The reporter, Debbie Wygent, does a good job capturing the hard work and frustrations of booster club leaders who are pushing against tremendous odds to start football and lacrosse clubs at Octorara.
Octorara struggling to provide level playing field for privately funded sports
Published: Jan 25, 2008
By DEBBIE WYGENT, Correspondent
Private funding of public school sports is one solution in play as some Pennsylvania school districts look for ways to ease budget woes and high property taxes.
The rural Octorara Area School District
, however, which is experimenting with private club funding to field both football and lacrosse teams, is finding this solution does not necessarily offer an even playing field for young athletes.The Octorara Football Club just finished a second successful season while the Octorara Lacrosse Boosters are facing a $3,000 budget shortfall and may have to tell the 24 girls and 30 boys ready to play that they have to cut away games from their first spring season.
Backed by a $68,000 budget with some high-profile contributors, including $1,000 donated by former NFL coach Dick Vermiel, a $1,000 equipment grant from the NFL, and $500 "Touchdown Club" advertising space purchased by state Sen. Domenic Pileggi, the volunteer parent-backed Octorara Football Club last season put 90 middle school and junior varsity players on the field.
Jewell Shivery of Christiana is among the parents who organized the volunteer Octorara Football Club (www.octorara.org) two years ago following a series of crowded, heated public meetings in which the Octorara School Board said football was not in the budget. Board members did say they would sanction the sport if parents came up with the money.
"Both of us have boys that love the sport," said Shivery. "We are all taxpayers, too. I'd hate to tell my son we did nothing and failed."
Large donations, including $10,000 from the Robert and Jennifer McNeil Fund, acquired through the Chester County Foundation, and $10,000 from construction company J.D. Eckman, will allow the club to put its first varsity team on the field by 2009.
Led by Scott Grimes, a group of parents interested in beginning a lacrosse program in the school district approached the school board in the fall and received approval to follow the football club's model in starting and funding lacrosse.
Although lacrosse is one of the fastest-growing U.S. sports, the parent volunteers told the school board Jan. 14 they are projecting a $19,400 budget for their first season but facing a $3,000 budget shortfall.
"Fundraising has proven to be difficult," Grimes told the school board, noting the club had a 36 percent participation rate in fundraisers and it is working on collecting accounts receivable.
The school board granted the club an extension until March 1 to increase its treasury.
Grimes said the club may be fundraising right up until preseason, and was also exploring a partnership with the YMCA which would draw in younger players in an after-school program.
"I can see how the lacrosse parents are frustrated," Shivery said.
Shivery said running a club involves a great deal of time, paperwork, and fundraising via car washes and spaghetti dinners.
Even after all the work, she said she heard community members making negative comments, such as "There goes my tax dollars!" when the football players marched by in a recent parade.
Octorara School Board member Brian Norris said the school board is closely watching the issue of private school funding of public school sports, and he stressed some school districts are pushing private funding not just for sports, but for other extra-curricular programs such as music.
Soccer has traditionally been the king of sports in the Octorara district and is a district-funded sport with parent boosters.
Lacrosse means "the game of the stick" in French and has Native American origins in conflict resolution and training of young warriors.
Norris speculated that lacrosse may not be as well known and popular as soccer and football among young athletes, which is why the new club might be struggling.
"We have to be careful about pulling the rug out from under those kids," Norris said.
Norris said he is concerned that this type of "pay-to-play" funding might actually limit the participation of some lower-income students or students without parent backing.
He said he is also uncomfortable with the concept of zero school board funding of school sports teams.
"If they're wearing Octorara jerseys it's not fair to have one sport funded by the district and another sport funded by a club," he said. "We need to level the playing field, put this into focus for everybody, and come up with an equitable policy."
Norris said it is possible the school board ultimately will decide to manage school sports via one central sports authority organization which will be responsible for large-scale financing of all school sports.
"I'd say by 2009 we'll have our policy etched in stone," Norris said.
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