Years ago, maybe in the 90’s, one of our spring teams was on the verge of qualifying for the championship. They just needed to win one more game on the road. I remember talking to our Athletic Director at the time (a great guy, Doc had been around for years) and he asked me if there was any money left in the budget for a trip to the championships. There was not. He said:

“It’s kind of awkward cheering against yourself, don’t you think?”

Institutions that have fiscally responsible Athletic Departments put Athletics on the defense when they do not have a contingency championship budget.

I have seen many different formulas and systems to build a championship budget. My favorite is a type of escrow account. The budget has a line for every sport which includes contractual incentive bonuses as well as an estimated amount of team travel. If a coach qualifies for an incentive the funds are withdrawn from this budget. Any team travel based upon the usual travel party size is deducted from here, as well. Only championships and incentives come from this budget and at year end any unused portion is back under institutional care. This way you never have to cheer against yourself again.

Plan for Success.
Apologize for Success.
I will always do the first and will never do the last.

Until next time!

Jude Russo Caserta

AthleticBudgetCoach.com/blog
Twitter: JudeCaserta Linkedin: Jude Russo Caserta
E-mail: judi_caserta@athleticbudgetcoach.com

Share on Facebook

Share this: