Tips for Planning an End of Season Team Awards Dinner

As the fall sports teams wrap up their respective seasons, the booster clubs are usually busy with plans for the end of season awards dinner. Depending on the size of your team’s roster, these special nights can be small, intimate dinners or they can be gala banquets with a hundred or more guests. Usually team tradition dictates the format of these celebrations. Over the years, I have attended or planned over 35 of these award dinners. Even with my own kids out of the house, I still get phone calls from the local booster clubs asking for ideas and suggestions. So follow along to find some great tips for planning an organized, well run, end of season team awards dinner.

Meticulous advance planning and organization is the key to a successful event. The best piece of advice: Start planning early. Lots of advance time allows you to find the perfect spot for your team awards dinner and adds some bargaining power as you aren’t in a rush. Make sure you round up helpers to share the workload. Make sure to get your event date on the school and parent calendars as soon as you finalize it. This will help avoid scheduling conflicts. Send your invitations out as soon as possible and put an RSVP date of at least 2 weeks in advance of the dinner date. If you give team gifts to the coaches, collect that donation with the dinner monies!

Choosing a venue for your event is critical. You want to make sure it is suitable for your needs, centrally located and within your budget. You should price out both a sit down as well a buffet. While a buffet may be less expensive and have a larger menu selection, you don’t want your guests standing in long lines for their food. Also make sure the venue will accommodate any special dietary needs or restrictions a guest may require. The staff needs to be responsive, flexible and quick to return your emails and calls. There will always be last minute circumstances that arise and having a good contact person will prove invaluable. Check in advance for special items you may need. If you are going to show a game video highlights film, check to see if there is a screen at the site. Look at the electrical outlets, will you need a 3-prong adapter? Will you need extension cords? How will you set up your video equipment? Is there an area to set up your trophies or plaques, awards or player pictures? How does the sound system work? Simple things to resolve in advance... a potential nightmare, if you wait until the night of the awards dinner.

Another nice touch is to organize your seating in advance. Get a floor plan from the facility and decide how you want the room set up as well as where they place the tables. In all the dinners I have been involved with, the players sit together by squad in the front of the room. We mark the tables with a sign indicating their team. Seating the parents can be done one of two ways. For a larger dinner, assign seating just like at a wedding. Your catering hall should place cards available. For a smaller one, you may opt for directing your guests to tables marked by the team level such as JV or Varsity. Organizing seating is a bit time consuming, but is actually welcomed by many guests. No one like to walks into the dinner and try to find a seat plus any latecomers can enter and sit with causing any disruption.

In addition to the "nuts, bolts and logistics" of running one of these team awards dinner; add some fun. We always do a program that outlines the evening’s itinerary plus has some candid shots from throughout the season. Plan something special for your seniors. Hold a raffle with donated gifts from booster families or local businesses. With no cost, this can provide your seed money for next year. Make some fun table favors. Create a highlights video. There are tons of unique and creative ideas for adding some fun to your dinner, as well as program and invitation samples.

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