Athletic Banquet Ideas.

Do you need to plan an athletic banquet? We have put together numerous banquets, for various sports, over the years. Invariably everyone expects a gala memorable event, on a shoestring budget. It can be done, if you have a little organization, and support of the coaches, school, and parents. If you find this article helpful, or if you have other suggestions, please let us know in the comments section at the bottom of this page. I would love to add your athletic banquet ideas to this page.

From the school staff you will need:

What part of the school you will be able to use for the athletic banquet.(gymnasium, cafeteriaa, etc).
What time you are required to be out of the building.
How much clean-up can be expected from the custodial staff.
Location and availability of mops, brooms, ladders, etc.
Availability of decorations and decorating supplies for the athletic banquet.

Here are some things you will need from the coaches for the athletic banquet.

A complete roster of athletes eligible to come to the athletic banquet.
Information about special awards and recognition they will be giving.
Information about speaches, special speakers, videos, etc the coaches plan to present.
- Also any special set-up, power, sound, or other equipment they will need.
Information about table space for awards, letters, trophies, etc
- How much space at the athletic banquet will they need?
- How can it best be located, in relation to the head table

Checklists and diagrams
To make everything go smooth, from the planning stage to clean-up, it will really help if you get a folder, or notebook, and make some notes and diagrams. Don't let anyone take your original! If someone needs this or that, make them a copy, but never let your original out of your snug little notebook. These are the items we always had in our notebook. Your mileage may vary.

Guest list. Make a spreadsheet, or chart, of all the athletes, guests, faculty, etc. whether they plan to attend the athletic banquet or not. In each athlete's row include a column for
- phone number, or contact information
- check-off box for will, or will not, attend the athletic banquet
- number of guests in the athlete's party, including the athlete.
- amount paid, if you are charging for the athletic banquet
- miscellaneous notes
Invitations. Decide how you will invite the people on your athletic banquet guest list. Every person on the guest list should be contacted at least once, two to three weeks before the event if possible. People who have not confirmed should be contacted at least one more time. Here are some thoughts on the basic ways to invite your guests. You may want to use different methods for different categories of guests, or depending on individual situations. Basically, one size does not fit all. Whichever method you use, always be enthusiastic, positive and upbeat. If you are excited about the banquet, the people you talk to will gain interest.
- In person. If you have a trainer, coach or team member who will talk to people and keep an accurate list of responses, this can be a great help. If you have an opportunity to attend a team workout, or meeting and talk about the athletic banquet program, it can be very effective. You can generate interest, and a little peer pressure to have the whole team, coaches, and staff attend. It is also good to personally contact those stragglers who can't decide if they will come or not. The person making the contact, needs to have a positive attitude about the event, and show a sincere desire that the people contacted will attend.
- Over the phone. This one can be time consuming, but the personal contact of a phone call will generate interest. This is another good, personal conatct for the undecided. Remember, your attitude shows in your voice. Be positive and interested in the person you are talking too. If you think a person may be willing to volunteer, talk to them about their athletic banquet ideas.
- Email. You can make this athletic banquet invitation personal, while communicating with a large number of people at the same time. Use the Bcc option to enter email addresses to make it more personal, and to eliminate a huge list of email addresses at the top of the mail. Use a nice background, but don't spend a tremendous amount of time on graphics. Graphics may make the message un-readable on some email services. Be sure the text of your athletic banquet invitation is in a contarasting color from the background, so it will be easily readable. Write the text of your message as though it were addressed to an individual. I keep saying this, because it is important. Be positive, and enthusiastic, in your communication about the athletick banquet program.
- Written invitation. If a person has a piece of paper with the where and when information about the athletic banquet theme, they are more likely to make it a priority to attend. If you are able to attend a practice, event, meeting, etc, make it a point to bring athletic banquet invitations. Athletic banquet invitations are also handy to have with you when you contact someone personally. How formal, or fancy the athletic banquet invitations are depends on your individual taste. The important thing is that it contains all the information a person needs in order to attend. It is also a good idea to include contact information for the person who can answer individual questions. If you want something more formal than a piece of paper, consider printing your own. You can find printable invitations at this site. Or I have instructions for creating your own printable invitations on my site.
A rough sketch of the layout of the athletic banquet. This doesn't need to be to scale, or artistic. It is simply a map for positioning tables, chairs, display areas, food line layout, audio and video equipment, wires for power, sound, video, etc. But it is nice to hand a copy to someone and say, "This is how we need the tables set up", and go on to other tasks.
- This definitely does not need to be fancy. It just needs to be legible. Rectangles and squares for tables and chairs is fine. if you need to run power, or other types of cords and cableing, use colored pens, and make a reference of what each color is. i.e. Red=electric, Blue=video, Green=audio, etc.
- Be sure to include the head table, coaches awards table, food tables, display tables, sound and projector set-up information, etc
- If you will have a video or other electronics, include where it will be set up, how to connect to power, audio, etc. Be sure to make note of needs such as power strip, extension cords, etc. Whoever is responsible for setting this stuff up will be the best one to fill it in.
Athletic Banquet Volunteer list. This is your lifeline. Protect it with your life. It is the one place to get all the information about who has volunteered to do what.
- list names, contact information, what they have volunteered for, and miscellaneous notes
- Be sure to follow up with your volunteers beforehand and verify they "remember" they signed up to do certain things. Because they are on your list, does not mean they will show up. Most people will do what they commit to, particularly if they realize what they are doing is important to the success of the event. Contact them from time to time and express your appreciation for their volunteering to be part of making the athletic banquet a success. Talk to them them about what they signed up for and what they are experiencing. If they know you are aware of what they are doing, you will have fewer surprises.
- It is also a great reference list, when it comes time in the program to recognize your help. People like to be recognized for what they have done. If they are appreciated, they will volunteer again. If they don't receive some recognition, many people will not want to volunteer next time. Put their name in the program with the title of their responsibility. Make a poster acknowledging volunteers' work and contributions. If a business or person contributed something (money, food, decorations, etc) be sure to recognize them as well. It is generally not a good idea to mention dollar amounts, unless you have talked to the contributor beforehand.
Task list. This is as important as the volunteer list. As you determine things that need to be done, put them on the list. Make the following columns.
- Column 1 is the completion box. If something is not completed at one time, mark it so you know how much is done. Use percentages, or S=started, H=half, etc.
- Column 2 is a very brief description of the task. For example "guest list", "caterer", "decorations", set-up, etc
- Column 3 is the big column with description and notes.
The Program. This is the working document from which the final athletic banquet program will be printed. It is a working document you build it as you work with the people involved in the program. You should make notes about how long each part will be, so you have an idea how long the whole banquet will be. It is also good to inform speakers if they should adjust their part, so the whole program is not too long for comfort. It is good to review this with the coaches or master of ceremonies (MC) occasionally, so they are aware of how the program is coming together.
Expense sheet. Keep track of everyone's expenses on some type of spreadsheet. If people, including yourself, are to be reimbursed for various items, this will be your documentation for the treasurer.
- column 1 item description - short description of the expense item
- column 2 who needs to be reimbursed, if anyone
- column 3 check off, when the person is reimbursed
- column 4 check off, when the item is paid for
- column 5 dollar amount of the expense
- column 6 misellaneous notes.

Icebreakers
The best pre-program activity is something that reviews the season in some way. This can be as simple as passing around pictures from the season, or as involved as showing film clips of games/meets. Remember this is not the time to criticize poor performance. Just do your best to recognize everyone's participation in a positive way. Do your best to have pictures and/or movie foottage of every athlete. The person who sat on the bench all season wants to be recognized more than the star. Don't forget managers, trainers, and other support people.

Center-pieces & Decorations

Crepe Bows are inexpensive, easy to make, and add a nice touch to table corners and just about any spot that needs a touch of decoration.
Silhouette Pictures - Years after we did this center-piece, most of the athletes still had their picture displayed on a dresser or bookshelf.
- If you do this one, it is strongly suggested that you have at least one picture of every athlete. Action pictures are best. There should be at least one individual picture for each athlete to take home.
- Glue individual pictures on foam board. Spray glue works best to get full coverage on the back of the picture. Glue them side by side to conserve foam board. Be sure there are no bubbles or wrinkles. Let the glue dry completely before moving to the next step.
- Cut around the sides and top with an X-Acto knife. Hold the knife straight up, so the cut is clean and straight. You want to eliminate most of the "unnecessary" part of the background. Do not follow lines exactly, but curve around people and objects. Leave the bottom flat for a base. For example, in the picture everything is cut away except the wrestlers and the mat.
- From the scrap cut a triangle similar to the brown piece shown in the picture, to form a support. Cut one side of the triangle back a little, as shown in the blue piece of the picture. This will give a support that will make the picture lean back at a 10-15 degree angle. Glue the support on the back of the picture, even with the bottom, so it will stand on its own.
- Make at least as many of these as you have guests, because everyone will want one.

Unique football, basketball, volleyball, soccer ball centerpiece. The description talks about using a football, but any inflatable type ball will work the same way.
- Cut old footballs in half (either direction will work equally well). Support the half-ball, like a bowl, by setting it in a small bowl. The small bowl should be support only, and leave the half-ball visible.
- Fill the ball with fruit, or flowers, or candy, or a pom-pom. Cut pennants from felt, in school colors, and glue them on sticks long enough to hang over the edges of the ball-bowl.
- Sprinkle confetti, in school colors around the centerpiece.
- Decorate the base with greenery, little pom-poms, or crepe paper (in school colors).

Use sports equipment. Sounds crazy, but it works, and it is very inexpensive.
- Lay a program, or team roster on the table and sprinkle a little confetti around. Then set a football helmet on it. Really banged up helmets work best. You can add flowers, ribbons, or crepe paper in and around the face-mask. Add inexpensive tissue paper for table runners.
- Take old pairs of athletic shoes and spray paint them in school colors. Fill them with flowers or small pom-poms, and lay them out in similar fashion.
- For a variation on the same theme, use catcher's helmets and batting helmets from Softball & Baseball.
- Use crossed batons, shot, discus, vaulting helmets from track.
- Don't forget the coaches equipment; dry eraser playboard, whistles on lanyards, etc.
- Trophies always make great centerpieces, if they are not so tall that they obstruct someone's view. They work particularly well if they were earned by the honored team, within the past 1-3 years.
- Add balloons in school colors. Pom-poms and megaphones. There's no end of items and all available at no cost.

Honoring Seniors. It is always nice if you can honor those who will not be coming back next season, because they are graduating, will be too old for the team, or are moving away. What better place to honor them than at their final athletic banquet. This will quickly become a tradition. The younger athletes will look forward to their opportunity to the honor of constructing a display at their last athletic banquet.
- The displays should be in an area where they will not be an obstruction during the program. They should be located where people will be able to file by and see them as they come to the banquet, or as they leave afterward.
- Notify the graduating athletes, several weeks beforehand, that they are to make a display of their sports career, or notable events in their life.
  - It can be a poster, or any type display they want to put together.
  - Tell them the amount of table space they will have for their display, so they can plan accordingly.
  - Items or pictures others may not recognize should be labeled in some way.
  - Somewhere on the display, the athlete's name should be displayed.
  - If they so choose, a brief autobiographical article would be good.
  - If they have special, future plans those could be incorporated into the display as well.
  - Almost anything that depicts highlights of the athlete's life and career is acceptable.
  - Things like guns, knives, liquor bottles, pornography, etc. should be discouraged.

Food
The best way to get attendance at an athletic banquet is to provide good food. Here are a few "easy way out" options for providing a meal. If you are organizing an athletic banquet there is no "easy way out", but there are some short-cuts.

Organize a pot luck. Divide the roster of parents into groups. One group will bring a meat item, one group a vegetable dish, one group a salad and bread item, one group a dessert, and one group drinks. The rule of thumb is bring enough to serve your family and at least three additional families. You will also need to arrange for eating utinsels, plates, napkins & cups.
Hire a caterer. This was always our choice. We found a restaurant that also caters and boldly asked for a deal. Generally, we did get a great deal. The restaurant had a great opportunity to advertise with cards, coupons, advertising in the program, and honorable mention during the program. If you talk to the manager, and remind him/her of the opportunity to advertise directly to people in the area, you will often be pleasantly surprised. Most of the time, they even supplied paper plates, plastic utinsels, napkins and paper cups. Basiclly the meal was completely covered by a phone call.
Purchase prepared food from a delicatessen or super-market. Make some calls, and check the prices. We always found this as expensive as the caterer, with much more work. If you go this route, I suggest you have at least one dependable volunteer whose sole responsibility is arranging, delivering, and setting up the food. You need someone who will follow up on all the details to make this part successful. It can be a little embarassing to have five gallons of ice cream and no spoons. Your food person should also be responsible for mapping the food layout. She will have a good mental picture, but you need to integrate it into the overall plan.
Prepare the meal yourself. We actually did this for one athletic banquet. It was springtime and the weather was nice enough to fire up a couple gas grills. We were reluctant at first, but a couple dads were excited about running the grills, so we went for it. I would suggest a split between hamburgers and hot-dogs; 80% hamburgers and 20% hot-dogs. Split the number of hot-dogs evenly between brats and regular dogs. Figure 1/3 pound of hamburger per serving. Plan on 1 1/2 servings per person if the crowd is evenly split between male and female. 75% of the guys will eat two burgers, or two dogs, and 90% of the ladies will eat only one. You will also need mustard, mayonaise, ketchup, relish, onions, lettuce, dill pickle chips, and tomatoes. That is quite a list, but it all goes a long way. Check the "number of servings per container" on the label and purchase accordingly. A good size onion will give 8-10 servings, a normal head of lettuce 15-20 hamburgers, and a good size tomato will cover 6-8. Be sure you have enough table space for plates, napkins, prepared meats, buns, condiments, drinks, etc. Also provide a table strictly for the grill-masters' equipment and the uncooked meat items. Keep uncooked meat well separated from the prepared food. Be sure to recognize the cooks and volunteers during the program.

Putting together a memorable banquet is a great accomplishment. It requires effort and most of all a positive attitude. I know yours will be a success. Please let me know how it turned out, and any pointers you would be willing to share.