When a club director hands over $1,500 in cash ...

It is not unusual for club or AAU sports programs to assist or waive the fees of student athletes who cannot afford to pay what is sometimes thousands of dollars to participate.

But the director of basketball operations for Swoosh, a Utah AAU team for high-school-age boys, gave the mother of one prospective player $1,500 cash to cover that fee.

The boy's mother, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that while she and Rod Smith discussed the fact that she couldn't afford club basketball fees, she had no idea the envelope he handed her during the conversation contained cash. Smith said he told her there was money in the envelope when he gave it to her.

"I told her what was in there," Smith said. "I told her it's $1,500 in cash; be careful."

The mother, however, said she discovered the envelope contained cash after she and her son returned home from a dinner meeting with Smith.

"I opened the envelope and there was a letter in there," she said. "There was another envelope with my name on the outside. I opened it and said, 'Whoa, you're kidding me!' I was just as shocked as everybody else.... Who in their right mind would give someone $1,500 in cash? I was totally blown away."

She said she expected a letter, a legal document or some kind of voucher that would guarantee her son's fees would be paid if he chose to play with Smith's club, the Swoosh.

Smith said he gave the family the money because he wanted them to know he was committed to helping the boy play AAU basketball this season after he'd invited the boy to play last year and then decided against having a team. Smith, who also has a son on the team, told the Deseret Morning News that he only meant to help a teen who couldn't otherwise afford to play AAU basketball. He said club teams often ask members of the community to help these players pay fees or they waive them.

"I've personally assisted many families," he said. "We do it because we want to help the kids."

Smith also pointed to the letter contained in the envelope with the money, which explained that the money was to be used to cover the boy's fees with Swoosh.

"We will be collecting the $1,500 back during our first week of practice in early March," Smith wrote to the boy's mom. The letter also stated that if Smith failed to organize a team, the boy could use that money to pay participation fees with another club.