I am a member of a sporting club that has 501c3 status. A parent of a particular member has been fund raising and then "gave" the cash to our club. The club then in turn gave the money to the member to cover costs for travel to sporting events, entry fees etc. I thin they ran the money through the 501c3 simply to avoid paying taxes. Is this legal ?

Did that member have permission to raise money for the club? Who was giving reciepts to the people who gave him money ?

I agree I think they were doing this as a tax scheme. Not sure how the IRS would view it.
Can any parent give money to the club and have it given back to cover their costs of doing events ? Is there a reason they treated this member different ?

... Can any parent give money to the club and have it given back to cover their costs of doing events ? ...

Or, even more to the point, under what circumstances, and for what purposes, does the club give money to members? If it is not doled out according to even-handed rules, I believe it would be improper and grounds for revocation of the club's 501(c) status.