February 9, 2007

In Deer Creek, the one funding not talked about in the 2006-07 budget handed to patrons was sports. This is a problem. During the entire review of the district’s budget with the patrons, the superintendent and the school board never talked about sports.

The review was on curriculum, thus the non-review. Sports funding is not coming from the same budget as curriculum funds. In order to confirm this you can request the budget but unless someone from the school goes over it line item by line item with you, it won’t make sense.

While the scholastic part of our children’s education needs to be funded first, reviewing sports funding and understanding it is essential to understanding the whole picture. Sports funding is essentially broken up into 5 areas:

1. Funds from School
2. Fundraising
3. Booster Clubs
4. Gate & Concessions
5. Parents

1. Funds from School:
   The sports programs at Deer Creek are considerably under funded. There is example after example of how the sports programs are short on funds. Example: Soccer players' parents have to purchase their children's uniforms. And before anyone goes off and claims the football program gets everything they want, believe it or not, the football program is short on funds. By the way, being short on funds for athletics is not unique to Deer Creek. Many districts are having the same problems. Part of why the debate over funds for athletics becomes so emotional is the assumptions made by all sides without realizing what is really going on.
   
   
   • Assumption: Sports funds are sapping educational funds. People who are against increasing funding for athletics say "Our children’s education should come first."
     
     Reality:           Funds for education are already there. Unfortunately they are being mismanaged. Based on the school boards review of the budget, athletic funds come from a different bucket than educational funds. One does not take away from the other.
     
     
   • Assumption: Certain sports get what ever they ask for.
     
     Reality:           While some sports do get more funds from the district than others, these same sports receive phenomenal parental support through the booster clubs, giving them the appearance of apparent uneven funding.
     
     
   When it comes to how the school funds sports, it is amazing how many rumors and misconceptions are circulating. Who knows that the real numbers are? The school board and school administration do. Before taking some one's word or drawing quick conclusions, go to the source for correct information about funding. Ask the school board and administration for an explanation.
   
   
   
2. Funds from Fundraising
   Just about every sport or athletic has their own fundraiser. Cheerleaders have the calendar, football does the discount cards, baseball sells the poinsettias and so on. Some of these funds go directly to the sports, some go directly into the students’ activity fund and some go to the booster clubs which in turn go to the sports programs.
   
   
   
3. Funds from Booster Clubs
   The booster clubs at Deer Creek are nothing short of amazing. The next time you go past the high school softball stadium, you will see the result of hard work from parents and the softball booster club. The softball booster club is the poster child for how parents can get involved and make a difference.
   
   The only problem with booster clubs is they sometimes fall into the trap of being enablers. The money the booster clubs raise should be above and beyond the funds that the district gives. Unfortunately sometimes the funds generated by the booster clubs are figured, by the school board and administration, into the equation when determining the funds a program will receive.
   
   This is not an attack on any booster program; it is just a friendly caution to the clubs. The fruits of their hard work can sometimes be hurting their own cause. It seems from the school board's point of view, there is no need to equally fund programs when the booster clubs will pick up the tab.
   
   
   
4. Gates & Concessions
   Gate and concession moneys are a large source of revenue for more than just the sports programs. This money is handled differently in every sport. To find out where each event gate and concession moneys go, talk to each sports coordinator. As we mentioned before there are some coop opportunities with the concessions. At the football games groups can volunteer to man the visitor’s concession stand and the group receives 50% of the stand’s take that night.
   
   
   
5. Funding from Parents
   The following is the money I put out last year for my daughter to participate in two sports. Realizing some of these cost are one time expenditures, imagine if the school was paying for this? Suddenly you realize how much the school doesn’t fund.
   
   
   • $345 for softball glove, bat, cleats, protective gear, and other accessories. None of which was top of the line equipment.
     
     
   • $525 for golf clubs, gloves, shoes, balls (lots of balls), green fees, range balls, golf shirt, school coach fees.
     
     
   All programs require parents to pick up part of the tab. Some more than others. Still it is a source of funds necessary to whatever program their children participate in.

These are just a few examples of how playing sports helps in life.

• Two years ago a college softball coach told me that there were about 300,000 girls playing high school softball, but only about 3000 college scholarships for softball. You do the math. One of our daughters plays softball. We are thrilled because she loves the game and while she doesn't know it, she is working on team building skills that are so critical in life.
  
  
• Both of my daughters participate in golf. Not because I want them to play on the LPGA. I certainly don’t expect them to receive one of the many supposedly unfilled women’s golf scholarships. The reason they play is because they like it. We are happy because the game builds social skills that down the road in the business world will open up networking opportunities for them.

As an aside people complain about how much the district pays coaches. I would challenge anybody to spend a week with a coach to see what they do. I can’t speak for the HS coaches but I certainly can tell you that the MS coaches don’t get paid for anywhere close to the amount of time they put in. From driving buses, to waiting at tournaments, practice, playing games, and of course dealing with parents. The next time before you complain about little Johnny’s playing time, remember without the coaches Johnny wouldn’t get any playing time.

Sports have many needs that require a river of funding. From the schools to the parents and children, money finds its way to the programs. Funds are not being pulled from education to run the sports programs as each area has its own bucket. There will always be new equipment, facilities and uniforms to be bought. There will always be vast amounts of time put in by coaches, parents and staff to keep sports programs running. Hopefully all sides will keep an eye toward balance. Hopefully the school board will do its job by seeing that funds are equitably divided and ask the questions that need to be asked so that Deer Creek can continue to offer a balanced and well run program.

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