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OR: Forest Grove, Budget cuts drop 3 Viking sports to "club" status

18-May-2011  Beaverton News Times

As Forest Grove residents reacted to last week’s announcement of sweeping, district-wide budget cuts, the high school athletic department was working hard to let parents, students and fans know that Viking athletics will remain largely unchanged despite three sports landing on the budget committee’s chopping block.

Starting next year, the high school golf, tennis and swimming programs, plus the middle school track and wrestling programs, will be relegated from “varsity” to “club” sports as part of the district’s massive $7.5 million budget cut.

The change in status means those programs will receive only minimal funding from the district – mostly in the form of transportation to and from events – so athletes and their families will need to either incur additional expenses or help raise money to keep those teams financially sustainable.

“Club status means those sports aren’t going to be fronted by the district anymore,” said Forest Grove athletic director Doug Thompson, who worked with school administrators on their proposed cuts..

“The goal is that it will be no different to the athletes – they’ll still be competing in the Pacific Conference, they’ll still be able to qualify for state tournaments and other events. From a competitive standpoint, nothing will really change.”

The change will come in the form of less financial support from the district. Teams will be responsible for managing their own funds and purchasing equipment and uniforms, as well as paying their own coaches’ salaries.

Athletic fees for all varsity sports will be raised to $125 per player starting next year – still among the lowest in the Pacific Conference – and each team will begin the season with those funds in a bank account. Thompson said he envisions a scenario in which each club sport has its own board of trustees that will meet and make spending decisions in conjunction with the athletic department.

“For instance, water polo (which is already a club sport) has a fee that gets deposited into an ASB account, and that goes to really fund their sport,” Thompson said. “Some of these teams will still have to do fundraising to help offset some of these costs, but our goal is to keep it to a minimum.”

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