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THURSDAY March 25 , 2004 - Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels February 28, 2004 Levy impact being felt by Grizz boys By Jennifer Squires Ashland Daily Tidings Since it first passed the citywide vote in 1994, the impacts of the Ashland Youth Activities levy have be seen all across Ashland High athletic programs. "If you take our athletics and our activities, 74 percent of our students are involved in at least one levy-sponsored activity," said 13-year Ashland High School Athletic Director Jim Nagel. "With more money, now has come more opportunities for students." While enrollment at Ashland High has hovered around 1,150 students since 1997, the school has added six new club sports and increased student participation in athletics six percent, to 553 students in 2002-03. Ashland, the third-smallest school in the eight-member Southern Oregon Conference, now maintains the most girls' sports in the league - 19 traditional and club teams. On the boys' side, the Grizzlies boast the second-highest number of sport offerings with 18. Only South Medford, which has the second-largest student body in the SOC - 1,945 in 2002-03 - has a larger number of athletic endeavors available to its student population. "The beauty of the levy is that it does create opportunities and supports kids' interests," said Amy Amrhein, the Ashland School Board chairwoman and organizer of the levy campaign in 2000. "I see nothing but good coming from having options." However, the question of how much is too much is beginning to surface. The growth of club sports at AHS has coincided with the downfall of traditional sports, such as wrestling, girls' track and boys' basketball. The wrestling program was eliminated this year due to lack of interest, while the the girls' track team has been having trouble recruiting athletes. "It's happening pretty much in all sports," Nagel said. "Kids have a lot of opportunities here that may not be elsewhere. We're running into the same thing with girls' track because we have girls' crew and maybe outrigger." The boys' basketball team has suffered some of the same bouts - rough season after rough season, while participation numbers plummet. At the same time, the co-ed snowboarding team ballooned to 54 athletes in 2003-04 and a co-ed ice hockey team was added to the smorgasbord of Grizzly athletic choices in the winter. "This is one of those Catch-22s," Nagel said. "The good news is you have lots of opportunity to compete in lots of sports. The bad news is those who compete may not be as successful." Due to the success of club sports since the advent of the levy, the 2000 renewal included a 400 percent increase in funding specific to club sports. The voters approved the increase in support, which translated to $25,000 for the programs to share instead of the $5,000 they had been dividing. "We wanted to address those students who were not interested in standard activities," Amrhein said. "I don't think you can have too many options." At this point, levy funding now completely supports all Grizz sports programs - both traditional and club. The school district no longer has the resources to provide for extra-curricular and co-curricular activities, such as athletics and clubs, but levy funding contributes about $452,000 annually to high school programs. "[The levy], when it was first done, was only to get us money until the state adequately funded schools," Nagel said. "And, of course, that's never happened." The current Youth Activities Levy, which was renewed for the third time in 2003, provides approximately $1.7 million to the school district and the parks and recreation district to fund programs and maintain facilities. The levy funds about $300 per Ashland student from a $1.385 tax per $1,000 of assessed property value. It expires in 2006. DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Site Search: The new search is here! Click here for more information. .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - ODOT Road Cams