The Saline Reporter
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Middle school sports face cuts
Second teams will no longer be funded through general budget
By Jerry Hinnen, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: February 15, 2007
It will take creative funding efforts to save eight Saline Middle School athletics teams.
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That's the word from Saline Athletic Director Rob White after the Saline School District's increasing financial woes led to the teams being slashed from next year's budget.
White said he was informed by e-mail two weeks ago by Saline Area Schools Superintendent Beverly Geltner that the second middle school football, volleyball, and boys' and girls' basketball teams — a total of eight teams in both seventh and eighth grades and likely more than 150 student-athletes — would fall victim to the district's 2007-2008 budget cuts.
"We know that there are going to be cuts. What we've tried to do is keep those cuts away from kids," White said. "Unfortunately, this situation is not unique and a lot of districts are being forced to look at eliminating the second team at the middle school level.
"As an athletic department, we will have to be creative to find a way to continue to provide these opportunities for our middle school kids."
Messages left at Geltner's office seeking comment were not returned. However, in a districtwide e-mail sent Tuesday, Geltner confirmed that "no general fund dollars" would be available for the second teams.
"However, Mr. White is reviewing various alternate funding options and will be making a recommendation to me in the next few weeks on how we can maintain the programs currently offered to our students," the e-mail reads. "It is his hope, and mine, that we will find creative funding options that will permit us to make these extremely important extracurricular activities available to our students."
The good news for potential middle school athletes is that White expects those "creative" efforts to bear fruit and that the second teams will continue taking the field this fall.
"That is my expectation," he said Tuesday.
White said he has discussed the situation with athletic directors at other school systems facing the same dilemma, such as the Chelsea School District, and that it will take a multifaceted approach with efforts ranging from team sponsorships to increased gate revenue.
The most difficult change will be the likely doubling of the school's pay-to-participate fee, instituted only last fall, from $50 to $100.
While understanding that the increase will be unpopular, White emphasized that the $100 was a one-time fee and would allow some athletes to play as many as four sports, that a scholarship program would be available for qualifying families, and the budget realities left the athletic department with no choice if it continued fielding second teams.
"I don't like it. We don't want to put a greater burden on the community," he said. "But, hopefully, when parents look at what the costs for athletes are outside of school, for things like clinics and equipment, the increase will be below what most parents will be willing to pay for their students."
The removal of the second teams is only the latest in a series of cuts in the Saline athletic department budget, which also has seen the elimination of a part-time training position and school-provided transportation to weekend events.
This reduction will be the largest by far, however, saving the district as much as $26,000, according to a report on possible cuts prepared by White for Geltner last October.
But this cut also will run the deepest, White said. Having as many middle-school athletes as possible creates a "trickle-down" effect that benefits Saline High School athletics, he added. But it, more importantly, develops a personal pride and a pride in the athletes' school and community that alternatives —such as a Saline Community Education-sponsored intramural leagues — simply cannot re-create.
"I strongly believe in the value of inter-scholastic competition at the middle school level, at giving our kids the opportunity to represent their school and represent their community," White said. "We've had our high school coaches, ones whose sports aren't even being cut, ask how they could raise funds, asking me 'What can we do to help?' That's because these programs are so valuable to our kids.
"We're going to do everything we can to maintain those opportunities."
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