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CALGARY
Monday, June 6, 2011 www.metronews.ca News worth sharing.
Budget woes plague high school sports
Baby. Geese
Additional support costs to be passed on to schools — and then possibly parents More than 9,500 students registered to play at least one sport last year Increased classroom pressures could see fewer teachers volunteer to coach JEREMY NOLAIS
@METRONEWS.CA
Dozens of goslings soaked in the sun at Prince’s Island Park yesterday, as did many Calgarians. The temperature hovered around 18 C and will be up and down all week long, according to the Environment Canada forecast. KATIE TURNER/METRO
Soaking up the Prairie sun
High school athletics in Calgary could face their biggest funding crunch in at least four decades this fall, says the executive director of the governing association. As the Calgary Board of Education continues to measure ways to cover a projected budget shortfall of nearly $62 million for the upcoming school year, the Calgary Senior High School Athletic Association has already reined in support funding to schools for things like transportation and equipment costs. “I’m waiting to see what next year’s going to be like,” said executive director Tom Parker. “I kind of have a feeling from the meetings I have gone to it’s going to be worse than it was this year.” The association’s budget is
based on the number of student athletes that register. Parker said it was a granted a small increase for next year — per-athlete funding will rise to $9.75 from $9.20 — but it’s not enough to cover rising costs for officials, fuel and facility rentals. Pat Coyle, parent and coach of the football team at St. Timothy High School — which is located in Cochrane but competes in Calgary — said he has noticed a “gradual” increase in athletic fees over the past few years. “I guess parents will have to look at the aspect of cutting back in one way or another,” he said. For Parker, depriving some kids of athletics represents the worst-case scenario. “You learn things like teamwork, self-control ... most of them are lifelong-type skills,” he said. “There are more kids registered for athletics than any other extracurricular program.”
Economic uncertainty Decline: Tom Parker with the Calgary Senior High School Athletic Association said economic uncertainty has also led to a noticeable decline in donations from the community. Cost: At least half of the officials enlisted by the association have hiked their per-game cost by a dollar. Parker said more than 500 matches were played in volleyball alone this year. Funds: In the face of dwindling funds, the CBE also faced the cut of 324 teaching and support-staff positions. Dozens of positions were kept after money was found in the board’s reserve to maintain some positions. Cuts: The Calgary Catholic School Board had to cut 92 positions late last month.