ONE OF THE more unpopular remedies for cash-strapped high school athletics programs is pay to play.
That a student might not participate in sports simply because his or her family doesn’t have enough money to pay for it comes off as unjust.
Unfortunately, shrinking budgets have left many North Olympic Peninsula administrators with no choice. It’s either institute pay-to-play or start cutting programs entirely.
That doesn’t mean coaches have to like it, especially when they start to see their own programs suffer.
Sequim track and field coach Brad Moore said he has definitely noticed a difference with his because of pay to play.
Sequim has required students to pay to play three times during his 16-year tenure as coach. Each time, his team’s numbers have dropped significantly.
In fact, according to Moore, two of his three lowest turnouts were during pay-to-play years.
When the district first tried it for one year in the early 2000s, he went from averaging 65-plus athletes a year to 48.
After it was brought back the past two years, Moore’s roster size fell to 54 in 2010 and a career low of 43 this spring.
“For track it kills you, because you really rely on depth. It’s a key part of it,” said Moore, who has coached six state champions during the past six years.
“Part of it is track usually gets kind of peripheral athletes. They are good at stuff, but they don’t turn out for the other sports.”
Thus, asking for a start-up fee at the beginning of the season likely turns some athletes away.
It doesn’t help that Sequim has one of the higher pay-to-play fees in the area. At $75 per sport (the third sport is free), it is double that of archrival Port Angeles ($37.50).
Like many other districts that do pay-to-play, Sequim does offer special scholarships for those in need. A couple of the athletes on Moore’s teams were even recipients of that money.
Still, he insists there are others who are likely not coming out because of pay to play.
“Unless you have kids who come forward and actually say, ‘Hey I’d like to do this, but [I don’t have enough money],’ you don’t know who give the information to,” Moore said. “It’s tough.
“I understand why it had to happen. When they tell you they slashed X amount of dollars out of the budget, you have to find something to make it work. But I don’t like it, because I think it keeps kids from coming out, and I think I have good evidence to prove that.”
College awaits
Several area athletes are starting to figure out what the future holds.
All-state Port Angeles girls basketball player Jessica Madison committed to Division II University of Alaska-Anchorage back in November.
Here’s a few other athletes who have made college decisions:
■ A.J. Konopaski (PA, Sr.) — Baseball pitcher/first baseman committed to Division III Pacific Lutheran University last week.
■ Drew Rickerson (Sequim, Sr.) — Wolves pitcher/outfielder will likely play baseball for Pacific Lutheran University on an academic scholarship.
Lutes football coaches also want the prolific All-Olympic League quarterback to suit up for the football team.
■ Lea Hopson (Sequim, Sr.) — Wolves softball shortstop will play for College of Southern Idaho (part of National Junior College Athletic Association).
■ Maddy Zbaraschuk (Sequim, Sr.) — Wolves softball catcher will play for Division II University of Missouri-St. Louis next spring.
■ Habtamu Rubio (PT, Sr.) — Port Townsend senior is expected to run for Everett Community College next fall.
Teammate Bereket Piatt has a scholarship to run there as well, but he is unsure if he will use it.
■ Alison Maxwell (PA, Sr.) — Roughriders’ lead distance runner expects to run for Middlebury College in Vermont.
Wrestling weights
Weight classes for high school wrestlers are likely to change by the 2011-12 season, according to several Puget Sound-area newspapers.
The National Federation of State High School Associations Wrestling Rules Committee approved a shift in weight classes on Tuesday.
The current weight classes for boys are 103, 112, 119, 125, 130, 135, 140, 145, 152, 160, 171, 189, 215, 285.
The new weight classes will be 106, 113, 120, 126, 132, 138, 145, 152, 160, 170, 182, 195, 220 and 285.
Jim Meyerhoff, assistant executive director for the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, told the Seattle Times this week that the WIAA Executive Board would likely approve the new weight classes.
Port Angeles head coach Erik Gonzalez said he approved of the change in the long term, even if it will make things tougher on his own 103-pounder, Josh Basden, in the short term.
“In terms of the long term trend that’s been happening. I think it’s the right thing to do,” Gonzalez said.
“The lighter weights we’ve had a hard time filling those, and some of the gaps in the upper weights were huge and a little bigger than they should have been.”
________
Matt Schubert is the outdoors and sports columnist for the Peninsula Daily News. His column regularly appears on Thursdays and Fridays. He can be reached at matt.schubert@peninsuladailynews.com.
