Freshman sports teams, such as Kimball High’s basketball team, which included Derek Van Destreek in the 2009-10 season, could become budget-cut casualties. Press file photo
Past budget proposals have considered eliminating freshman sports, as well as ending sports offerings like golf and gymnastics. For now, no specific teams or programs are identified for cuts, and athletic directors said it’s too early to tell exactly what will happen to their teams.
About the only thing athletic directors do know is that such a move would either eliminate some coaching positions or force coaches to take a cut in pay.
Casey Goodall, Tracy Unified’s assistant superintendent for business, said that the $650,000 the district contributes to sports goes almost entirely to coach stipends. The pay ranges from about $6,100 for a head varsity coach of a major sport, like football, to about $3,200 at the low end for assistant coaches or head coaches for freshman and sophomore teams.
West High Athletic Director Matt Loggins said he and his colleagues, Joe Lawrence at Kimball High and Mark Stroup at Tracy High, will have input into what should happen at all three schools, but the final decisions will likely be out of their hands.
“If it’s a 25 percent cut, it’s going to go over my head very quickly,” Loggins said, adding that the coach stipends are written into the Tracy Educators Association labor contract with the district.
“We’re of the opinion that we don’t want to cut sports,” he said. “We don’t want to see any opportunities cut for the kids.”
The only revenue he can control, though, is raised through ticket sales at games and benefit events hosted by the school’s athletic booster club. That’s the money that pays for uniforms and equipment, entry fees for tournaments and the service of umpires and referees who officiate games. The schools also get $150 from each athlete, per sport, to pay for transportation to games at other schools.
Because coach pay is a matter of teacher contracts, any cuts from the district will most likely weigh on all three schools equally — and there won’t be any easy answers.
Steven Sievers, president of the Tracy Educators Association, said it’s a discussion that will have to take place if the district does decide to slash the sports budget.
“The only thing I can think is possible is there are some sports that could be cut if they’re under-utilized,” he said. “Nobody’s gone in depth about it enough where I would have any information.”
Tracy High Athletic Director Mark Stroup said athletic directors and union representatives haven’t sat down to talk yet, but they must start to think about what cuts will mean for athletics.
“In order to get that 25 percent savings, eliminating programs or positions is a possibility, and it could include some of the freshman sports. Right now, it’s speculation,” he said.
“Just eliminating freshman sports would not get you to that number,” he added. “Plus, the impact of eliminating freshman sports hurts the site’s budget at the same time, because some of the freshman sports are revenue-generators.
“Most of the coaches would do what they could to keep the programs viable. What that entails, I don’t know yet.”
Again, what COULD HAVE been cut which did not DIRECTLY effect the student. That would have been the bold move.... instead of a "balanced" cut in all (er, most: excluding admin did not get cuts) departments.
I realize that sports are important, but it's a matter of proiorities right now, and personally, I'd rather see sports cut than teachers.
It's sad all around. Everything is getting cut. Tonight's meeting will no doubt be a tearful one.