Team Baler hopes to rally support for athletics
There is a lot of buzz around San Benito High School about the
precarious budget situation. The need to cut $1.8 million gets
people talking.
Teachers are concerned about their jobs and the programs they
teach. Students are worried about ever-growing class sizes.
Administrators, all of whom were once classroom teachers
themselves, are trying to figure out how to balance the books while
not cutting too deeply.
Team Baler hopes to rally support for athletics
There is a lot of buzz around San Benito High School about the precarious budget situation. The need to cut $1.8 million gets people talking.
Teachers are concerned about their jobs and the programs they teach. Students are worried about ever-growing class sizes. Administrators, all of whom were once classroom teachers themselves, are trying to figure out how to balance the books while not cutting too deeply.
That those cuts also include the beloved sports program has added to the buzz, with parents unsure if their children will have the opportunity to play freshman sports next year.
San Benito County supports youth athletics like no other area on the Central Coast. From Little League to Pop Warner to cheerleading to travel soccer clubs to wrestling to basketball and beyond, Hollister, as the kids say it, “represents.”
We love our kids, we love our sports, and we love watching our kids play sports. A couple youth baseball teams recently got back from Arizona, where they played in an invitational tournament. Two Hollister youth basketball teams are traveling to Los Angeles at the end of the month to play in a national tournament there. Parents shelled out to make sure their kids get the opportunities many of us didn’t have when we grew up.
But it’s not just about the “travel ball” sports here, which obviously favor the people with greater financial resources. Our community takes a special level of pride in supporting any team that represents our town or county, because they in turn represent us.
It’s surprising if Hollister fans don’t outnumber the fans of the home team when there’s an out-of-town game involving a San Benito team. The stands at Vet’s Park are usually packed for baseball games during the spring and summer. Andy Hardin Field is the place to be on Friday nights in the fall when the Balers are playing football. The most impressive part of that is many fans aren’t there to watch a relative play. They are there to watch and support Hollister.
As of this week, the final cuts to SBHS’s athletic program have not been finalized, though one proposal calls for a $100,000 cut – or a quarter of what the school now provides.
Every aspect of the budget has to be looked at when times are tough like they are now. There can be no sacred cows. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t options.
In response to the proposed cuts to high school athletics, SBHS boosters have formed Team Baler, a movement specifically designed to raise money to help offset the proposed cuts to the athletic department.
In a press release, Team Baler organizers noted how they are reaching out to the community in this time of need, not to add to the athletics program, but to maintain the programs that are in place. This isn’t just about the high-profile sports like football, basketball and baseball. It’s about water polo and swimming and soccer and tennis and wrestling and the hundreds of students who participate on those teams.
“Think about what it means to students to be a part of SBHS athletics,” the release says. “Think about what it means to a community to have positive avenues for our students.”
For the record, I have not been asked by anyone at the school to tout the Team Baler movement. Do I have a conflict of interest? You betcha. I played sports at SBHS, I teach student-athletes there, I have a freshman student-athlete son there and another on the way next year.
Critics may say that athletics should be the lowest priority when it comes to budget decisions at a school.
“It’s just for fun anyway.”
“Only the elite athletes make teams, so why bother?”
“Why have sports anyway? School is about education.”
Having taught at the high school for five years, I’ve seen the impact sports has on hundreds of kids. Yes, at a huge school with high expectations, competition for spots on many rosters is fierce in some sports. People get cut. Kids sit the bench. Parents dispute coaching decisions. It’s kind of like real life.
But we can’t ignore the benefits. Nearly every day I sign progress reports for student-athletes, who then have to show the document to their parents and/or coaches to prove that their school work is being done. If they don’t take care of academics, athletics isn’t an option. For some students, athletics keeps them at school, keeps them busy and keeps them out of trouble.
I’ve had students come to me to ask what extra work they can do to bring their grades up so they can play sports and I’ve seen students parlay athletic success into college opportunities.
It seems easy to get rid of or reduce athletic opportunities to save money, but that ignores the lessons that students learn through athletics. Responsibility, teamwork, perseverance, how to handle defeat, how to win with respect.
Of the 70-something freshman football players who work all summer and six days a week during the fall at practice and in the weight room and in study hall just to have a chance to represent Hollister, how many would we prefer to have nothing to do after school without sports? What about the dozens of track athletes who compete in the spring? No one gets cut and everyone gets an opportunity – as long as they keep their grades up.
Many of these student-athletes don’t realize it or won’t admit it, but sports keeps them motivated to do well in school or to even stay in school.
If I had to choose between cutting honors classes or freshman sports for my sons, I’d choose sports. But that’s not the decision here, if the community steps up like it has for so long.
With the community involved, supporting Baler athletics also means supports Baler academics by offsetting the across-the-board cuts necessary in these tough budget times. A lot of people giving a little will go a long way.
More information about the Team Baler movement is available on the school’s Web site or by calling Principal Krystal Lomanto or Athletic Director Tod Thatcher at 637-5831, extensions 173 and 350, respectively.
It’s time for the adults to help stage a late comeback and show the kids what teamwork is all about.
