Is there an admission fee to get into sporting events?  How much? Yes, home football, basketball, some indoor track, most wrestling, ice hockey and volleyball events charge admission of $5 per adult and $3 for students and seniors.  Night games for soccer and field hockey will also sometimes charge admission.  These prices are set by the TVL and MIAA and money taken in goes to the Athletic Department.  You should expect to pay admission at similar away games.  Play-off game prices for admission will be slightly higher and is regulated by the MIAA.

Are season passes available? Yes, passes are issued by the Athletic Department and can be purchased at any home football, volleyball or basketball game.  You can also purchase a ticket by contacting the Athletic Director by email.   Prices are typically $40 for adults and $25 for students and seniors and are valid for regular season home matches that take place on HHS campus.

How and when are games filmed by HCAT? HCATv provides training and equipment to a volunteer from each team to film games.  Each team needs to contact HCAT directly to set up training and equipment availability.  HCAT often provides someone to film a game that is home and during playoffs.  An email to them is helpful to make sure they are aware of a playoff event that is at home. Visit hcattv.org for more information

Can I buy copies of game footage from HCAT? Yes you can.  Go to hcattv.org for more information.

When are fan buses approved?  Who pays for them? Fan buses are provided on rare occasions and the request must be requested by the students themselves.  They are requested and coordinated through the Athletic Director and Principal of the HS.  There typically is a student charge to ride the fan bus.

How do teams get upcoming games and recent accomplishments on morning announcements at the HS? This is the team captains’ responsibility and can be done by simply filling out the morning announcement form in the HS main office.

Who is in charge of concessions? HABA (Holliston Athletic Boosters Association) is in charge of all concession both outside and inside at sporting events.  All food service is covered under HABA’s Serve Safe permit issued by the Town of Holliston Board of Health.  Outdoor concessions are open for all home football games, some outdoor track events and many fall and spring season night games on the turf.  Indoor concessions are open at all home volleyball, basketball and wrestling events.  HABA uses volunteers from all teams to staff concessions.  To volunteer to work concessions contact HABA concessions coordinator.

What is HABA? The mission of the Holliston Athletic Boosters Association (HABA) is to provide opportunities for parents, alumni, and friends to support all interscholastic sports teams at Holliston High School. HABA shall be an agent for encouraging emphasis on participation and good sportsmanship. The mission shall be accomplished by providing financial and other types of support to all interscholastic sports teams at HHS using funds raised and distributed at the discretion of the board of directors.

When and how do I contact the Athletic Director (AD)? The AD can be contacted by using their school email address.  Visit the Athletic page of the HHS website for contact info http://hhsathletics.holliston.k12.ma.us/.  In the event of issues regarding the team, coach or playtime, all issues should be addressed between the coach and athlete first.  If a resolution is not found the athlete can contact the AD to discuss.

When and how should I contact the coach? The coach contact info can be found on the Athletic page of the HHS website http://hhsathletics.holliston.k12.ma.us/ under Coaching Staff.  Communication should primarily be between the athlete and the coach.  Parents should reserve involvement as much as possible.

When and how should I contact the Athletic Trainer (AT)? The AT information can be found on the Athletic page of the HHS website http://hhsathletics.holliston.k12.ma.us/.  The AT will contact you as a parent if your child has been injured and will following protocol set by the HS, MIAA and national standards. 

When and why can an athlete see the AT? The best time to connect with the AT is during DSB since after school is a very busy time preparing athletes to play or practice.

Why do some sports have concussion baseline testing and not others? Sports that are deemed contact sports by the MIAA require baseline concussion training before the athlete can even tryout.  The AT will post baseline testing times on the HHS website before the start of each season.

What is the MIAA Concussion protocol and return to play guidelines? Here is a link to the concussion protocol and policy http://hhsathletics.holliston.k12.ma.us/athletic-trainer/concussion-policy

My student athlete is not getting playing time.  What should I do? The athlete should speak directly to the coach first.   If that is not successful it is suggested to schedule a time for the athlete and parent to meet with the coach.  If that meeting is still not satisfactory meeting can be arrange with the AD, coach, athlete and parent through the AD’s office.

No one is announcing the athletes at the start of my child’s games.  Why not? Announcing before or during a sporting event is provided by volunteers and should be arranged through the coach.  PA systems are available through the AD and must be arranged in advance.

I have an issue with the athletic facilities and general maintenance.  Who do I contact? The HPS Central office is responsible for facilities and general maintenance.  You can contact Mr. Keith Buday at budayk@holliston.k12.ma.us.

Where do I find out the tryout dates and schedule per season? There will be a post on the HHS website about registration and tryouts well before the start of the season.  You can visit the Athletic page at http://hhsathletics.holliston.k12.ma.us/home for more information.  If your student is a repeat player they should have been receiving contact from the captains about preseason meetings.  These meetings take place right after school and are also announced during daily announcements several days prior.

Schedules can be found at http://hhsathletics.holliston.k12.ma.us/home.  The best way to find out information about games, scores and standings is to download the Arbiter Sports app for iPhones and Android phones.  This app is the most accurate information and is the first place the AD goes to post information and updates.  You can also request notifications from the app to let you know of games changes and scores.

What if my student athlete is sick or absent? See the HHS Student Athletic Handbook, http://hhsathletics.holliston.k12.ma.us/athletic-handbook, under the heading of ATTENDANCE.

My student athlete’s name is spelled incorrectly or omitted on the team roster.  How do I get it corrected? Student names are taken directly from the registration forms.  If for some reason there was a misspelling error upon registration input the athlete should contact the coach, who will then let the AD know. 

The team has been fundraising.  Who and where is that money kept for future use? Read the complete policy from the Holliston School Committee, https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7g5gwBbt9WvWHVaZm0xT1BzTjg/view.  Basically, all fundraising must have prior approval and funds raised should be held by the HS office in a revolving account.   Funds raised must have a clearly stated intent of use.  These funds may not be used for uniforms that are provided by the Holliston Public Schools.

In no case shall students engage in the direct monetary selling of raffle tickets, lottery tickets, games of chance or other forms of gambling as defined by Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 271, Section

Can I plan a vacation during a sports season? No, this is not recommended for any sport.  See the HHS Athletic Handbook.  http://hhsathletics.holliston.k12.ma.us/athletic-handbook, under the heading of ATTENDANCE. 

What if we have a very important pre-planned family event or obligation (wedding, funeral, graduation) and my athlete will miss a game or practice? Certainly there are exceptions for short term “one of” events such as funerals, weddings and sibling graduations.  Since these types of events are typically known well in advance, with the exception of a funeral, the coach should be made aware of these dates soon after tryouts.

My student athlete needs after-school help in a class, what if they are late to practice? Academics always come first! Practices should not start before 3pm allowing students to go for after school academic help.  An athlete should text or email their coach letting then know they are staying after and will be at practice as soon as possible.  On game days the bus for an away game may leave promptly and an athlete will need to coordinate after-school help and their game schedule accordingly.

Who plans Senior Night? Senior Night is coordinated by each sports HABA Liaison.  A list of liaisons by sport can be found on the HABA website https://sites.google.com/site/habaholliston/HABA/Team-Liasons

HABA pays $10 for each HHS senior varsity athlete.  They do not pay for seniors from visiting teams or team managers.  Senior Night should not have any additional cost to athletes or their families.

Who plans the End-of-Season team banquet? Traditionally this event is coordinated by the captains’ parents.  In some cases the tradition is the junior parents make the arrangements.   Per person costs should be kept to a minimum and use of the HS cafeteria is always the suggested venue to make that possible.  HABA provides $75 per team towards banquet costs.  Earned Concession Credits through HABA can also be used towards the banquet.  These available funds should be confirmed by the banquet organizers prior to determining the per person cost through the team’s HABA liaison https://sites.google.com/site/habaholliston/HABA/Team-Liasons.   

Who provides the sports participation certificates at the End-of-Season banquets? These are provided by HABA.  The HABA liaison will request a current and accurate roster from the coach several weeks in advance of the banquet date. 

Who provides the varsity letters, pins and coach's awards at for banquets? The AD provides all of that directly to the coach of your sport.  Those details are independent of HABA and captains' parents.

Who provides and updates the banners hanging in the field house?  The banners are paid for by HABA, but the updates are managed through the Athletic Director's working relationship with the banner company.  The banners represent team titles at the TVL league, Division and State levels.  Individual All-State Champions have a banner to represent those who have achieved the State level championship as an individual in an event within their MIAA team sport (ie. wrestling weight class, track & field event, swimming event, cross country, golf and tennis).

Who provides the trophies, pins and varsity letters given by the coach at the banquet? Trophies and awards are organized by the coach and funded through the AD.  The coach coordinates with the AD directly with their needs .  Those details are independent of HABA and captains' parents.

Who determines next year’s captains? Per the HHS Athletic Handbook, captains may be selected by the coach or through a coaches selection. For complete captain eligibility and guidelines visit https://docs.google.com/document/d/15Rw_oSq2DWkUrrHMy8AMFED5lVTYZHevobrWt2w4B_Y/edit

No one told us there would be additional expenses besides the $225 registration fee!  This is getting very costly with team gear, fundraising, banquet tickets, coaches gifts and senior night.  Am I required to pay these expenses? Unfortunately, most sports have “unknown” expenses.  You are not required to participate in fundraising and a coach or captain can not penalize the athlete for not participating.  

Extra team gear is 100% optional. HHS provides home and away uniforms only.  Anything else is the responsibility of the individual. Team gear, or swag, purchases are optional, although there is a lot of pressure and desire to look like the rest of your teammates.  We encourage teams to keep the same style gear from year-to-year to minimize annual costs.  Teams should not be purchasing their own uniforms per policy of the Holliston School Committee.  Read the complete SC Uniform Policy https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_wLPx0hRib2aE8xclhMMDNBRk0/view

Banquet costs should be kept to a minimum.  It has always been encouraged to have end-of-season banquets in the HS cafeteria to keep it affordable.  Banquets can be pot luck or catered by a local low cost restaurant. 

Coaches’ gifts are not required and should be kept to a small token of appreciation.  Most coaches don't do it for the gift.  They do it because they love the kids, the sport and the reward of seeing kids grow and individuals and as teammates.  In the same vein, some sports like to give gifts to senior athletes.  This is not encouraged, but is often “the tradition.”   If the tradition must continue gifts should be low cost or homemade.  Participation financially in either case of gift giving is not required but the athletes organizing should be told so they can make budget adjustments.

Senior Night is paid for by HABA in the form of $10 per HHS senior varsity athlete.  You should not be required to pay anything additional to celebrate the seniors.