Save Highschool Lacrosse
In these troubled financial times, budget cuts are a reality. However we need to be vigilent to make sure the cuts are appropriate, and not knee-jerk reactions.
Local school districts are facing huge shortfall in their budgets. So the budget for Athletics is being cut. The “easy” answer is to cut the newer sports. Lacrosse and Roller Hockey have recently been added to CIF sports. So they are on the chopping block. But a look at expenses suggests that the District would not save as much as they think. They list fields, equipment, and coaching stipends as the big expense. Lacrosse uses the same field that is used for Football, Soccer, and several other sports, so the cost is only the incremental maintainence caused by wear and tear of Lacrosse, since most High schools in the District have artificial turf, wear and tear is minimal. The school buys Lacrosse goals, but they are used for Physical Ed classes as well. The Players supply the rest of their equipment, with the exception of the uniform jersey and kilt. So the Coach stipend is the only real savings. However, Girls Lacrosse has 1 coach, and 1 asst coach at each level (Varsity and JV). How many coaches does the Frosh/Soph Boys Football team have?
The District needs to spread the cuts evenly across the sports, or look at the cost/benefit of each sport. They should look at how much they spend per participant, and use that to determine which sports provide the best value to the schools.
Goto Petitiononline.com to sign an online petition in support of High School Lacrosse