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CLEAR Temp: 62 °F Wind: S at 3 mph Thursday, May 22, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend May 10, 2003 Medford whittles school sports The district plans to pare down the number of teams and coaching positions without eliminating any program entirely By TIM TROWER Mail Tribune The other shoe dropped. In this case, an athletic shoe. The Medford School District announced Friday that it plans to eliminate 20 teams and 28 coaching positions next year from the high schools and middle schools and that the possibility of a pay-to-play system has been abandoned. The cuts would mean savings of $73,000 in salaries and $68,588 in purchased services, such as transportation, officials and equipment. Advertisement The total reduction from the district’s $750,000 athletic budget is $141,588, or about 19 percent. In addition, ticket prices will increase $1 for everyone except children, meaning gate receipts are expected to increase by about $30,000 over the five-year annual average of $150,888. A process that began in the fall gained steam at a January meeting of Southern Oregon Conference athletic directors. It was tweaked and twisted at seemingly every stop, presented to coaches Thursday and made public Friday. The district budget committee will consider the proposals by May 29, and final approval from the school board is expected by June 24. "The plan you’re seeing here is what we’re going to go with next year," said Bruce Howell, the outgoing district athletic director whose position won’t be retained but instead will have his duties divided among several administrators. Like everything else pertaining to budgets these days, little is set in stone. "It depends on the message we get from Salem at the end of May," Howell added of pending legislative action, "but our committee may have to come together and look at it again." It was widely held that some teams, such as sophomore basketball at North and South Medford high schools, would be lopped and that families would have to fork over cash if their kids wanted to wear school colors while making tackles or hitting balls. Speculation has been supplanted by specifics. While lower-tier high school teams will be lost, no entire programs will be cut. Volleyball, boys and girls soccer, boys basketball, baseball and softball will all lose teams but will retain varsity, junior varsity and, in some cases, freshman teams. Some programs, such as wrestling and cross country, will have only one team, but there will be no limit to the number of participants, and competitions will be staged to accommodate more than one level. At Hedrick and McLoughlin middle schools, football, volleyball and wrestling teams will be cut, but there will still be a number of teams available in each sport. The reductions mean 170 fewer roster spots for high school students, 52 fewer for those at the middle schools. "No one program was dramatically cut," said South Medford athletic director Dennis Murphy. "We snipped away at things." Mike Kay, the North Medford athletic director, likened the process to a triangle. The sides were trimmed, leaving something in each sport, rather than cutting from the bottom up and taking entire programs. They noted that kids who otherwise would be on school teams can find opportunities to play at the club level within the community. It was evident months ago that downsizing was inevitable, Howell said. When SOC athletic directors gathered, they decided on a core group of athletic teams. That, coupled with a target reduction of 20 percent from the athletic budget, provided the Medford committee direction. "We took a glimpse at taking it further," said Howell. "We took it out to where it (the budget) was half gone, looked at it, then pulled back away from it. It wasn’t necessary to do that based on what we had and what we wanted to offer the kids." The inequities of pay-to-play made that plan unappealing, Howell said. Families that couldn’t afford it would either be left in the cold or would get special deals; families that could afford it would be asked to pay a full share or more to make up for others. The committees revealed that few schools with pay-to-play collect enough to make it viable. On top of that, said Howell, it was deemed that families already pay a lot in the form of transportation, shoes and apparel, camps, tickets, etc. Although there is a sense of regret at having to make the cuts, Howell and Co. believe they made it as painless as possible. "None of us wanted to see less opportunity for the kids," he said. "We’re in this business to provide opportunity for the kids. Given the resources available to us, this group has done a great job of maintaining as much integrity as we could. "Our goal is to have athletics for the kids. That’s been our No. 1 goal." Reach sports editor Tim Trower at 776-4479, or e-mail [email protected] Proposed cuts The following list details proposed cuts in sports programs in the Medford School District: High schools Volleyball — JV2 Soccer — Boys JV2, Girls JV2 Wrestling — Novice Basketball — Boys JV2 Baseball — Freshman Softball — JV2 Middle schools Football — One of three seventh-grade teams Volleyball — One of four seventh-grade teams Wrestling — Seventh grade Students affected High schools — 170 Middle schools — 52 Salary reductions High School — $49,000 Middle School — $24,000 Total savings $141,588 (19 percent of the district’s district athletic budget) Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. 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