Former FAMU NAA President Tommy Mitchell leads the promotion of nonprofit sports
Former Florida A&M National Alumni Association President Tommy Mitchell, Sr., leads the Rattlers’ Non-Revenue Producing Sports Booster Club. Mitchell is a member of the FAMU Sports Hall of Fame.
Tommy Mitchell Sr. wants to make sure every sport at Florida A&M is included.
The FAMU alumnus and former president of the National Alumni Association founded and leads the FAMU Non-Revenue Producing Sports Booster Club.
The organization was created to support the Rattlers’ baseball, basketball, bowling, cheerleading, golf, softball, track and volleyball teams.
During the FAMU National Alumni Association Convention in May, the NRPS Boosters presented a check for $32,000 as a token donation to the Rattler teams’ endowment accounts.
Mitchell said the NRPS Boosters donated $2,000 to each team represented. Volleyball received an additional $1,500, golf $1,000 and baseball $550.
FAMU NRPS Boosters members can donate directly to specific teams, but Mitchell said the FAMU NRPS Boosters are pushing for unrestricted funds.
“The idea is to create and build a strong support base, just like the National Alumni Association,” said Mitchell, who was inducted into the FAMU Sports Hall of Fame during his basketball career with the Rattlers. “I might not necessarily want to look at a chapter concept, but a club concept where we don’t have to be a structured national organization unless the group wants that.”
Mitchell said he started thinking about the FAMU NPRS Booster Club when he served as executive director of the Rattlers Boosters from 2017 to 2020, a role entrusted to him by former FAMU athletic director Milton Overton. Then Mitchell recalled former FAMU athletic director Kortne Gosha calling the sport “non-revenue-producing.”
Mitchell said he has called people in about 10 states to ask for support of the FAMU NRPS Booster Club.
“I got a few people together and said the university needs a national support group,” Mitchell said. “This organization is to make sure we support the other sports.”
In 2022, FAMU NRPS Boosters raised $32,000. In 2023, they raised $41,000.
Through the first quarter of 2024, the FAMU NRPS Boosters’ efforts increased to $53,954.16, including $6,573.34 for the team’s game snacks, provided primarily by Tallahassee’s Piggly Wiggly, owned by FAMU alumnus Roy Moore. Game snacks are also provided at the Rattlers’ away game locations.
In addition to snacks, FAMU NRPS has also provided other items for the Rattlers’ athletic programs, such as laptops for the women’s basketball coaching staff.
Another project FAMU NRPS Boosters would like to tackle is to sponsor the Rattlers’ three-day volleyball tournament at the Al Lawson Center on September 6-7. FAMU NRPS Boosters need a minimum of $5,500 to sponsor the tournament. This means FAMU NRPS Boosters will need to raise an additional $2,500 for the Rattlers’ volleyball tournament.
“All the teams tell us a project they want us to help with,” Mitchell said. “I’ve found that people are more willing to donate money when they know what the money is for.”
Mitchell said the FAMU NRPS Boosters’ next plans are to attend more away games and gain more corporate and corporate sponsorships. He said the organization plans to make more donations in the fourth quarter of this year as early as September, and possibly another donation in December.
“We want to make another donation sometime in September or October at the latest. And then we want to do it again in December,” Mitchell said.
Tommy Mitchell calls on more FAMU alumni to support the university
Sports at FAMU have to be self-sustaining. The university cannot finance sports.
FAMU is raising more money than ever in the school’s history, but only seven percent of donors are alumni. Mitchell said he found this out at a meeting of the FAMU National Alumni Association.
Mitchell, who formerly served as FAMU’s director of alumni affairs, wants to change that and is ready to take the lead in that effort.
“We need to remind our graduates that graduates of HBCUs simply don’t give back the way they should,” Mitchell said.
“If we don’t give the money, the university is in trouble – and we have championship teams – volleyball, softball, baseball, tennis. I know those teams do well, but they don’t charge money for their games. So we have to make sure we do better.”
Mitchell follows his words with actions.
He says the FAMU Foundation automatically deducts $76.66 from his account twice a month and that he has a season ticket for FAMU’s sports teams.
“I can’t ask people for donations if I don’t. We say we love the school and we bleed orange and green. If we don’t donate the green, that love is questionable,” Mitchell said.
“We just need to provide more support because the university can’t do it. The university does its job of attracting companies and grants, but they can’t support them. So we have to do this.”
Gerald Thomas III covers Florida A&M University athletics for the Tallahassee Democrat. Reach him via email at [email protected] or through the app formerly known as Twitter. @3peatgee.
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