Southside Athletic Foundation, Inc. - Historical information

The Southside Athletic Foundation, Inc. was formed as a 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization in the Fall of 2007.  Its general purpose was to provide support and promotion to the athletic programs at Southside High School and Rainbow Middle School.  Specifically, with its inception, a major goal was to raise funds for the renovation of the science wing of the old Southside High School on Hwy. 77 into a state-of-the-art fieldhouse that would include locker rooms, weight rooms, showers, and meetings rooms for the athletic program.  

The foundation leveraged a mix of donations, grants, and borrowed funds to complete the renovation in the fall of 2009.  Once completed, officers of the Foundation and city leaders of both Southside and Rainbow City met to discuss the future of the Foundation.  It was agreed upon then by all involved that the Southside Athletic Foundation, Inc. would provide the corporate and organizational structure for all of the athletic programs’ booster organizations.  The board was organized with two divisions within its board of directors, the Central Board and the General Board. The Central Board was made up of the original board of directors, an appointment of each city, and three appointments from the General Board.  The General Board was made up of one annual appointment from each sanctioned sport at Southside High School. With sound corporate governance, the sports programs were able to consolidate and coordinate their efforts to maximize the fundraising efficiency of each program.  The move to one booster club for all sports, at its core, was made to improve our overall support of each sport. By combining efforts in fundraising, grant application, purchasing, merchandising, and marketing, leaders felt that the overall results would exceed those of individual groups, and time has proven that to be the case.  With efficiencies gained by following standard operating procedures along with the combined force of all of our athletes and their families in our fundraising efforts, the overall results were expected to be of greater benefit to each student athlete, coach, and the athletic program as a whole.