Eyes turn to budget for athletics

LAKE COUNTY - With state budgets being scaled back after one of the worst economic recessions since the Great Depression, some schools may have to start taking a long look at the bottom line when it comes to their athletic programs.

"You're going to start seeing more and more budget talk," Polson athletic director Scott Wilson said.

While most of the athletic directors in the county said they've been very fortunate so far with their budgets and that schools have supported the extra curricular activities strongly, the future is still somewhat murky.

"It's hard to say," Wilson said. "There will be some issues because of where the education cuts are coming."

Mission High School athletic director Alan Pule said that every school handles their finances differently, but schools do get money based on their enrollment numbers to determine how much financial support they get from the government.

"You never really know what to expect," Pule said. "Kids move all of the time in the area. You never get a firm outlook on how many kids you have."

With various schools receiving aid from different government programs, a slight shift in something can have long lasting effects.

"This will be a very critical year to look at the budget," Pule said. "We'll be looking this year. I can see our numbers staying where they are."

The Mission School District receives Impact Aid since property tax revenue is low on the Flathead Indian Reservation. If that aid were to be cut, it would affect extracurricular activities greatly since that is what the school uses the aid specifically for.

"That wouldn't work for us," Pule said.

You never know what the legislature is going to do, Arlee athletic director Jim Taylor said.

The main expenses that face a program are travel and equipment. With football teams requiring pads, helmets and uniforms for several dozen kids, the cost of athletics can skyrocket quickly.

"Football is a very expensive sport," Taylor said. "They're costly items."

There is no other sport Polson has in its high school that needs as much, Wilson said.

Schools implement a rotation for new uniforms and equipment for players in different sports, meaning that everyone gets a fair shake. The rotation is usually every few years since jerseys can be so expensive.

"If a student lost a jersey top, it costs $159 to have that one uniform replaced," Pule said.

The more schools can buy in bulk, the cheaper it is, despite being a large lump sum.

"We replenish when we have to and we try to maintain our budgets," Taylor said. "We want the best for our kids but we can't buy elaborately expensive things."

Pule said that a simple thing like the travel cost for a mile going up from $1.50 to $2 can take quite a chunk out of the budget. With towns spread out in the state of Montana, schools like Glasgow in eastern Montana have to travel 200 miles for their closest game.

"It's the nature of high school sports in Montana," Pule said. "It's the nature of how high schools are classified. In the west, we are fortunate to have a concentration of schools."

Despite this, schools in the western part of the state still have to pay more for post-season play since state tournaments are held in Billings, Pule said.

"The state has a per diem and will reimburse you but it doesn't nearly cover the cost of our attendance at a district or state tournament," he said.

Pule questions why the University of Montana hasn't hosted a state tournament since they have facilities.

"When is the last time they hosted a state tournament?" Pule said. "No one is sure why."

If cuts were to come down the pipeline, Wilson said that one of the things he would look at is where his teams were traveling.

"One of the things to look at is the schedule and cut it down," he said.

Another change could be the addition or increase of a participation fee or athletic event card.

"We would do the best we could not to cut programs," Wilson said. "That would be the last, last thing we would do."

Combating the bottom line problem is attendance at games, which provides revenue for schools.

A well-attended game will be a gain for the school as opposed to a financial loss.

Polson really does appreciate its athletics and those kind of things help cover expenses, Wilson said.

Many other towns have that support too.

"We have a lot of loyal followers," Pule said. "It's a social event."

Hopefully that helps with things being uncertain on the horizon and the only cuts made in athletics in the future are those of running backs going downfield.