Sports Facing Cuts; Economy forcing FHSAA to make tough choices
Jeff Haws, www.pnj.com
Wednesday, March 4th, 2009 - The Florida High School Athletics Association released a plan Tuesday to reduce the maximum number of games for varsity and sub-varsity sports at all member schools in the state.
If the proposal passes at next month's board of directors meeting, it would cut the maximum number of contests for non-football varsity sports by 20 percent. That would reduce schedules in baseball, basketball, soccer, volleyball and softball from 25 to 20 games, beginning with the 2009-10 school year.
Junior varsity sports would be cut by 40 percent, leaving those same sports with 15 games. Junior varsity football would be cut to six games.
It's a big cut for area athletics programs in a tough economic situation. And while coaches and administrators recognize the need for some reductions, this is a difficult possibility for some of them to face.
Tough cuts
"If there are any other ways to pick up the slack, I would hope that every avenue would be looked at and investigated before we start cutting student services," West Florida High School athletics director Joe Cardwell said. "If this is the last resort and this is what we have to do to salvage our programs, then this is what we have to do. But I'm not sure that every other avenue has been investigated."
One problem in the proposal for sports like baseball, softball and basketball could be the lack of allowances for tournament games that might supplement the regular number of games.
For example: Alabama and Mississippi limit baseball and softball teams to 18 games (the two states differ on basketball, with Mississippi also sticking with 18 and Alabama allowing 20), but they both allow the teams to play in a limited number of tournaments on top of that.
For this school year, Georgia allowed 26 total games in baseball and set a limit of 16 games plus one tournament in softball or 14 games plus two tournaments.
In addition to possibly restricting tournament play during the season, 20 percent fewer varsity games will mean a roughly 20 percent drop in money generated from tickets and concessions at home games.
Catholic High School athletics director/baseball coach Richard LaBounty said there would be other effects that are harder to quantify. "I would be very disappointed if they elected to do that," LaBounty said. "I think an integral part of high school is for kids to compete in athletics. It helps give them things to do at night. Eliminating the number of games would have an adverse effect on a high schooler's life."
Effect on athletes
One of those high schoolers for LaBounty is third baseman Austen Smith, a junior who already has committed to play for the University of Alabama. He said playing fewer games could hurt players when they try to attract the attention of colleges, especially when their teams play fewer times than those in other states. "It messes up your statistics and stuff. Colleges look at how many home runs you hit; they might see you hit eight, but they don't know you only played 20 games," Austen said. "If they do well, the colleges will hear about them. But it might hurt them at the end of the year when the scouts come to look at players over the summer."
Not everyone is upset, though. Mark Jones, whose son, Alex, is a sophomore on the West Florida junior varsity baseball team and whose daughter, Taylor, is a junior playing varsity softball, said the five games probably would be felt more by the coaches in trying to prepare the team than it would be by the parents. And he said his son might even benefit from the change. "My son's a little bit different because he also plays travel ball," Jones said. "If the seasons are shortened, for summer ball and travel ball, they're going to get more games in sooner. It may be an advantage."
For this school year, Georgia allowed 26 total games in baseball and set a limit of 16 games plus one tournament in softball or 14 games plus two tournaments.
In addition to possibly restricting tournament play during the season, 20 percent fewer varsity games will mean a roughly 20 percent drop in money generated from tickets and concessions at home games. Catholic High School athletics director/baseball coach Richard LaBounty said there would be other effects that are harder to quantify. "I would be very disappointed if they elected to do that," LaBounty said. "I think an integral part of high school is for kids to compete in athletics. It helps give them things to do at night. Eliminating the number of games would have an adverse effect on a high schooler's life."
Newport News, VA
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