An e-mail sent out by Athletic Director Tod Thatcher announced the San Benito High athletic fund has raised $165 through the Nob Hill “Quality of Life” program in just five short weeks, a pretty impressive figure considering only a percentage of each dollar spent at the local grocery store is donated back to the school’s athletic fund.
While it may not seem like much now, $165 over five weeks translates to a little more than $1,700 over the course of the year.
In other words, it’s a start, and a pretty good one at that. But in the grand scheme of things, it’s a tiny drop in the bucket.
The San Benito High School District announced a budget cut of $100,000 to the athletic fund last month as part of a $1.8 million shortfall for the 2010-11 school year. I spoke with Director of Finance Debra Fisher recently, and she said there are no specifics right now as to what will be cut in order to make that $100,000 shortfall.
That’s because nothing specific is being cut at this moment. Rumors around town will let you believe otherwise, of course.
But right now, the district knows it needs help to the tune of $100,000 for sports, and it needs the community’s support to get it there.
If it can’t, well, feel free to take some of those rumors to heart.
“We need to reduce expenses in athletics by $100,000,” Superintendent Stan Rose said recently. “But we want the same level of teams and coaches and so forth.
“In order to do that, we need to raise $100,000 through fundraising. We’re actively pursuing it right now, to keep that same level of sports. We know how important the programs are and we don’t want to cut them.”
Interestingly enough and unbeknownst to this year’s cuts, Fisher conducted a self-study last year for her CBO Certification Program at USC. She found that athletes tend to have a higher GPA and display better-than-average attendance marks when compared to the student body as a whole.
While both conclusions make sense — student-athletes need to stay academically eligible and need to show up to school in order to compete on a team — the higher attendance figures by athletes bring in additional ADA funds to the school, to the tune of $150,000.
And in a time of need, that’s a cool figure.
The district has set up a window, between now and December, to raise the funds. But come December, everything will be reviewed and decisions will be made. This is the harsh reality of it all. The $100,000 is roughly a 29 percent cut to the athletics fund.
Unfortunately, the district’s contribution pays mostly for coaches, who get paid peanuts already. A cut to their stipends means many will walk, while those lesser qualified will likely fill their spaces.
Raising $165 is a start, but so is cutting $100,000, albeit to much less positive things.
“If we don’t get that support,” Rose said, “we’re gonna have to look at making those reductions in a year from now.”
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In keeping with the always positive budget cut news, it was recently reported that UC Davis will cut four sports this year, including the men’s swimming and diving program.
While the cuts are said to effect some 150 student-athletes, one in particular will be former Baler Jason Andrade, a 2005 graduate of San Benito High School.
Andrade, a junior at UC Davis, recently earned the title in the three-meter dive at the Big West Conference Championships in February.
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The wood bat debate hasn’t gone away just yet, but it did take a hit in recent weeks.
The board of directors for the North Coast Section voted 35-12 against a metal-bat ban for the remainder of the season, according to the Associated Press. The ban on all things aluminum was proposed by the Marin County Athletic League, which has already banned metal bats after Marin Catholic pitcher Gunnar Sandberg took a liner off the head and suffered swelling of the brain.
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San Benito softball manager Scott Smith in his eighth season of coaching the Lady Balers, and he currently stands with 199 wins in his career.
His overall record is 199-43-1. On Tuesday, Smith will be able to reach win No. 200 when the Lady Balers visit Everett Alvarez at 4:30 p.m.
