To: CYFA Executive Board

My name is Dan Thrailkill and both of my sons just completed their first season of CYFA Football on the River Ridge 4th and 5th Grade Teams. During the season, we experienced many highs and some unfortunate lows that I have previously emailed CYFA leadership about but never received a reply.

For some context, I currently serve as Treasurer on the Executive Committee for SORBA (sorba.org), on the Financial Committee for Ebenezer Methodist Church (Roswell, GA), and have previously served as Financial Aid Director for Camp Adam Fisher (campadamfisher.com) and as Treasurer for City of Woodstock’s INWDSTK Committee. I understand the complexities and challenges of overseeing nonprofit finances, policies & procedures, financial transparency, etc. and any questions that I ask are without insinuation and are for informational purposes only.

Towards the end of the Fall 2024 season, our family heard that CYFA had “run out of money” and the rumored reasons for the lack of funds were capital expenses. After learning this, I pulled the last (2) publicly available 990s for CYFA (TY 2022 and 2021 attached) and 990s from other similar football programs in nearby counties. According to Schedule O (page 28) of the 990 from 2022, the CYFA Organization promotes that conflict of interest and financial statement are available upon request; therefore, I am requesting the following documents:

1. Organizational Documents including the Articles of Incorporation, By Laws, and Operating Procedures to include how individuals, agents, etc. spend money on behalf of CYFA.

2. Any Conflict-of-Interest Statements

3. Form 990 for Tax Year 2023

4. Minutes from Board Meetings Year to Date

5. Year to Date Financials for 2024 to include Balance Sheet and Profit & Loss Statement

6. Invoices related to any Capital Expenses Year to Date and from TY 2023 and 2022

7. Total number of players, cheerleaders, and the associated fees charged for each for 2021 – 2024.

8. Documents related to any Independent Financial or other Audits that have been previously performed. 

   1. According to the YAA Policy and Procedures Manual located on the Cherokee Parks and Rec website (Link to Play Cherokee), Cherokee Recreation & Parks recommends that each YAA be bonded and that annual internal audits are performed on all accounts.

To ensure this request is treated professionally, a verbal conversation took place with Commissioner Richard Weatherby on Friday, 11/15/2024. He asked to be kept apprised of how the conversation progresses as he wants to ensure that any outside programs associated with County Facilities are run professionally and follow all guidelines. If needed, I will also include Jay Worley or other folks from Cherokee Parks and Rec Leadership in the conversation.

Given that the Fall season has wrapped up, the end of this year (12/31/2024) seems to be a reasonable expectation to obtain these documents. If it is not, please let me know what date is reasonable. I am happy to send a secure link to share the files, drop off a clean jump drive, etc. or whatever manner of transfer is easiest and most secure for for you.

Lastly, if anyone on the CYFA Board has any questions, concerns, etc., you are welcome to reply to this email or give me a call at any of the numbers listed below. 

Have a good one,

Dan Thrailkill, SHRM-CP

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Dear Dan,

Thank you for your email regarding the request for documents outlined below. After consulting with our CPA and attorney, we recognize the need to further evaluate this request.

I would be glad to discuss any issues or concerns that may have prompted this request, as I aim to provide clarity on any matters within my purview. However, if you prefer to proceed with obtaining these documents—particularly those that are not publicly accessible—please be advised that CYFA will allocate funds from our non-profit organization to cover the attorney's fees for this process. All further communications regarding this matter will then be directed through our legal counsel.

If you believe it would be beneficial, I would be happy to include any commissioners or Jay Worley in this email to ensure they are informed.

Robin Grostefon; President

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Robin,

I've added Jay Worley and Commissioner Richard Weatherby to this email.

My original reasons for concern were centered primarily around financial management and secondarily, leadership professionalism. After comparing your email response to our phone conversation from earlier today, my concerns now include financial transparency.

According to Schedule O of Form 990 from TY 2015 - 2022, the CYFA Organization promotes that conflict of interest and financial statements are available upon request. Whether they are published online in the case of Form 990, CYFA has elected to make conflict of interest and financial statements... available upon request. If CYFA, out of liability concerns or otherwise, decides to consult an attorney to review docs prior to their release, that decision along with the funding mechanisms to cover those costs resides solely within CYFA leadership. 

That being said, here are 2 possible solutions to prevent money being spent on this request by CYFA:

1. What documents would CYFA be able to provide from the list below without incurring any fees from your attorney? 

2. If CYFA leadership wants to ask your attorney to send me a detailed scope of work and cost estimate, I’m sure the community would find a way to cover what should be minimal costs.

I updated the doc list from my original and struck through the By-Laws since you directed me to those on the CYFA website during our call.

1. Organizational Documents including the Articles of Incorporation, By Laws, and Operating Procedures to include how individuals, agents, etc. spend money on behalf of CYFA.

2. Any Conflict-of-Interest Statements

3. Form 990 for Tax Year 2023

4. Minutes from Board Meetings Year to Date

5. Year to Date Financials for 2024 to include Balance Sheet and Profit & Loss Statement

6. Invoices related to any Capital Expenses Year to Date and from TY 2023 and 2022

7. Total number of players, cheerleaders, and the associated fees charged for each for 2021 – 2024.

8. Documents related to any Independent Financial or other Audits that have been previously performed. 

   1. According to the YAA Policy and Procedures Manual located on the Cherokee Parks and Rec website (Link to Play Cherokee), Cherokee Recreation & Parks recommends that each YAA be bonded and that annual internal audits are performed on all accounts.

From my perspective, instances where legal teams are requested to intermediate or when documentation that should be readily available takes an unusual amount of time to prepare raises a big red flag and I think the public would feel the same way.

Have a good one,

Dan Thrailkill, SHRM-CP

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Hi Dan,

Thank you for your response to my email. I'm hopeful that we can agree on the documents and information that will be shared with you.

Please see below the information that we are able to provide:

1. Organizational Documents: This information is included in the by-laws.

2. Conflict of Interest Statements: We do not have any conflict of interest statements available.

3. Form 990 for Tax Year 2023: We can provide this information.

4. Minutes from Board Meetings (Year to Date): We can provide this information.

5. Year-to-Date Financials for 2024: This includes the Balance Sheet and Profit & Loss Statement. However, we will not be providing any P&L forms from any year. As soon as 2024 is completed we can provide the 990 from that year 

6. Invoices Related to Capital Expenses (Year to Date and from Tax Years 2023 and 2022): We will not be providing this information.

7. Total Number of Players, Cheerleaders, and Associated Fees Charged (2021 – 2024): We will provide this information, but it may only be available starting in 2022.

8. Documents Related to Independent Financial or Other Audits: Per the recommendations from YAA, we perform our own internal audits. However, we can provide a statement from our CPA, confirming that they review our books every year. 

I wanted to clarify that CYFA believes it is important to respect the residents of Cherokee County and our shareholders by not asking them to spend their hard-earned money on these expenses for any attorney fees or accountant fees. 

We are committed to transparency and will provide the agreed-upon documents.

If we can agree on this information, I will be glad to share it as soon as it’s available. If not, I will assume I will hear from your attorney regarding the request for these documents.

Thank you for your understanding, and I look forward to finalizing our agreement

Thank you 

Robin Grostefon; President

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Robin,

Thank you for the response to my email...

"The residents of Cherokee County" will not be spending their hard earned money on any expenses associated with attorneys or accounting fees.

While I mentioned this in my previous email, we are formally offering to pay for the reasonable attorney and the reasonable CPA fees associated with the preparation and submission for all the documents previously listed in my original email request. Prior to approving the payment to CYFA or directly to your attorney/CPA, we would need to review a detailed scope of work from your attorney and your CPA to ensure understanding the scope and the associated costs. If CYFA elects to decline our offer directly or is nonresponsive to it, you are shouldering the burden of those expenses.

If CYFA is unwilling to produce the documents from our list which include financial statements that are compliant with GAAP accounting principles and have been publicly promoted by CYFA as being available upon request, we will be in touch.

Hope everyone has a happy and safe Thanksgiving.

Have a good one,

Dan Thrailkill, SHRM-CP

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While we wait on our advisers and since this did not generate any issues, we request that the following info be sent over as soon as it can be generated, and that it be broken out by high school and age group so that a report is generated for River Ridge, Woodstock, Etowah, Sequoyah, Creek View, and Cherokee in a similar format to what is outlined below.

If you have reports that can be exported from your player registration software, we will be happy to take PDFs of the data from 2022 to present.

Total Number of Players, Cheerleaders, and Associated Fees Charged (2021 – 2024): We will provide this information, but it may only be available starting in 2022.

TABLE WAS NOT ABLE TO BE PASTED CLEARLY, PLEASE SEE PDF FOR DATA TABLE

Have a good one,

Dan Thrailkill, SHRM-CP

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Hi Dan,

I would like to provide some context regarding our decision not to share certain information. From my professional experience in finance with a billion-dollar company, I’ve observed that not everyone can accurately interpret Profit and Loss statements, which can lead to confusion. While I trust your understanding, I am concerned about the potential for misinterpretation by others who may not grasp the nuances of these documents. This could result in unnecessary inquiries and an overwhelming amount of communication from parents directed at our volunteer board members.

It has come to the attention of the executive board that this request stems not just from a “wandering mind,” but from parents (as you mentioned, it isn't just you) who feel that CYFA has made choices due to a lack of funds or due to emails that did not seem professional. I believe this situation has caused our unpaid board members to put in more work for something that could likely be addressed through clearer communication, especially since CYFA has not "run out of funds" in any way.

If you would like, I can suggest a meeting with our executive board to review the P&L statements in person, with you in attendance. We would be open to this after the holiday season, ensuring that no copies or photos are made during the meeting.

Regarding your request for information, we kindly ask that you send the following data as soon as it can be generated. We would appreciate it if the information could be broken down by high school and age group, specifically for River Ridge, Woodstock, Etowah, Sequoyah, Creek View, and Cherokee, in a format similar to what is outlined below.

Here are the registration numbers requested, though they are not yet in the specific format you wanted:

Amount of Registrations:

• 2024 Football: 657

• 2024 Sideline Cheer: 903

• 2024 Competition Cheer: 40

• 2023 Football: 668

• 2023 Sideline Cheer: 905

• 2023 Competition Cheer: 41

Pricing for 2023 and 2024:

• Football: $400

• Sideline Cheer: $405

• Competition Cheer: $550

Please note that our registration costs vary based on several factors, including early registration fees, veterans discounts, sibling discounts, full and partial scholarships, and board member discounts. What I've provided above reflects only the base price (Regular Registration Fee).

I have removed Jay Worley from this email chain, as I have been in communication with him, and he no longer needs to be included in our discussions. Please note that CYFA operates as its own entity, and I, Robin Grosteton, am the commissioner for this program. CYFA utilizes CRPA fields and storage units and is fully compliant with all YAA standards and requirements.

Robin Grostefon; President’

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Robin,

Hope you had a great weekend.

Jay is out of town until 12/2, so removing him makes sense. I am also removing Richard as he and I chat regularly about the goings on in Cherokee County.

Thank you for sending the totals from 2023 and 2024, are you able to break those down by High School, and are you willing to send the data? Assume that your registration software breaks this out in some form of preformatted and exportable report that's likely easier to share than entering data into an excel sheet. I am also willing to send an already created excel sheet broken down by high school for you to fill in the data if that makes it easier for you.

Also, thank you for providing some context about your background and experience, I would expect CYFA to have folks in leadership that have strong professional backgrounds. So that you have context my professional abilities and how they relate to others on our team, I was in business/commercial banking for several years, have reviewed 100s if not 1000s of financial statements in my lifetime, and am likely the least experienced person from our group when it comes to reviewing/auditing financials. While a financial statement does indeed tell a story, the story is never a complete one, which generates additional questions, and data to craft the correct financial status. I am empathetic to CYFAs concerns about sharing financial data without having the story.

While I am more than willing to meet with anyone in person or via Zoom, I do not believe the meeting is necessary since any in-person meeting will not subordinate my request for copies of the requested documents. A more productive meeting would occur after we received and had time to review the financial statements. Alternatively, if you and I want to meet more casually for coffee, I am more than willing to verbally communicate what I have learned and provide recommendations for steps CYFA could take to repair some of the public's distrust.

As a current volunteer board member on multiple nonprofits, I fully understand the time, effort, energy, and stress that this conversation has potentially generated which is why I am confused as to why CYFA is unwilling to just send the docs that it publicly promotes as being available upon request? To me, sending the docs would be less time consuming than going round and round on the why...

Regardless, I hope all of you have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving.

Have a good one,

Dan Thrailkill, SHRM-CP

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Hi Dan,

Thank you for your message. I understand your interest in breaking down the enrollment data by district. While our system does have the capability to do this, it is a complex process that requires significant administrative time. Given that the overall enrollment numbers should suffice for gauging participation, I believe our time as volunteers could be better spent focusing on planning for the upcoming season rather than gathering specific documents.

I want to clarify that my involvement on the board is driven by my passion for the positive impact this program has on the youth in our county.  The requirement for executive board members to have served at least two years on the regular board is in place to ensure continuity and a strong understanding of our organization. However, since CYFA operates independently, we do not require extensive professional backgrounds—many of our most effective board members are stay-at-home parents who bring valuable insights.

Regarding meeting in person to review specific documents, I appreciate your willingness to discuss this further. However, we will not be providing hard copies of those documents. I am more than happy to answer any financial questions you or other parents may have via email or phone. Our goal is to maintain clear communication, especially as some documents can be misinterpreted. We feel it's more efficient to address concerns directly from the small group currently engaged rather than potentially overwhelming our resources with inquiries from a larger audience.

Lastly, I encourage you and your team, including PARENT NAME REMOVED, to complete the end-of-year surveys sent by our Director. This feedback is crucial for our discussions moving forward, and I welcome any concerns you may have.

Wishing you a wonderful holiday season!

Robin Grostefon; President

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