As the financial panic of 2008 continues to affect the Larchmont/Mamaroneck community, the new Mamaroneck Union Free School District Budget for the school year of 2010-2011 has generated widespread confusion among the public in terms of the new budget’s influence on MHS/HMX athletics. Local rumors have varied from the elimination of all modified sports to the cessation of all bowling practices. While a bit bleak, the actual impact of the new budget on MHS/HMX athletics is in fact very simple to understand.
As of April 20, the new budget plan will include an approximated $165,000 decrease in funding for MHS/HMX athletics. For sports containing four teams, this decrease will result in the elimination of one team. In terms of boys’ sports, this portion of the plan will discard all freshmen teams (baseball, basketball and football), as well as the JV Black soccer squad. On the other hand, in terms of girls’ sports, the modified “B” level will be terminated, which includes field hockey, volleyball, basketball and softball teamsat HMX. By eliminating four teams from each gender, MHS/HMX athletics will remain within the boundaries of Title IX, a federal law requiring equal funding for boys’ and girls’ sports at the high school and collegiate levels.
While many townspeople have also speculated the exclusion of the JV hockey program from the new budget, the current plan does not include any change in the number of MHS/HMX hockey teams. “Hockey is a very expensive sport to fund,” MHS Athletic Director Bari Suman said. “But as of right now, it’ll still be in the budget for next year.”
Many of the far-fetched budget rumors have been centered around the MHS/HMX hockey program. “From what I’ve heard, they aren’t knocking out any teams, but they are cutting down on practice time,” said a curious Larchmont parent about the MHS Athletic Department and the School Board. However, this rumor, along with many others,has not been verified.
By eliminating eight teams, the salaries of nine coaches (freshmen football includes an assistant coach) will be scratched out of the 2010-2011 budget.
Unfortunately for coaches, this is only the beginning. Of MHS’ 24 boys’ and girls’ varsity sports, 14 have paid assistant coaches, whose salaries will not be included in the 2010-2011 budget. Only contact sports will have the right to retain a maximum of one paid assistant coach for the 2010-2011 seasons.
“At MHS, we take pride in the fact that not only are our head coaches well-trained, but our assistant coaches as well,” Suman said. “It is very unfortunate that most of them will lose their pay after putting in so much time and effort.”
In terms of the athletes themselves, the new budget will decrease the number of athletes in the MHS/HMX community by roughly 175 participants. Many critics of the budget ascribe this to the fact that with fewer assistant coaches, safety hazards will increase, causing fewer athletes to be selected for MHS/HMX’s surviving teams. Some students and parents have even begun to fear that MHS/HMX’s athletic stature will drop off with the new budget.
“The budget cuts in sports will eventually hurt our school’s athletic development, as athletes don’t get as much pre-varsity training,” baseball catcher Michael Herz ’12 said.
However, Suman remains optimistic. “The new budget will help teams like JV football, who is always desperate for more players,” she said. “With no freshmen team, the JV football team will comfortably field a roster.” With this in mind, Suman and others believe that by eliminating certain teams, less popular teams will actually gain more athletes, as the 175 “displaced” athletes will look for alternative sports.
With the global economy continually fluctuating, Suman and the School Board have devised a system over the past few years to help keep MHS athletics flexible in the long run.
“Technically, we sign each of our coaches to one-year contracts at the beginning of each season, so we are never committed to anything,” Suman said. This tactic has made Suman and the Board look brilliant in that the new budget will easily slide into place due to the fact that no coach has been guaranteed a paycheck for next year. In future years, when the economy regains its touch, Suman will be able to hire coaches once again with ease.
The topic of the new budget has been a sore subject in the community, especially concerning its affect on MHS/HMX athletics. Nobody wants to lay off coaches or deprive students of participating in athletics.
“Cutting 8 teams and 23 coaches is pretty bad, especially in our considerably well-off community,” said tennis phenomenon Rishi Gorti ’11. “Nevertheless, the harsh reality is that these cuts are essential in providing the best public school education possible in the current economic state.”
Gorti’s point sparks an entirely separate debate, involving the hypothesis that the Board is cutting athletic funds as a sacrifice to improve education. The community will surely keep an eye on the effects of the new budget on the 2010-2011 school year in order to see if the Board has made the right decisions.
