donations from third parties or working concessions for an organization which then pays the team then the money definitely cannot be "refunded". I'm just not sure how one would account for that come tax reporting time. You'd have to say that the organization payed the player as a professional fundraiser. I would bet that the girl's family wouldn't want to get caught up in having to report income for their daughter, which could even make her ineligible in the eye of the NCAA. Writing a check directly to another organization (that she then joined) would be OK.
BobInMadison - a $20,000 racing shell? That is both incredibly impressive and perplexing?? Was it for an auction or are you guys doing some serious off season training?
Peppers - if your friend's team is a 501(c)3, I'm not sure they CAN write a check directly to the player's family for her portion of the fundraising. If the player "worked" for the fundraising, such as collecting donations from third parties or working concessions for an organization which then pays the team then the money definitely cannot be "refunded". I'm just not sure how one would account for that come tax reporting time. You'd have to say that the organization payed the player as a professional fundraiser. I would bet that the girl's family wouldn't want to get caught up in having to report income for their daughter, which could even make her ineligible in the eye of the NCAA. Writing a check directly to another organization (that she then joined) would be OK.
BobInMadison - a $20,000 racing shell? That is both incredibly impressive and perplexing?? Was it for an auction or are you guys doing some serious off season training?
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Racing shells can get VERY expensive: Elite Rowing Shells | Side-by-Side Comparison - Elite Rowing Shells
That club, the Camp Randall Rowing Club, named after a former POW camp from the Civil War where the U Wisconsin football stadium is now located, has a rather weird history. U Wisconsin has a really good rowing team, and some of the Wisco alumni row together under as the Camp Randall Rowing Club. Good rowers. For example, in 2013 and 2014, the adult Camp Randall rowers took the gold in the Men's 4+ at the most prestigious open race, the Head of the Charles in Mass. Boats made up of members of the US National Team took the silver both times.
At one point a local adult club, the Mendota Rowing Club, had a small junior's division. There were too many juniors for the club, so the parents of the juniors broke away and formed their own club. One of the board members was part of the Camp Randall team, so he gave the name to the juniors team. (That guy's wife is now the head coach for the girls' team, and was previously the boy's novice coach. Excellent coach. She used to row for Mendota, and her coach there is now the head coach at the Milwaukee School of Engineering, where DS attends. So, DS' current coach was the first HS coach of DS' first coach in HS.)
At one point the Camp Randall Rowing Club took over a 100 year old boathouse that was falling apart, moved it and renovated it, total cost almost $1 million. They rent if from the city of Madison. The Brittingham Boat House
Fortunately, the rowing club has a great relationship with the U Wisconsin team. The Wisconsin team will often sell their outdated rowing equipment to Camp Randall for practically nothing. Interesing that some boats used by Wisconsin in some famous victories are now used for training or racing,
A few years ago, the Camp Randall juniors realized they were at a disadvantage by not having state-of-the-art racing shells. Even a VERY slight advantage can be huge in races. For example, one time my son was in a boat that took the gold in the Midwest Junior Rowing Championships by less than half a second in a 7 minute race. There was a famous women's race where Michagan beat Michigan State by about 2" in a 2000 meter race.
So, they wanted new shells. To start with, they wanted the less expensive 4-man boats. Only $20,000 for a really good one (but not Olympic quality. That would be much more expensive). They worked out a deal. They had a fundraiser, and raised money for the boy's boat, which they named the Russ Lerham, after one of their board members. (Russ also rows with the Ancient Mariner rowing team, which often wins races in the 60+ age group. Russ told me that back when he rowed with Mendota, he used to row with Eric Heiden's father). The parents of one of the girls donated $20,000 for the girls' boat, the Maggie May, named after their dog.
On the way to the very first race with the new boats, the Russ Lerham fell off the trailer and was lost and damaged. Fortunately it was insured, so they bought a new boat called the Russ Lerham II.
Even better, they eventually found the damaged boat, which was repaired, and is now called the Pheonix. Not as good as new, but still a pretty good boat.
A couple of years later, they were able to buy their first new 8-man racing boat, for about $30,000. The family who paid for the Maggie May paid about half of that.
My son is not with that club anymore, BTW.
Even more impressive is what happened with a club in Chicago.
There is an adult club called the Lincoln Park Rowing Club. Until recently, they had a youth division called the Lincoln Park Juniors.
At one point, the father of one of the rowers gave a few hundred thousand dollars to the juniors, but they had to merge with a tiny club called the Chicago Rowing Foundation, which was in the middle of town, and more ethnically diverse. The father's name is Rahm Emmanuel.
Then, the newly merged club, CRF, decided they needed a new boathouse. So, CRF worked out a deal with the mayor of Chicago, coincidently Rahm Emmanuel. CRF donated $200,000 of Rahm's money to the new boathouse. The Chigago Parks donated free land. A couple of casinos who wanted to be on Rahm Emmanuel's good side donated $1 million each. The City of Chicago ponied up betwee $2 million and $3 million. Total cost: About $5 1/2 million.
That club, the Camp Randall Rowing Club, named after a former POW camp from the Civil War where the U Wisconsin football stadium is now located, has a rather weird history. U Wisconsin has a really good rowing team, and some of the Wisco alumni row together under as the Camp Randall Rowing Club. Good rowers. For example, in 2013 and 2014, the adult Camp Randall rowers took the gold in the Men's 4+ at the most prestigious open race, the Head of the Charles in Mass. Boats made up of members of the US National Team took the silver both times.
At one point a local adult club, the Mendota Rowing Club, had a small junior's division. There were too many juniors for the club, so the parents of the juniors broke away and formed their own club. One of the board members was part of the Camp Randall team, so he gave the name to the juniors team. (That guy's wife is now the head coach for the girls' team, and was previously the boy's novice coach. Excellent coach. She used to row for Mendota, and her coach there is now the head coach at the Milwaukee School of Engineering, where DS attends. So, DS' current coach was the first HS coach of DS' first coach in HS.)
At one point the Camp Randall Rowing Club took over a 100 year old boathouse that was falling apart, moved it and renovated it, total cost almost $1 million. They rent if from the city of Madison. The Brittingham Boat House
Fortunately, the rowing club has a great relationship with the U Wisconsin team. The Wisconsin team will often sell their outdated rowing equipment to Camp Randall for practically nothing. Interesing that some boats used by Wisconsin in some famous victories are now used for training or racing,
A few years ago, the Camp Randall juniors realized they were at a disadvantage by not having state-of-the-art racing shells. Even a VERY slight advantage can be huge in races. For example, one time my son was in a boat that took the gold in the Midwest Junior Rowing Championships by less than half a second in a 7 minute race. There was a famous women's race where Michagan beat Michigan State by about 2" in a 2000 meter race.
So, they wanted new shells. To start with, they wanted the less expensive 4-man boats. Only $20,000 for a really good one (but not Olympic quality. That would be much more expensive). They worked out a deal. They had a fundraiser, and raised money for the boy's boat, which they named the Russ Lerham, after one of their board members. (Russ also rows with the Ancient Mariner rowing team, which often wins races in the 60+ age group. Russ told me that back when he rowed with Mendota, he used to row with Eric Heiden's father). The parents of one of the girls donated $20,000 for the girls' boat, the Maggie May, named after their dog.
On the way to the very first race with the new boats, the Russ Lerham fell off the trailer and was lost and damaged. Fortunately it was insured, so they bought a new boat called the Russ Lerham II.
Even better, they eventually found the damaged boat, which was repaired, and is now called the Pheonix. Not as good as new, but still a pretty good boat.
A couple of years later, they were able to buy their first new 8-man racing boat, for about $30,000. The family who paid for the Maggie May paid about half of that.
My son is not with that club anymore, BTW.
Even more impressive is what happened with a club in Chicago.
There is an adult club called the Lincoln Park Rowing Club. Until recently, they had a youth division called the Lincoln Park Juniors.
At one point, the father of one of the rowers gave a few hundred thousand dollars to the juniors, but they had to merge with a tiny club called the Chicago Rowing Foundation, which was in the middle of town, and more ethnically diverse. The father's name is Rahm Emmanuel.
Then, the newly merged club, CRF, decided they needed a new boathouse. So, CRF worked out a deal with the mayor of Chicago, coincidently Rahm Emmanuel. CRF donated $200,000 of Rahm's money to the new boathouse. The Chigago Parks donated free land. A couple of casinos who wanted to be on Rahm Emmanuel's good side donated $1 million each. The City of Chicago ponied up betwee $2 million and $3 million. Total cost: About $5 1/2 million.
How much extra for rod holders, out riggers, and a cooler? 
1) Put a written policy in place.
2) Say, "No, you don't get your money back."
Generally, getting legal or medical advice on a more or less anonymous bulletin board may not be the smartest thing to do.
2) Say, "No, you don't get your money back."
Generally, getting legal or medical advice on a more or less anonymous bulletin board may not be the smartest thing to do.
- Feb 12, 2014
- 243
- 16
We had a parent once try the same thing, they wanted all of their daughter's stats, and her equal share of money in the account.
We gave her stats but no refund !
We gave her stats but no refund !
That's an amazing story! Thanks for sharing it. The Rahm Emmanuel part is especially intriguing. Oh what tangled webs....
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